Hmmmm...... (EC General Ed classes)

Nursing Students Online Learning

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i emailed ec regarding my plan for taking the gen ed courses, and when i plan to enroll. here's my letter:

"i received my transcript evaluation, and my plan is to complete the 4 gen ed courses first, then do the nursing exams i can take before enrolling. once all those are complete, i will enroll, and start with the other nursing exams.

the first 2 courses i am going to take are human growth and development clep, and penn foster information literacy. after that, eng 101 through straighterline and microbiology ec exam. does that sound like a reasonable plan of action?

please let me know... i have already started buying books and studying. i'm so glad to be an excelsior student!! "

here's the response i got... note the typos, poor grammar, and non-answer.... every step of the way, i am being urged to enroll!! (i am wondering, if i take these classes, the way i have planned to do it, will they really deny my credits and.... don't they really want my approx $6,500??) :confused:

"hi barabra

thank you for your continued interest in excelsior college and decision to continue your program. specific course approval and course/exam recommendations if a benefit of enrollment and offered to enrolled students.

i invite to enroll as soon as possible, there is always a risk with taking courses/examinations that have not been approved by your academic advisor.

i hope this information is useful, if you have any additional questions, please feel free to contact our admissions office at the information provided below."

sincerely,

roberto morales

admissions counselor

[email protected]

1-888-647-2388, ext. 27.

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Specializes in Cardiac.

Sounds like a push to get you enrolled. I know SL has a "transfer guarantee" with EC as a partner college. I know the Credit By Exam catalog shows HG&D as a course equivilant to LS Dev Psych. We all know Micro is a done deal. The only one I would really worry about is Penn Foster. I think the response you got was a canned comment. I'm waiting on my eval and it includes all the courses you mentioned and the same route except for Penn Foster. I'll let you know if they transfer ok, but you know as well as I do, its up to the actual advisor and may depend on the mood they are in that day.

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Specializes in EMS, ED, Trauma, CEN, CPEN, TCRN.

That is always going to be the answer you get (ummmm, minus the typos ... sheesh). I don't blame EC for not allocating resources to non-enrolled students, because I'm sure that for each of us that enroll and actually finish, there are hundreds who have transcripts evaluated and never enroll. It would be impossible to service everyone. And no, they will not tell you if they'll accept something for credit unless you are enrolled. It's annoying, I know!

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Specializes in Tele/Neuro/Trauma.

I personally enrolled earlier than I would have liked for that reason, because once I did, they gave me credits for things I had already taken that the "Unofficial" eval didn't, and I would have wasted time and $$ on.

What I would say to do if you can, if take your first two nursing exams first, see how you do, get a feel of the nursing program before you spend the $900 or whatever the fee is now. Then make your choice to enroll or not. That is what I did, because I was not sure if online learning was for me... I waited until I knew I could pass the nursing tests before I dropped that kind of $$.

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Sounds like a push to get you enrolled. I know SL has a "transfer guarantee" with EC as a partner college. I know the Credit By Exam catalog shows HG&D as a course equivilant to LS Dev Psych. We all know Micro is a done deal. The only one I would really worry about is Penn Foster. I think the response you got was a canned comment. I'm waiting on my eval and it includes all the courses you mentioned and the same route except for Penn Foster. I'll let you know if they transfer ok, but you know as well as I do, its up to the actual advisor and may depend on the mood they are in that day.

Yes, it does... I'm also curious to see if I get a phone call from EC tonight... they've called 3 times already when I'm not here, no message. Maybe a recording!!

Good to know about the guarantee with SL! I feel pretty safe with the HG&D CLEP... I've been reading the textbook this week. The Penn Foster... I don't know. Might work, might not. I may decide to take that ASAP, like Lunah recommended in a prior post. The Micro will be a bear, but I have lots of study materials for that.

I'm anxious to hear about your eval... be sure and let me know!

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That is always going to be the answer you get (ummmm, minus the typos ... sheesh). I don't blame EC for not allocating resources to non-enrolled students, because I'm sure that for each of us that enroll and actually finish, there are hundreds who have transcripts evaluated and never enroll. It would be impossible to service everyone. And no, they will not tell you if they'll accept something for credit unless you are enrolled. It's annoying, I know!

Lunah, you brought up some good points... of course, they probably get many more people that apply and never enroll. I can understand them wanting to devote more time to the students that have enrolled. But, I guess I'll just keep pushing forward, and hope they accept everything! :)

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I personally enrolled earlier than I would have liked for that reason, because once I did, they gave me credits for things I had already taken that the "Unofficial" eval didn't, and I would have wasted time and $$ on.

What I would say to do if you can, if take your first two nursing exams first, see how you do, get a feel of the nursing program before you spend the $900 or whatever the fee is now. Then make your choice to enroll or not. That is what I did, because I was not sure if online learning was for me... I waited until I knew I could pass the nursing tests before I dropped that kind of $$.

Beachnurse, it will be interesting to see if they 'count' any more of my credits. There were some that were unnecessary for the program that were not applied. (2 Intro Psych, Death & Dying Psych, Philosophy, Intro Bio, French) But, the important ones were all applied, and the additional required courses were just as I figured.

I'm kinda testing the water with online/independent study... the HG&D CLEP, the Penn Foster Info Lit (which I will probably go ahead and take), and the Straighterline Eng 101. I will definitely take the 2 Nursing Exams that I can take before enrolling... you are right... that is a good way to get a feel for the Nursing Program!

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Also, THANKS to all of you for jumping into this discussion! I appreciate all your comments and insight!! :lol2:

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Specializes in Tele/Neuro/Trauma.
Beachnurse, it will be interesting to see if they 'count' any more of my credits. There were some that were unnecessary for the program that were not applied. (2 Intro Psych, Death & Dying Psych, Philosophy, Intro Bio, French) But, the important ones were all applied, and the additional required courses were just as I figured.

I'm kinda testing the water with online/independent study... the HG&D CLEP, the Penn Foster Info Lit (which I will probably go ahead and take), and the Straighterline Eng 101. I will definitely take the 2 Nursing Exams that I can take before enrolling... you are right... that is a good way to get a feel for the Nursing Program!

Actually Barbara, French should count towards your Humanities because I was going to CLEP Spanish and got approval for it... and Intro to Bio should cover your elective Science credits... and I would push to get one of your Psych courses as an elective. I did the AAS for that reason. They would not give me Intro to Psych but they did give me Forensic Anthropology for my Social Science elective and Diet and Nutrition for my free electives... but ONLY after I enrolled :-/

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Definitely ask why a course was not accepted. I did this for one of my courses and it was accepted. I also chose the AAS because they accept more electives this route.

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I am going to speak with an Admissions Counselor in the morning... that 'phone call' from EC that I had gotten 3 times was an actual person, who offered to set up an appointment.

SO.... I'll find out exactly what they used and didn't.

Will let you guys know. Thanks!

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Nothing out of the ordinary about the original email, other than the typos. They do not do evals, approvals for non-enrolled students. You can look at the info provided in the nursing catalog online and pretty much figure it out yourself. They accept most courses if obtained at an accredited school. Any school is going to come across as pushy in the beginning when it comes to getting you hooked into starting to send them money. Good luck.

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