Affordable Pre Req's Online for Excelsior College?

TheCommuter, BSN, RN · Nov 30, 2012

Welcome to Allnurses.com!

I moved your post to the Excelsior forum with the goal of attracting more responses to your question. Good luck!

JustBeachyNurse, LPN · Nov 30, 2012

As of October 1, 2012 only a limited number of ACE credits from Penn Foster and/or Straighterline (maximum 7 for Associate's program) will be accepted. Many take the Info Lit class at Penn Foster, so you can take only 6 more ACE credits towards the degree.

You can take classes at your local community college and transfer them over.

You can take CLEP exams, they are about $80 plus a site testing center fee (usually $15-$30) but you need to know the material in order to pass the exam.

You can take the ECE exams also ($305 for a 3 credit course like Developmental Psychology)

woodsyny, MSN · Nov 30, 2012

Try edukan.com or Western oklahoma university,clovis college,. Western oklahoma offers 10 day intercessions in december. 3 credits in 10 days,less than $400. I am doing 2 courses there for my bsn at another college. I am finishing mircrobiology at edukan in 1 week. Has a "virtual lab" and is 5 credits. Highly recommend them all with the least amount of money out of your pocket. Good luck. Also try rio saldo college. many students take prereq's there.

nurseprnRN, BSN, RN · Nov 30, 2012

Excelsior and the other for-profit online schools are sooo far and away not your best choice to become a nurse. Seriously. They make a boatload of money on the fees and very exorbitant interest they charge, the courses will cost you far, far more than the same coursework at your local community college or state college or university, and many of them do not give you a degree that all state boards of nursing will accept. You think it will be easier doing it online, but it isn't, and the money differential is so huge.

Do yourself a favor and google "Excelsior complaints" and be prepared to be shocked. Then google your state college or university and see the difference in costs and quality. Then make an appointment to go talk to the admissions people there and explore what routes you can take to realize your dream of a decent education to prepare you for a real career.

EricJRN, MSN, RN · Dec 1, 2012

Good luck to you. It's good that you're thinking about your plan. I graduated several years ago, so I'm not as much help with the specifics anymore. I'll just tell you that I used ECEs for a couple of courses which generally have labs. That issue can affect your options for BSN or graduate programs. If you think a BSN or grad school is even a remote possibility, just take your sciences in a format that will transfer to most places in the future.

tnmarie · Dec 1, 2012

I highly recommend CLEP. I did the prereqs that I still lacked that way. It is faster, cheaper, and your prereqs will transfer almost any college if you want to go somewhere else after Ec. The new policies that took effect in October really limit you as far as online courses (or at least the ones using ACE credits). ALWAYS check with an Ec advisor prior to enrolling in any course or college for your prereqs!

Excelsior and the other for-profit online schools are sooo far and away not your best choice to become a nurse...

Actually, the Excelsior program is far and away the best choice to get your RN for many, many students. I agree that the online format is NOT for everyone, just as a brick and mortar format is not for everyone either. I also agree that you should talk to people who weren't successful with the EC program as well as those who were. It is always best to learn the advantages and disadvantages of any nursing program that you are considering so that you can make a more informed decision based on your own personal circumstances and educational needs.

I know many great nurses who could have never advanced their careers without this program. :-)

tokmom, BSN, RN · Dec 2, 2012

Excelsior and the other for-profit online schools are sooo far and away not your best choice to become a nurse. Seriously. They make a boatload of money on the fees and very exorbitant interest they charge, the courses will cost you far, far more than the same coursework at your local community college or state college or university, and many of them do not give you a degree that all state boards of nursing will accept. You think it will be easier doing it online, but it isn't, and the money differential is so huge.

Do yourself a favor and google "Excelsior complaints" and be prepared to be shocked. Then google your state college or university and see the difference in costs and quality. Then make an appointment to go talk to the admissions people there and explore what routes you can take to realize your dream of a decent education to prepare you for a real career.

Yeah, ALL Excelsior grads aren't real nurses. :wacky:

Hate to tell you, but Excelsior nurses ARE real nurses and they pass a REAL NCLEX, become REAL managers and make REAL money. Doesn't that make a REAL career? As far as I know, the 84K I made last year was REAL money!

I wouldn't speak hastily of a program you know nothing of, obviously. If you think it's not real, go try the CPNE. I swore I would never do it again. I'd rather go to a brick and mortar and be spoon fed and have an occasional bad day. There is NO bad day with the CPNE.

You try working with REAL patients and have a REAL proctor standing over you with a clipboard. ONE screw up...ONE...and you are DONE...DONE!! You get one make up pt and if you mess that up, you are GONE...GONE! Thousands of dollars gone.

Those that speak poorly of Excelsior expect to it to be easy. They are surprised when they have to have be accountable for themselves. Nobody is going to tell you to study or to be focused. It requires discipline.

You must also remember, the people going this route are already nurses and have families and full time jobs. They can't take the time off to go sit in a classroom.

I'm an Excelsior grad from waaay back. I have never had problems securing employment. In fact my DNS is an Excelsior grad as are 4 nurses I work with.

KitkatPRN · Dec 2, 2012

My two cents:

Math: ALEKS, Info Lit & English Comp(Writen English): Penn Foster, A&P and Micro: Community college and transfer credits (my opinion: these were too hard not to be "spoon fed" the information & invaluable with the labs/hands on. Everything else: not sure, I transferred them from my community college. Good luck to you. I graduated from my local community college in Dec. 2012 as am LPN, started with Excelsior in April and I'm working on my FCCA & Micro (Excelsior didn't transfer my Micro credits from '95 .... I bought the College network guide on Ebay which is really helping, if you do Micro without going to a "brick and mortar" this will help). I am SO happy with Excelsior because I can work my full time job and earn my degree. Also there is a 3 year waiting list for the bridge RN program where I live. Good luck to you !! P.S. You MUST be a good student, organize your time well and have good critical thinking skills to do well with Excelsior otherwise I would suggest going the tradional route. Excelsior is not for everyone and I do NOT think they are out for your money as another poster suggested !! Excelsior is for the non tradional, self motivated, independent learner (in my opinion).

natnat122 · Dec 2, 2012

Excelsior and the other for-profit online schools are sooo far and away not your best choice to become a nurse. Seriously. They make a boatload of money on the fees and very exorbitant interest they charge, the courses will cost you far, far more than the same coursework at your local community college or state college or university, and many of them do not give you a degree that all state boards of nursing will accept. You think it will be easier doing it online, but it isn't, and the money differential is so huge.

Do yourself a favor and google "Excelsior complaints" and be prepared to be shocked. Then google your state college or university and see the difference in costs and quality. Then make an appointment to go talk to the admissions people there and explore what routes you can take to realize your dream of a decent education to prepare you for a real career.

There are complaints about EVERY school. I'm an excelsior student and very satisfied.

natnat122 · Dec 2, 2012

Hi, i've been an LPN for alittle over a year and now I'm really considering starting Excelsior college for my RN. I've never been to college, Only have high school diploma and LPN license. Odd work hours makes it hard for me to schedule school..
Now the question is, where can i find the most affordable Pre Reqs online that can be accepted towards EC Nursing?. I have to take ALL of the Pre-Reqs as an LPN:
My Admission states i need these:
Written English
Information Literacy
Humanities
Humanities Core
Life Span Developmental Psychology Core
Sociology Core
Additional Social Sciences
Human Anatomy and Physiology - Microbiology
College-level Math (additional natural science/math)
Arts and Science Electives
i've heard of StraighterLine, Penn Foster, Clep, ALEKS, can anyone pinpoint which pre-reqs can be taken where, which then i would transfer to EC for nursing?

I took College-level Math (Beginning Algebra) through ALEKS and completed it in 2 weeks; very doable and helpful. ALEKS has a really good tutoring session for each section before they test you.

I took Anatomy and Physiology II through Straighterline (did A&P I at a community college) and completed it in 2 weeks; I enjoyed that too.. Straighterline has these presentations and flashcards and alot of study materials for you to access after you pay.. I even got a discount code online so maybe you can search for that too..

I took Developmental Psychology through CLEP (Human Growth and Development) and completed it in about 2 months.

I took Information Literacy through Excelsior, finished it in a day it's pretty basic. I heard Penn Foster is wayyy cheaper though so I would go with them for that..

I don't know if CLEP offers Micro but I took it through excelsior and survived lol.. I think I took 2 or 3 months for this class though because I really wanted to get that info and understand it..

Just keep in mind that whether you get an A, B, or C credits from those outside sources go on your transcript as a P (pass) or F (fail).

I don't know about all the rest as I did those in a community college. Best Wishes!!

roseonye · Dec 10, 2012

Yeah, ALL Excelsior grads aren't real nurses.
Hate to tell you, but Excelsior nurses ARE real nurses and they pass a REAL NCLEX, become REAL managers and make REAL money. Doesn't that make a REAL career? As far as I know, the 84K I made last year was REAL money!
I wouldn't speak hastily of a program you know nothing of, obviously. If you think it's not real, go try the CPNE. I swore I would never do it again. I'd rather go to a brick and mortar and be spoon fed and have an occasional bad day. There is NO bad day with the CPNE.
You try working with REAL patients and have a REAL proctor standing over you with a clipboard. ONE screw up...ONE...and you are DONE...DONE!! You get one make up pt and if you mess that up, you are GONE...GONE! Thousands of dollars gone.
Those that speak poorly of Excelsior expect to it to be easy. They are surprised when they have to have be accountable for themselves. Nobody is going to tell you to study or to be focused. It requires discipline.
You must also remember, the people going this route are already nurses and have families and full time jobs. They can't take the time off to go sit in a classroom.
I'm an Excelsior grad from waaay back. I have never had problems securing employment. In fact my DNS is an Excelsior grad as are 4 nurses I work with.

tokmom do we work together? because my DNS is an excelsior grad and 2 other RN's i work with.