CLC nursing

[jlwerley]

hi everyone, im a new member here and have a new interest in nursing! currently i am physical education teacher education student at illinois state university but am seriously considering moving back home and completing a degree in nursing. i am interested in getting my ADN through CLC but i want to make the best choice. they are my number one because of cost (community college is obviously much cheaper than other schools and living at home is free! lol) and proximity to home. my question is, how good is CLC in comparison to other schools in the area (such as UIC, etc). my main concern, along with lots of others, is getting a job after graduating and i want to make sure my education gives me the best chance. so what has everyone heard about CLC's overall quality of the program compared to others AND what kind of job placement rate do they have for their graduates? thanks for all your help!

PS- im sorry if this has already been discussed somewhere on here, there are lots of pages to look through. i also posted this same post in another clc discussion thread but i wanted to expand my net a little bit by creating a new thread

[Johnny_B]

Well, I am in the program and almost done.

Although the program has changed (no more PE exam), it is what I'd call basically a self-study course. The changes are that they require you to take the CNA course or at least be CNA certified before entering the program. The program is 5 courses over 4 semesters (assuming you have all your bio and other requirements complete). It is self study because you get modules. You buy all the books and go over each module prior to the class. You need to come prepared to discuss the module focus and are responsible for the readings. You take weekly or bi-weekly (depending on semester), module tests. I basically got all "A's" in the Bio courses, but in nursing I got a "B", a "C" and it looks like a "B" 3rd semester. Getting all "A's" is nearly impossible - you'd need to be a walking dictionary of everything in the module.

Looking back, I got into the program because I could walk to the school, it is in-district and I managed to get scholorships every semester. But if I had to do it all over, I'd pick a traditional style like that at Harper or even Cardnal Stritch in Wisconson (near Milwaukee). I hear a lot of people go to Gateway too, but I don't know about their curicculum. For the amount of work we did, I should have gotten a bachelors in nursing.

The program has changed because of complaints about the PE exam. Its a single clinical exam each semester and it has been difficult. However the program has changed.

[Scrubmouse RN]

EBOs are also out of the picture. Instead there are learning objectives like any other course. I think the tests are a little easier and yes, you have to study a ton, but from my experience this is every college course ever. People who have graduated from CLC say that the program adequetly prepared them for real life nursing and were overall satisfied with the program.