Lots of questions about distance learning....Need Help!!

BBFRN, BSN, PhD · Aug 18, 2004

From what I hear from some of my study buddies, you can talk Chancellor's into selling you single study guides to "try out their product," (even though they only advertise contracts). It's woth a try to talk to them about that option. I personally didn't use a publishing company, and I did just fine.

Laurie888 · Aug 18, 2004

Going direct seems to be the most recommended. For me, and I gather for most, i have different levels of knowledge on different subject areas, so signing up for complete set of study guides pointless. Many of us still have our nursing books from school -- or can buy them used in any event and the material is in there. The nice things about the content guides that excelsior gives you is it contains a list of reading material, and even if you don't have the exact book you can generally find the equivalent in what you do have.

There is also a wealth of knowledge and study notes shared between students on a couple of yahoo study sites, as well as an assortment of used study guides from various sources (chancellors, rue, etc.) on eBay.

jschut, BSN, RN · Aug 18, 2004

I would think going direct would be the way to go too. I mean, you are spending hte money, why not use what the school recommends? And like the above poster said, there are TONS of websites out there to help with studying.....

Good Luck! :)

DMoon · Aug 18, 2004

There are different publishing companies that publish study guides for the Excelsior exams, and IMO they're all just middlemen out to get your money. The above posters are correct--go straight to the source (Excelsior) and save your money for what's important! There are plenty of free resources for you--both via Excelsior College itself and on-line. And don't forget your hospital library! A lot of times you can borrow texts instead of buying them. Good luck and keep us posted as to your progress--

Dakota (A happy and gainfully employed Regents College grad {what Excelsior College used to be named!})

Medic2RN, BSN, RN, EMT-P · Aug 19, 2004

I'm currently going through nursing school at EC. I use the EC content guide and buy the books discounted online and just read the assigned chapters. I do have some Chancellor study guides, but I only use them to summarize what I've read. IMO, they miss a lot of details you need to know for tests and for nursing knowledge in general. So far I have gotten all As. The yahoo groups are invaluable and they frequently post helpful websites, advice, and study sessions to join. My goals are to pass all my tests in the quickest time possible without sacrificing a good, solid foundation of knowledge.

I looked into different publishers and it's a lot cheaper to buy the books, roll up your sleeves and dig in!!

:balloons:

barbiedee · Aug 23, 2004

If you want to try out a publisher's study guide, I would suggest ebay. You can buy one for a fraction of the cost of new, and you can see for yourself which is the best way to go. Publisher's study guides usually just compress the information you find in the text books. You can usually find study guides for almost all of the Excelsior courses on ebay or other like sites. Half.com is a good place for used, cheaper texts, also. But be sure of what you are getting. I purchased what was listed as the textbook, and ended up being the accompanying workbook. Unfortunately the seller wouldn't refund my money even though it was she who misrepresented the product as a textbook.