Achieve Test Prep questions

[nurseonoriode, BSN, LPN]

do you still have to enroll, take and attend the nursing classes that are provided by the school your going to (do assignments, tests, ect.)?

what schools are affiliated with achieve test prep?

can it be used with any school?

[JustBeachyNurse, LPN]

No school is affiliated with achieve test prep. Achieve prepared candidates to enroll in Excelsior College and take the challenge exams. Excelsior is neither affiliated with nor do they endorse/recommend Achieve Test Prep

all achieve test costs are in addition to fees & tuition charged by Excelsior. ATP cannot advise you officially regarding admission, enrollment, or course plan at EC.

achieve test prep is basically a paid tutoring service for what is intended to be an independent distance based learning program that relies on a currently licensed LPN or paramedic's education and clinical experience and demonstration of clinical competency.

[Raviepoo]

What she said, below. You can do Excelsior on your own. It will be cheaper that way. Or go to a brick and mortar school. "Passing" ATP's classes really gets you nothing. You then have to go pass Excelsior's challenge exams if you want to pursue a degree.

I also think ATP is a little bit slimey. I answered a job posting for a tutor at ATP and was told my resume was under review. Apparently I was thrown into the "leads" pile. Their telemarketers started hounding me, trying to get me to register, even after I told them I was just a few months away from finishing my ADN at a brick and mortar school. I had to get ugly to get them to stop calling. That is not an ethical business practice, IMHO.

No school is affiliated with achieve test prep. Achieve prepared candidates to enroll in Excelsior College and take the challenge exams. Excelsior is neither affiliated with nor do they endorse/recommend Achieve Test Prep

all achieve test costs are in addition to fees & tuition charged by Excelsior. ATP cannot advise you officially regarding admission, enrollment, or course plan at EC.

achieve test prep is basically a paid tutoring service for what is intended to be an independent distance based learning program that relies on a currently licensed LPN or paramedic's education and clinical experience and demonstration of clinical competency.

[JustBeachyNurse, LPN]

Yes you still need to enroll in Excsior College and complete either the challenge exams or the online courses (courses are significantly more expensive (~$400 vs ~$1300) but may be covered by financial aid). You are required to apply to EC (fee was$80 but I heard it's higher now), get accepted (only currently licensed LPNs and paramedics (EMT-P/MICP) are eligible) sign a waiver if your state requires additional hours for licensing (CA will not accept EC grads under any circumstance, AZ & other states require additional clinical preceptorships post graduation that the student may have to pay for, other states will not initially license EC grads but will endorse if the candidate can prove 1000 paid experience as an RN). Then challenge the pre-req classes or take the courses before moving on to the nursing exams/classes. In the end there are two final courses the online clinical competency assessments (FCCA) which is two classes and the CPNE which is a 3-day demonstration of clinical assessment and skills competency in a lab and patient setting (3 patients) with little room ( if any) for error.

ATP is not a school. They are not affiliated or endorsed by any school. The classes are not collegiate courses with credits that can transfer but tutoring classes allegedly aligned with the Excelsior College curriculum. Similar to taking a NCLEX prep class or getting extra help at a writing lab for an English composition class.

All costs from ATP are in addition to the fees, charges and test fees from Excelsior and Pearson (Pearson charges a fee to take the challenge exam ). They offer personal loans (not student loans or financial aid as they are not a school) to spread out the costs of their program.

[JustBeachyNurse, LPN]

Achieve Test Prep helps by adding structure and support to help students in the test out process. They also have live teachers even for the virtual classes, which can be a huge help over the self driven online courses. Having someone to spell out what will be on the test and teach you those items allows ATP students to achieve a 93 percent average pass rate on the test out exams.

When students try to study on their own, or in self-paced online modules with no live teacher, they often fail due to lack of a live teacher. So using a test prep service like ATP could be the difference between passing and failing, which is really all the difference in the world when it comes to getting that degree.

Then why not just attend a brick and mortar school where the instructors work for the school issuing the degree and administer the tests. Rather than a third party company neither affiliated nor endorsed by the school that cannot guarantee the material taught is relevant to the exam as the test prep company is the instructors are not eligible to review the exam prep guides if not an actively enrolled student at EC.

I've done the cost analysis taking a traditional LPN to asn/RN program with in person clinicals is quite often more cost effective than doing an independent distance program supplemented by a test-prep tutoring service. If you need that much in person help (and many do) then perhaps an independent distance learning/self review challenge exam is not the best program for you.

[Raviepoo]

And that is the reason NOT to do Achieve Test Prep. You are taking classes. You are spending money. You are spending time. You are doing the work that your instructors give you, with no guarantee that you are being taught material that will enable you to pass Excelsior's tests. If you want to pay money to a school, be instructed and do assigned homework, you want a brick and mortar school. If you want to save time, money and work (although I don't really agree with that last one - testing out requires a ton of study and self-discipline) you want to register directly with Excelsior. Who does achieve help? Achieve.

When you use a test out path, you are testing out of college courses rather than taking college courses. This can mean a lot less work, less time, and substantial savings over taking the college course. If someone wanted to get their degree the traditional way and buy all the college books, and pay for all the credit hours, that will work too. For many their location or their packed schedule does not allow for attending a brick and mortar school and an independent distance learning course is not enough for them. It's a matter of choice. Some people would prefer the shorter and often less expensive path available via testing out.

[Raviepoo]

I never said anything negative about testing out. I've done it before and I plan to do it again. Testing out is a wonderful things, with many advantages. You lose the economic advantage if you are paying to take classes to teach you what might be on the test, maybe.