Casa Loma College or American Careers College??

[qtypnay]

im having a dilemma of which school i should go to. i live with my boyfriend in his parent's house(gardena). my boyfriend goes to el camino (torrance) and he also works nearby(torrance). going to casa loma(hawthorne) will benefit us because it's practically close by, the thing is i'm just not sure if their program is good or not. american career college(downtown l.a. or pasadena) seems like a good choice based on their program.my brother in law went there and guaranteed me that the program is excellent and will find you a job as soon as you pass. the car that we're thinking of getting is a used car and will not hold up if i go to american career college. the only logical choice is if we move close to that area which mean my boyfriend will have to move school and find a job there. but he doesnt want to leave our friends behind and i'm not sure if i should asks him to make that sacrifice. i know that we should both negotiate if we want a better future. i just dont want to lose the only family i have. please help me make the right decision?

[TheCommuter, BSN, RN]

I completed Casa Loma's LVN program in 2005 at the Van Nuys campus.

My opinion is to attend the cheapest program. They're both private trade schools with hefty tuition costs, so pick the least expensive program and run with it. You'll end up with the same LVN licensure as every other nurse in Southern California.

[emo_tion21]

Hi! I actually went to Casa Loma College and graduated in 2007 and got my license within 4 months. I also inquired in different schools and one of them being the American Career. My advice to you is not only to look at how much the program cost but most importantly how much education are you going to get from that particular college and very important to look at the rating of how much student graduate and pass the nclex. I have friends that went to Preffered College and now are very afraid of taking nclex. One guy from there took nclex 4 times and yet have not manage to pass. Another close friend, failed.

Last time I check which is in 2008, American Career has 74% passing rate for passing the nclex and Casa Loma College has 95% passing rate of nclex within the first try.

Casa Loma is like a real college where they really train you. The hands on practice is great. We gave meds, we were trained in subacute unit with the ventilators, oxygen, gave albuterol, suction, wound care, and even got to go to labor and delivery. We helped the doctor delivers baby -- I mean you were really there seeing everything and getting to hold the mom and the baby it was amazing.

Lecture was also great. They really do lecture and really help you understand. They teach you how to fish and not just give you the fish. Be aware of other trade schools (like preffered). THis school sucks because they don't teach the student. THe day before the test the teachers will give the students the answers for the test; therefore, the students don't bother reading the books, they memorize the answer to do well in lecture. And when it comes to clinical even worst. The clinical instructor will only be there to take roll and send the student home after 30 minutes. No wonder, the students are afraid to take the nclex because they can't pass it.

[emo_tion21]

by the way, by the end of this year or beginning 2010 Casa Loma will have an RN program.