American Career College a good choice?

janenkoli · Jul 11, 2007

I graduated from American career college in 2004 and it was a good option for me because it is a fast paced program and there was no waiting list. i personaly think i will go through with this program again if am to do it over again. i know it is very expensive but look at the positive side, your gf will graduate in one year instead of waiting for one year to get into community college program in which her chances of getting in right away is slim because of long waiting list and competition because the program is less expensive, so a lot of people are waiting to get in because of the fee.

TheCommuter, BSN, RN · Jul 12, 2007

While I did not attend American Career College, I did attend another business college that was structured and priced similarly. I attended Casa Loma College, which is located in Van Nuys.

If your friend desperately wants to avoid waiting lists, bypass prerequisites, remain an LVN during her career, and graduate in less than 1 year, then American Career College would be a decent option. However, if your friend would like to upgrade to the RN licensure someday, she might want to avoid American Career College. Most business colleges are state-approved and nationally-accredited, so the credits earned will not transfer to regionally-accredited community colleges and universities. There are benefits and drawbacks to attending business schools.

Que3nxG · Aug 7, 2008

which campus is she planning on going to? Anaheim? LA? or Ontario?

DonnaBrownis29 · Aug 9, 2008

There was a huge article in the Orange County Register this past Sunday and Monday naming American Career College as one of the schools that gives students debt not jobs. Some of there graduates are joining together in a suit against the school because their diplomas ended up useless and they could not get jobs and are now working at dog kennels. Check around, there are other options. Also ask about the pass rate on the Nurses Exam AND the number of students that failed it will astonish you. I took the course at El Camino and yes I had to wait for 2 years to get in. There are other schools not mentioned in that article that are also offering the same programs and may even have an RN programs that you can enter after the completion of the LVN programs. Frankly though, I would pass on American Career College just based on the article that truly trashed this school.

xOC_BABYG1RLx · Aug 10, 2008

DONT GO THERE. LOOKS CAN BE DECEIVING. their not as "good" as they make theirselves look like. admission representatives are of course gonna be nice. but when you get to the classroom setting everything will be different. AT LEAST for the Anaheim campus. They dont REALLY care about you. Its a waste of time because your NOT even being TAUGHT, they give you a lot of BOOKS .. & cram so much unecessary ******** on you to do & EXPECT YOU TO COME IN THE NEXT DAY KNOWING & UNDERSTANDING IT BY YOURSELF without the help of the teacher. TRUST - if you want to keep your her in your life advice her to go to a different nursing school. That will ACTUALLY help her in becoming a nurse. Otherwise, she'll be on her own teaching her self - trying to read so much within one night. 5 HOURS IS THE MINIMUM that they require you to study in order to PASS. but i say more like 12 hours is what you need to really pass. & they lie to you saying if you need extra help then there's always tutorial. All they care about is the money. Gaurantee at least 20 people will drop out within 1 month within the start of 1 term, it happens all the time. Even people that are passing drop out because its ******* ******** the stuff they do. The nursing program there is basically self-taught. which is NO point. Everyone might as well just stay home monday-thursday reading the books. & come back on friday to take the test. Cause thats all you seriously do during class... sit down & read the book & do worksheets all to yourself. & the Class Size starts off big around 80+. so its extremely difficult to get focus help. I suggest try looking around for a different school. There's other schools in the LA/OC area ... they probally arent well known because their a lot smaller but the smaller it is the better cause itll help you out in the class. American Career College is just supposedly known cause of their advertisements & ****. All they want is your money! YOU GET DROPPED IF YOUR GRADE ISNT ABOVE 75% at the end of each term. and you STiLL have to pay back however amount of money you used up to that time. The only good side to them is that they have a high passing rate of people taking the state board exam (nclex) - but compare that to how many people ACTUALLY make it to the very last term! I say a good ratio would be a class that started off around 80+ in the beginning .. only about 20+ would graduate. But every school teaches the same information to their students & its just up to that person to gain the knowledge to pass the nclex. its NOT about what school they went to. DONT LET THIS SCHOOL's FAKENESS EAT YOU UP. THEY DONT CARE! ALL THEY WANT IS YOUR MONEY.

but if you want, still encourage your girlfriend to attend there, but when she finally figures out what I'm tryna put across... then message back & repost. and go anti-ACC!

try lookin around for other nursing school's around your area first though! before you decide on acc forsure. cause from MY opinion & many others.... the school is ********.

Tweety, BSN, RN · Aug 10, 2008

I'm moving this to the California forum because it is regional specific. Good luck.

The above post, sounds like nursing schools everywhere......lots of reading, hard work, self-directed, dropping students who can't keep a 75 average, and a bunch of students dropping out the first few semesters.

tothepointeLVN, LVN · Aug 19, 2008

There was a huge article in the Orange County Register this past Sunday and Monday naming American Career College as one of the schools that gives students debt not jobs. Some of there graduates are joining together in a suit against the school because their diplomas ended up useless and they could not get jobs and are now working at dog kennels. Check around, there are other options. Also ask about the pass rate on the Nurses Exam AND the number of students that failed it will astonish you. I took the course at El Camino and yes I had to wait for 2 years to get in. There are other schools not mentioned in that article that are also offering the same programs and may even have an RN programs that you can enter after the completion of the LVN programs. Frankly though, I would pass on American Career College just based on the article that truly trashed this school.

I would like to point out that the article did focus on the course such as pharmacy technician and medical assisting. Courses that are easy to get into at adult school or ROC. It did not mention any nursing students being unhappy.

tothepointeLVN, LVN · Aug 19, 2008

http://www.ocregister.com/articles/graduates-job-students-2112059-medical-college

Link to the article and read the comments on it too.

Also ACC is not one of the schools that was being sued. The parent company of Bryman and Everest and the Newbridge school. It mentioned other trade schools were being sued but if it was ACC I'm sure they would have mentioned it since they already mentioned it previously in the article.

I remember a couple of years back Brooks College was on 60 minutes because its graduates could only find jobs at the GAP.

monkeymum · Jul 18, 2009

While most of their classroom instructors are decent, many of their clinical instructors are downright awful and their nursing directors are the same. They are unethical in every way imaginable. I didn't graduate from the program because I chose to switch schools after numerous, RIDICULOUS "problems" in the first term with these people.

Awful, awful, awful, awful school.

Avoid, avoid, avoid, avoid, avoid, a-v-o-i-d.

Other schools are better and cheaper. Who cares if ACC boasts a high NCLEX pass rate? If you study for the NCLEX, you'll pass the NCLEX no matter where you get your diploma. ACC teaches right out of a study guide.

That's my two cents! :)

daizee9796 · Feb 6, 2010

while most of their classroom instructors are decent, many of their clinical instructors are downright awful and their nursing directors are the same. they are unethical in every way imaginable. i didn't graduate from the program because i chose to switch schools after numerous, ridiculous "problems" in the first term with these people.
awful, awful, awful, awful school.
avoid, avoid, avoid, avoid, avoid, a-v-o-i-d.
other schools are better and cheaper. who cares if acc boasts a high nclex pass rate? if you study for the nclex, you'll pass the nclex no matter where you get your diploma. acc teaches right out of a study guide.
that's my two cents! :)

you've just answered my question! i will not transfer to acc. i'm experiencing the same issues at my current school. i've read many of he comments about the various schools based in oc, they all have similar complaints. is there any hope? where did you end up going to? i'm facing the same decision. i want out of my awful school (making a point not to mention the name). many of the "clinical instructors" are meerly only moonlighting, working part-time at my school. most of them are employed locally at various hospitals. i honestly don't think the majority of these "instructors" have any formal training to be teaching and the majority suck! they show an overwhelming lack of respect towards their students. they are nasty, and rude, and make it a point to intimidate and humiliate you. they are not there to teach, only there for the paycheck! what monkeymum said mirrors what is going on at my school as far as the rest of the staff. the theory instuctors are there to teach, they are pretty much ok. although, the rest of the staff, including our director are highly unethical, disrespectful and cut-throught. we are treated unfairly, and are often singled out. what the heck does a difficiency mean anyway? gonna have a thousand in my file before i'm done!

i do feel i have been taken advantage of, my school and many others (as i've read) suck you in under the false pretense that "of course you can make it!" its been very tough academically, i'm sure this is true for all similar programs. however, the bs that goes on aka "drama" is very real, and makes the experience almost unbearable. as if just trying to score those required 75%s on the tests isn't hard enough. be very wary those of you who are considering attending private "we'll make ya a nurse in about a year!" types of schools (and there are a lot within this category.)

i agree that your money is all they care about. i'm am truly convinced of this. there are just too many incidences that have occured at the school i'm at, that have pointed straight to the money-devouring aspect of my business based school. consider waiting it out at your local community college, or go for your local rop. these types of places are more regulated, there turn-over rate for keeping their staff is a lot lower. you will most likely be treated better.

i admit i too was drawn in like a dazed and confused moth to the fire, and now i'm getting burned! do lots and lots of research. call each of the schools you're considering to see if you can possibly sit in on a class, and more importantly, sit-in during a clinical day while the group is on campus (wish i did!). that way you'll be exposed to the staff and at least you'll get some idea of what and who you'll be dealing with. ya probably won't like it. if i could stear all away from my school, i would! by the way everyone who reads this- one of the selling tactics these schools present is that they do have great nclex scores, but yes... think about it. how many of those initial students who signed up have made it untill the end to actually take the test????? they eliminate you one by one, weeding you out to assure that those students who will be taking the nclex will of course pass, and with flying colors too. don't think this happens by accident! its all a ploy, and a perfected technique to ensure that more suckers will continue to enroll. once they've got their grubby hands on your money, its all over people! :crying2: don't buy into the bs that the "career planner" feeds you when you call these places during your search of which school you should go to. those people are sales people, that says it all doesn't it? they sell the product to you, that's their purpose. you need to look deeper! good luck all of you who are currently searching for a career that is "more stable." nursing is a good field to be in. i haven't lost my will to suceed and actually get out there and make a difference in the lives of others. that's what i did this for.... right? (can't remember now, everything's blurry... ahhhh!) :uhoh3:

so, please, please, please tell me where you ended up transferring to monkeymum? i need help!

findingmyway · Mar 27, 2010

While I did not attend American Career College, I did attend another business college that was structured and priced similarly. I attended Casa Loma College, which is located in Van Nuys.
If your friend desperately wants to avoid waiting lists, bypass prerequisites, remain an LVN during her career, and graduate in less than 1 year, then American Career College would be a decent option. However, if your friend would like to upgrade to the RN licensure someday, she might want to avoid American Career College. Most business colleges are state-approved and nationally-accredited, so the credits earned will not transfer to regionally-accredited community colleges and universities. There are benefits and drawbacks to attending business schools.

so if you wanted to get your bsn and msn then theres no schools that you can transfer your credits too???