I want to say thank you to the people in the Arizona forums. I hope to move there in March. I have been researching all the schools for hours, and the info on this forum has been so valuable, because you can actually talk to people who have had expierence with each school.
About my topic, I have been reading allot of negative things about Apollo College, which I am like 90% sure that is were I will be going.
All the horror stories about accreditation and little old sally who spent 40,000 dollars on an education, and now her credits wont transfer and she has to start over bla,bla,bla.
I just got off the phone with a real nice admin counselor at Apollo. She has been there three years. She told me that they already have Matriculation agreements in place for several schools in Arizona that will accept Apollo credits toward a B.S.N.
You can also tranfer allot of prerequisites in to Apollo, and save allot on tuition. I will have six prerequisites that will transfer by the time I start in July. So, I will be done with R.N. in hand while you community collegers are still waiting to get in. Nothing wrong with that if you are 19 years old living with your Mom and don't have to wory about it, but for the rest of us in the real world with car payments, and rent or you are on the street: We need to get to work Now
Last year I was in the Respiratory Therapy program at Apollo, and ended up dropping because of how poor the quality of teaching I was getting. I DO know that other programs are much better... Just the RT program had a bunch of new teachers that were basically in over their head.
At any rate, good luck. I'm sticking to the MCCD program also. I don't mind the waiting list because I have a decent paying job job, and I can afford get my degree without taking out any loans.
OP--- Nothing wrong with UoP however... it just costs a lot of money per credit and well I am not big on group learning. I really don't like the fact that they do (or maybe did- haven't checked in a while) have a group approach to papers and assignments and stuff. I don't like others having a say in my grade all the time. What if they don't do the work? They get the grade too? What if you can't all be online at the same time... etc. Its one thing if you are in a real life class together, its another if its online. Just my
I would love to stick with a communit college program. Here is my situation. I will already have two terms worth of prereqs done when I get to Phoenix. I don't have a c.n.a., because you don't have to have one in Oregon to be a med aid. I will have to get the c.n.a. in Arizona. So i will be taking like three months off from school. I can onley take six before I have to start repaying loans. So, I need to get back in to school before then.
I am going to apply to the skills centers and enroll in a c.c. there a.s.a.p. to finish my prereuqs. We will see what happens. It's in the Lords hands.
I am waiting to see if I'm accepted into Apollo's Nov 08 class. I was wary of Apollo but I contacted several Apollo graduates via myspace and asked them about it. By the response I got, students from Apollo's first classes were not so happy with the program, mainly because of bad teachers. Apollo apparently got rid of these problem instructors and students seemed overall pretty happy with their experience. The bottom line for me is that all of these students are now happily working as RNs. Their employers didn't care where they went to school. They also have a pretty decent NCLEX pass rate. One student told me all but 3 in their class passed a recent NCLEX exam - can't remember the class size - I think 30.
Apollo used to have a program with a hospital with $18,000/year tuition reimbursement but unfortunately that hospital has reached their limit of new grads.
Re prereqs - yes they transfer them in but they tell you in the info session that if you don't take at least one class in the first semester there's a chance you will have to wait to come in to the 3rd semester because people who start the program from the beginning have 1st priority for a seat. So if the class is full, someone would have to drop out of the program in order for you to get a seat in the 3rd semester.
I chose Apollo because I'm older and I don't want to do nursing school piecemeal. I'd rather enter a school and go all the way, all at once. I'm willing to deal with the tuition to achieve my dream. Are you looking at Apollo Westside?
i chose apollo because i'm older and i don't want to do nursing school piecemeal. i'd rather enter a school and go all the way, all at once. i'm willing to deal with the tuition to achieve my dream. are you looking at apollo westside?
shannahan,
why did you choose apollo and not everest or pima medical institute? my sil is in her first block in las vegas at apollo. i haven't talked to her since she started. i admire her determination, she moved from california, started a child in preschool and started nursing school all in one month. i will talk with her this weekend to see how she's doing, etc.
I looked into Everest and my impression was that it's going to be a good program but I didn't feel my chances were very high at getting in. They go by testing scores but also have a point system that you get credit for - things like work experience in the medical field, GPA, etc. I don't have these things to up my score. I think since they are new they are looking for the cream of the crop so that their NCLEX scores will be high.
I'm way on the westside so Pima was not a consideration. All that was left for a vocational school was Apollo. Testing-wise they only require the CPAT (very easy) and the NET then you are ranked by your NET score - the top 30 get in.
Please post how your sister in law is doing when you find out!
i looked into everest and my impression was that it's going to be a good program but i didn't feel my chances were very high at getting in. they go by testing scores but also have a point system that you get credit for - things like work experience in the medical field, gpa, etc. i don't have these things to up my score. i think since they are new they are looking for the cream of the crop so that their nclex scores will be high.
i'm way on the westside so pima was not a consideration. all that was left for a vocational school was apollo. testing-wise they only require the cpat (very easy) and the net then you are ranked by your net score - the top 30 get in.
please post how your sister in law is doing when you find out!
shannahan,
how many of your credits are transferrable and how much is the tuition? i know everest is 40k+. also do you know how many classes they take in each year and what are the start dates?
So, you are saying to take atleast one class in the first term for apollo? I think I can do that. I am still not 100% on moving. I still have the option to go to Apollo here in Oregon. They only offer an L.P.N though.
Yes, take at least 1 class so that you have a guaranteed seat all the way through. They have online classes too - maybe that would count? I personally wouldn't do LPN at Apollo if you're planning to be an RN because of limited ability to transfer credits.
About transferring your pre-reqs. You can break into the 3rd semester that will be currently starting in Nov as long as there is a seat available. From my understanding, they are always 3-5 seats, but they aren't sure until finals a few weeks before the new term starts. and the credits you transfer in reduces your tution. When I looked into almost a year ago, all my pre-reqs done, breaking into 3rd sememster costs a total of $28k.
"I would love to stick with a communit college program. Here is my situation. I will already have two terms worth of prereqs done when I get to Phoenix. I don't have a c.n.a., because you don't have to have one in Oregon to be a med aid. I will have to get the c.n.a. in Arizona. So i will be taking like three months off from school. "
You wouldn't have to take 3 months off. I took my CNA in 3 weeks at RSAA in Mesa for $800. If you are thinking about the community colleges make sure you talk to them about what transfers. I came to AZ from Ohio where the places I attended college use quarter hours, not semester hours. My A&P, Micro, etc wouldn't transfer at 1:1; my 4 credit hours (quarters) translated into 2.7 credit hours here. Long story short I have taken A&P I & II three times in 30 years; it has helped so I am not going to complain.
Deadbob
14 Posts
Last year I was in the Respiratory Therapy program at Apollo, and ended up dropping because of how poor the quality of teaching I was getting. I DO know that other programs are much better... Just the RT program had a bunch of new teachers that were basically in over their head.
At any rate, good luck. I'm sticking to the MCCD program also. I don't mind the waiting list because I have a decent paying job job, and I can afford get my degree without taking out any loans.