unitek college

MissIndependent89 · Apr 7, 2009

Hi well unfortunately I don't have any answers because I am in the exact same boat as you! I'm going to be starting the lvn program with unitek next month in Sac and I have tons of nervousness about it, especially with the cost and 5 days 8 hours a day schedule but I just keep reminding myself that this time next year I will have a career for life and the staff are really encouraging. Good luck to you and hopefully unitek doesn't let us down =)

bluenyellow · Apr 9, 2009

Hi well unfortunately I don't have any answers because I am in the exact same boat as you! I'm going to be starting the lvn program with unitek next month in Sac and I have tons of nervousness about it, especially with the cost and 5 days 8 hours a day schedule but I just keep reminding myself that this time next year I will have a career for life and the staff are really encouraging. Good luck to you and hopefully unitek doesn't let us down =)

hello!

i was wondering if there was anything they require before you apply for unitek? do they want any letters of recommendation or any prereqs? thanks for any help/advice!!

MissIndependent89 · Apr 10, 2009

No it was really simple (which in a way worries me LOL) all I did was request info of there website and then the next day a counselor contacted me and set me up with a day to come in and hear about the program and fir 20 dollars take the really simple napt test. After I passed that they called and told me to fill out the student loans paperwork.

cmami · Apr 10, 2009

hey MissIndependent89,

did you get approved for the loan? The advisor I met with said we need "excellent" credit. Also, when are you starting your LVN program? I'm trying to see if I'm going to join the July class.

MissIndependent89 · Apr 10, 2009

I had to have my grandma cosign on my loan but it's still being processed cause we just completed it. I'm supposed to start on may 4th but I'm honestly so nervous that I might wait until the next start date but I heard it's not until September so I'm not sure what to do. You heard of one starting this summer in sac? I thought there was only spring and fall but if they have a July one I would try for that one too. I'm so worried about not being able to keep up with an accelerated program =( lol I've had no medical type classes except medical science in highschool haha

yoyoyoyo · Apr 12, 2009

unitek is a school you should be wary about just a forwarning.. it all depends on your teachers and their willingness to help your class.. one class was given up on completely and hardly helped at all.teachers spending more time calling friends than working with the students.. more than 50 PERCENT ended up quitting from that class.. i had a few good ones and bad ones (LVN program) one of which was later fired after for using student phones to call a boyfriend.. yes no kidding borrowing her students phones and leaving them unattended while doing medpass!!!!!

when they teach, there is a lot of counter information in the books given some saying possibly 2 or 4 for numbers. etc... when questioned they say follow the book or look it up yourself... if they dont cover the material you are "responsible for knowing everything" that is in your class sylabus. the kicker is a few of the "staff" actually have their names acknowledged in these books if you read closely...

finally when they do not appropriate enough time to cover a subject if you do bad the exuse always given by all staff is "this is a high paced program you knew what you were doing when you signed on." and "if your unhappy you can quit right away and not pay anymore" why we were given 4 days to cover history of who florence N. is and 1 hour to cover an integuentary system is questionable at best????? anyone see a problem here yet? this is especially held true by their administrators.. there is significant biasness from the teachers, your clinical sites are unknown to the last possible minute!!!! i mean that too.. at most clinical sites (once again dependent on teachers) you will end up doing more ADL work IE: showers, shaving, changing bed's and ambulating, than you will spend time doing actual LVN/RN work IE: med pass, wound care (if any patients even have any) or paperwork.. and you are required to do this ADL work which is fine for the first level but jeeze level 3 im still spending more time wiping someones ass than doing actual LVN work (paperwork, assessments etc) remember this is supposed to be a lvn program not a CNA

their maternity section is a joke- you go out and talk to someoen you know who has had a child... or yourself if you are a parent.. there is no actual rotation!!!

finally, if you make it through half of the program they tend to lose interest in helping you, you get hardly any lab time since "newer" students need it and the lab area is mostly for show, you hardly work with the dummies.... this is mostly a self teaching program at best... so be prepared for long nights ahead.. i got thru it via a great support system but looking back i would have stayed far away and went elsewhere...

good luck there just keep your nose clean and you will get thru this....

MissIndependent89 · Apr 14, 2009

hey thanks for all that info, I keep hearing that the teachers are either good or really bad depending on which campus you attend. Which one did you attend?? Since I have no past nurse training I'm worried I'm not gonna keep up, especially if the teachers aren't going to help through the course

cmami · Apr 16, 2009

I had to have my grandma cosign on my loan but it's still being processed cause we just completed it. I'm supposed to start on may 4th but I'm honestly so nervous that I might wait until the next start date but I heard it's not until September so I'm not sure what to do. You heard of one starting this summer in sac? I thought there was only spring and fall but if they have a July one I would try for that one too. I'm so worried about not being able to keep up with an accelerated program =( lol I've had no medical type classes except medical science in highschool haha

Oh I see.... I guess it's different for us here near Fremont. They have one for July then the next October... I guess like every 3 months...Good luck with it. I'm still seeing if I want to go... I'm so nervous b/c of the big commitment but I would love to finish so I can be here for my family...

cmami · Apr 16, 2009

I had to have my grandma cosign on my loan but it's still being processed cause we just completed it. I'm supposed to start on may 4th but I'm honestly so nervous that I might wait until the next start date but I heard it's not until September so I'm not sure what to do. You heard of one starting this summer in sac? I thought there was only spring and fall but if they have a July one I would try for that one too. I'm so worried about not being able to keep up with an accelerated program =( lol I've had no medical type classes except medical science in highschool haha

unitek is a school you should be wary about just a forwarning.. it all depends on your teachers and their willingness to help your class.. one class was given up on completely and hardly helped at all.teachers spending more time calling friends than working with the students.. more than 50 PERCENT ended up quitting from that class.. i had a few good ones and bad ones (LVN program) one of which was later fired after for using student phones to call a boyfriend.. yes no kidding borrowing her students phones and leaving them unattended while doing medpass!!!!!
when they teach, there is a lot of counter information in the books given some saying possibly 2 or 4 for numbers. etc... when questioned they say follow the book or look it up yourself... if they dont cover the material you are "responsible for knowing everything" that is in your class sylabus. the kicker is a few of the "staff" actually have their names acknowledged in these books if you read closely...
finally when they do not appropriate enough time to cover a subject if you do bad the exuse always given by all staff is "this is a high paced program you knew what you were doing when you signed on." and "if your unhappy you can quit right away and not pay anymore" why we were given 4 days to cover history of who florence N. is and 1 hour to cover an integuentary system is questionable at best????? anyone see a problem here yet? this is especially held true by their administrators.. there is significant biasness from the teachers, your clinical sites are unknown to the last possible minute!!!! i mean that too.. at most clinical sites (once again dependent on teachers) you will end up doing more ADL work IE: showers, shaving, changing bed's and ambulating, than you will spend time doing actual LVN/RN work IE: med pass, wound care (if any patients even have any) or paperwork.. and you are required to do this ADL work which is fine for the first level but jeeze level 3 im still spending more time wiping someones ass than doing actual LVN work (paperwork, assessments etc) remember this is supposed to be a lvn program not a CNA
their maternity section is a joke- you go out and talk to someoen you know who has had a child... or yourself if you are a parent.. there is no actual rotation!!!
finally, if you make it through half of the program they tend to lose interest in helping you, you get hardly any lab time since "newer" students need it and the lab area is mostly for show, you hardly work with the dummies.... this is mostly a self teaching program at best... so be prepared for long nights ahead.. i got thru it via a great support system but looking back i would have stayed far away and went elsewhere...
good luck there just keep your nose clean and you will get thru this....

:omy: oh gosh... that really sucks... I'm so much more nervous now. Did you go to Sac or Fremont campus? Are you a nurse now or an LVN still? Have you been able to pay your loan back or has it been a struggle? Did they help you in finding your job? I know it's a lot to answer but I just want to be sure if I should :confused: ... I really would like to complete this asap... if I had more time, I'd stick to the lottery system...but I dont...

cmami · Apr 16, 2009

hey thanks for all that info, I keep hearing that the teachers are either good or really bad depending on which campus you attend. Which one did you attend?? Since I have no past nurse training I'm worried I'm not gonna keep up, especially if the teachers aren't going to help through the course

If all we do is wipe a**es for clinicals then it shouldn't be too hard because I finish a CNA training last year. It's not pretty but just make sure you have extra gloves b/c if we have different clinicals, some may not have gloves like the place I went to in Oakland... ugh... they say if you go to this nursing home you can work anywhere... gosh...anyways Hopefully we can get thru this.....and be nurses.

iicheninii · May 10, 2009

hi cmami, so from what i understand, you attended unitek's LVN program and from reading your posts, it sounded like a horrible experience. and i can certainly agree to that because i myself attended a horrible private school in san jose, and as you phrased before, everything is self learned. have questions? "look it up!" is what the instructors will tell you...honestly, even though our instructors were bad, clinicals were monotonous, and classes were a waste of time, i still finished it only to take the nclex after graduating. and i feel like, if i have to go through that mess again in a different school, i'll do it only because nowadays, you cant find a really "good" school with teachers who will actually want to help you learn. and right now, i dont want to wait any longer to obtain my RN license. so if i have to sit and go thru the grueling 8months of torture, then ill do it. as long as in the end, i study for the nclexRN and pass, thats all that matters....now the real question is....is the LVN-RN bridge at unitek just as bad? is it more rigorous? i was suppose to go here for my LVN but read so many horrible reviews that i changed my mind, but ended up realizing that the school i went to was just as bad.....thoughts? advice? greatly appreciated