Drexels ACE clinical locations and advice

I graduated the drexel ACE program. The hospitals i was at were :

In NJ - marlton rehab, underwood hospital, virtua hospital in marlton
In PA- shriners hospital, Hosp of the Univ of Penn, hahnemann, nazareth hospital, watermark nursing home, 11th streethealth clinic,

Yes youll take tons of HESI - the final comprehensive one being very difficult. There were roughly 130 in my starting class ( MUCH less as a final number haha) and for lecture we were divided alphabetically into 3 sessions.

For the first quarter u are in class 4 days a week and 1 clinical

The other 3 quarters are class all day mon and tues and 3 out of the 4 next days are clinical days ( meaning yes you could have a saturday clinical..but then off a tues or wed etc )

Looking back yea it was a quick 11 months, but i would not do the program again. For the amount of debt i am in from the program, it has completely hindered my life moving forward. Drexel tells you how much nurses make in the city etc and they always add an extra 10,000 to the actual number. Im a first year grad with a salary of roughly 48-49,000 with a takehome base pay of about 38,000. I work now in Camden, on the other side of the bridge outside of philly, and my philly friends only make about a dollar more than me an hour so its now that big of a difference.

My hospital i work at is one of the only around who give a starting bonus to new grads 10,000 which i got and was glad to get. HOWEVER

if i had went to the nursing school that school offered i could have had FREE TUITION with only a 1 year contract to work after.
I definitly would have gone back for 2 years instead of just the 1 to not have this looming debt.

Just so everyone knows - b/c people always ask me this : I have standard student loans through sallie mae and some state ones and pay about $500 a month in loans for drexel. And thats $500 a month for 30 years. ( i try to pay more each month, b/c if i actually took 30 years, with interest etc ill have paid almost 100,000 for drexel.

MAY I REPEAT

$100,000 for 1 year at drexel! i laugh at how stupid i was to sign up for that now. Its a quick fix to getting done school yes, but any regard for your future and you will not go here. Its a horror year that you have to give up your life for. In a crappy falling apart building in center city, its just a miserable year. I passed no problem, but many many people didnt make it out alive

I only say this because i wish someone had told me before i decided i wanted to go there. I just want all to know both side of the story. Feel free to email me with any questions.