Appointment with College Network tomorrow

rh39 · Aug 21, 2007

I am currently enrolled in Excelsior College to obtain my Associates Degree in Nursing. This is the college you would be attending if you signed a contract with College Network (TCN). I am assuming that you know TCN is not an actual college, they are a publishing company. I work with a girl who did sign with them, and was not happy when she discovered she had signed up to pay alot of money for study guides that could be purchased on EBAY, and that she didn't need them at all.

I would encourage you to do some more research before you sign anything. Excelsior's program is unique, but very confusing at first to navigate. It took me a while to understand it, because it is not stuctured like a traditional college program. Take some time to research it, once you sign with a publishing company, I believe you are locked into that contract, and the monthly fee. Also something to keep in mind, Excelsior College requires money to attend, the money you pay Excelsior is not included in your fees to TCN.

3 places to look:

(1) www.excelsior.edu or call 1-888-647-2388. This is the college you would actually be attending if you signed with the college network, talk to them first!

(2) EBAY : do a search for "the college network study guides". There are usually many used guides for sale at a fraction of the cost. I have purchased all my guides from Ebay.

(3) old threads on this forum; There are volumes of info on Excelsior college (the nitty-griity details of getting through the program) and the pros and cons of signing with a publishing company.

I have nothing against TCN or chancellors, I have found the materials they publish helpful in studying for exams, however, I have heard that the salesreps for TCN are very pushy and somewhat vague on actual details.

Hope this helps, I am sure there are others who may have more info to add.

good luck with whatever you decide.

Lisa

txspadequeenRN, BSN, RN · Aug 21, 2007

the college network is not a college but only a publishing company. your degree in the end will be from excelsior (ec) . ec is not online just so your know it is a test and self-paced program. now if i were you i would strongly encourage you to read all post on the college network. i got suckered for $150 a month for years when i could have went to e-bay and bought the guides for about 50 a piece (rather than the 400-450 a piece they charge). also i have been using lisa arends guides they are pretty good and you can get those for $10 off e-bay...just be careful not to be fooled by the college network. they are very convincing....

i have an appointment with an advisor from college network tomorrow for the lvn to rn and was excited that i was going to be able to get started so quick but after reading some of the posts i am having second thoughts. i still want to do it on line but do not know if i should spend all that extra money on college network if i do not need it. any advice? i am lost!

aegirl · Aug 21, 2007

I have an appointment with an advisor from college network tomorrow for the lvn to rn and was excited that i was going to be able to get started so quick but after reading some of the posts I am having second thoughts. i still want to do it on line but do not know if i should spend all that extra money on college network if i do not need it. Any advice? i am lost!

Don't sign with them! I have a friend who went through TCN and payed over $3,000 and that was just for the nursing concepts exams and lifecycle development. I took lifecycle through my local CC and bought TCN nursing concepts books on ebay for about $500 and the lisa arends cds. I've passed the 3 exams i've taken so far with B's. Beware signing with TCN. I'd recommend doing what I did...a lot less money. You can't get out of TCN once you sign up as far as I know.

Nursekimberlyjune · Aug 21, 2007

This morning I called and cancelled my appt with the college network advisor. after spending most of the night reading old posts on this site I found that only about 10% of the members of this site found them to be useful. Most members that have signed with them expressed they felt taken advantage of. SO THANKS EVERYONE for posting your experiences with cn. It helped me make an informed decision that i feel good about!

chaxanmom · Aug 24, 2007

I'm doing TCN and my degree isn't coming from EC, it's from Indiana State. :) I actually really like the study guides. Much quicker for me than textbooks. Pricey though. I do wish I'd known about Ebay for my pre-req's (4 of the modules for ISU have to be from TCN) though. I just got a letter from them saying I need one more but i'm definitely stalking ebay first! It's the World Religions test so I might just use a few library books. Doesn't sound that hard.

Boston-RN, RN · Aug 24, 2007

I have to say I have a friend that choose to do college network and it was very expensive but he did get done with all the NC exams in approx 5-6 mths.

I bought all the recommended EC textbooks and there was soo much reading in them and overlapping material that I ended up getting a variety of other study guides (lisa's cd's and NCLEX study guide and a couple TCN study guides on ebay) to get me through the program quicker than reading all the recommended reading.

Just be aware that you can normally find TCN study guides on ebay for a fraction of the cost. But if time is more valuable than money it's a personal choice.

SuesquatchRN, BSN, RN · Aug 24, 2007

You don't need them.

I'm doing Excelsior www.excelsior.edu and they provide everything I need.

NurseKatSteeZ · Aug 27, 2007

In all honesty, I REGRET signing up with the COLLEGE NETWORK. I thought as a stay-at-home mom (well I work as an LVN about 6 days a month), this is the best route for me in getting my RN title. WRONG! I went to a vocational school for the LVN, therefore I have no other college credits except Psych 101. I signed up w/ TCN, and have like 15 study guides more or less including the 4 Nursing transition ones. I pay 172 a month, for 6 years. The TCN advisor/recruiter or whatever is a darn good salesman and saleswoman because I got SUCKERED.

This is killing me inside. I don't want to vent to my husband because I will never hear the end of it. For one, we are stuck w/ the 172 dollar monthly payments for 6 years. Or was it 5? lol. Still, that's a lot of money. I started studying a couple of the books, but it feels neverending. I think I rushed into this because of the stressed long waits for the RN programs near me. I figured out that I am more of a traditional student, and need an instructor in a traditional setting class. I am stuck in a mess. Does anyone have any tips for me? I know I'm in a contract, can I take this matter legally so I can somehow cancel? I want to go back to traditional school. GRRRRR to TCN! I wish I did more research. Goodluck to those who are in it and are doing well, more power. Nd' to those considering signing up, pleaseeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee... think twice, do majorrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr research. I think this is the biggest stressor of my life. :uhoh3: :madface: :down: :nono: :down: :down: :down: :down: :down:

Vida · Aug 28, 2007

..yeah ..same thing happened to me. I wish I could get out of the TCN contract. If you come up with anything, let me know. I hate them. And Ive only found that the notes you find on the yahoo groups and ON EC'S WEBSITE (!!) have helped me to pass.

:trout:

Vida

nberry255 · Aug 29, 2007

Saw your post and thought my experience might help. I attend Kaylim Career Center which do the study material PLUS classroom time. I don't know what they are saying about CN to give you second thoughts but I have passed all my classes with Kaylim. I need the structure of a schedule and class time. If you can do it on your own then maybe CN or another publisher would work for you. They all prepare you for the same exams. I personally don't want to read the entire text book to pass so a publishing company was worth it to me. Before you pick somewhere just ask yourself if you are self disciplined enough to do it on your own. I think, but I am not sure, that no matter what publishing company you go with you can still sit in the Kaylim classes b/c they are all the same exams. You'd have to double check with them though.

Are you just starting or have you done any prerequisites? Also something to keep in mind is the CPNE. Kaylim has a workshop for like $295 if you do the program. Other publishing companies you have to go elsewhere and they are anywhere from $600-$800. If you decide to go with Kaylim I can sell you my old books. They are highlighted in but are in good condition. Like I said, I've been passing so it's working for me.

Good luck to you. Study, study, study!!!!

nberry255 · Aug 29, 2007

Kaylim Career Center gives you classroom time and you can use the books you have I think. I just posted elsewhere on this so maybe you can do a search. But this is exactly what I was telling the other nurse about.