Concorde vs. American Career College

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I have done my research and realize that this is the more expensive route to go, but does anyone know if one of these schools is better than the other? American starts sooner in my area, but I do not know if it is up to standard like Concorde. Thanks for the feedback! :>)

Specializes in Hospice / Ambulatory Clinic.

3 tardies = 1 absence. You can only miss 16 hours per quarter and all hours must be made up by the end of each quarter.

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3 tardies = 1 absence. You can only miss 16 hours per quarter and all hours must be made up by the end of each quarter.

I plan to visit ACC tomorrow (Sept.22) in Los Angeles. What do they ask for - in terms of financial status? For example, I'm trying to get financial aid, what are the requirements? Can you tell me how are the classes set up? What are the hours for theory? In the mornings - what time? In the late afternoon - what time? Or evenings - what time? When are clinicals? Is this a Monday thru Thursday or Monday thru Friday - LVN program? Since you graduated from ACC {congratulations!}, what were the name of the textbooks?

What were the clinical sites you went to? Did you go as a group to these clinical sites? Does ACC assist in job placement? And how long was the program? Were there quality instructors? Meaning instructors not so harsh (military attitude), but instructors that would teach the student to be the best nursing students? When I check on the NCLEX passing rates, I really disagree when others trying to find a school says, perhaps the school does have a low passing rate. I believe it's an individual basis. Whoever gets a license is doing an individual's work (your own). Also before I forget, does ACC (L.A.) provide assistance in transportation (MTA bus pass)?

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I am at ACC, and have had a very positive experience so far. It is hard - strict dress code, at least two exams every week and penalties for coming in 5 minutes late or being absent. I think it has helped most of our class to shape up. Those who couldn't handle it have dropped out already. They're trying to get us ready for the real world of nursing.

And I'm learning a ton. It's a major committment to keep up with all the stuff they throw at us. But it's also fair. The exams can be tough, but not impossible.

Just a word about community college: The waiting lists are super long and getting longer all the time. Plus, they are likely to make you re-take any general eds that are "old," even if they have nothing to do with nursing. To be fair, I have had no experience with Saddleback. I wasted the past two semesters at OCC before I gave up on them. But if Saddleback is an exception, please feel free to correct me.

So you have one vote for ACC.

Best of luck to you.

What are the hours for lecture at ACC? And what are the hours for clinicals? Is this a Monday thru Thursday or Monday thru Friday program? How are the instructors at ACC?

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hello, i'm currently a student at a career college and want to find a way out :uhoh3:. in regards to acc- the reason i didn't choose them is because their class size was over 100 students. however, they do receive fairly positive remarks (of the few i can find). i'm attempting to find a way out of my current mess and hopefully transfer somewhere. does anyone know about transferring? anyone, anywhere? to those who attended acc and concord, how were your clinical experiences with your "clinical instructors'? how's the staff in general? i don't care about where i'm placed as far as the sites, that i can deal with. i'm interested in how your school's staff treats their students. how are issues handled? what are some of the issues you've had to deal with as students? please give some insight! tnx!

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Specializes in Hospice / Ambulatory Clinic.

I went to ACC and there was never 100 students they had 50 students and 10 alternates. Clinical groups were 10-12 for the first 2 semester about 8 for the last two. Those who failed, failed because of something they did or did not do not because of the school.

I liked most of my clinical instructors. I went to great sites like Glendale Adventist, White Memorial and St Vincents and got to work Med Surg, Oncology, ER, L&D and even observe in NICU so I got value. Which sites you are at DOES make a difference honestly. Some classmates were at LTC for 3 semesters.

The theory teachers are nice for the most part. It all comes down to your attitude really.

The rudest ppl at the school are the non teaching help.

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I think your best best is to ask the school directly about pricing, class size, clinical locations ect. Sometimes the information in these posts can be exaggerated, so just ask the school directly :)! Good luck and like tothepointLVN said its all about the kind of student you are and what you take from the experience. There are terrible teachers at every university nationwide, but make the most of those experiences! Take care!

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Hi guys,

I'm interested in applying to LVN program this year.. I wasn't sure how are LVN admission process like.. is it similar to RN admission?? is there a crazy wait-list as well?? also how flexible is it to transfer to RN program after a LVN license?? Essentially my goal is to get a RN license after a LVN.. and i heard that it is somewhat easier to get into a RN program after completing a LVN program... but i wasnt too sure about it.. Any of you guys know anything about it?? Please helppp~~ thanks!!!!

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i agree with gen2nurse, look at the website for the nclex exam.

regarding concorde vs. american career college.....first i failed the exam at concorde by 2 points, and the admin lady told me if i wanted to be a ma. i was mad she said that. i missed it by 2 freakin points. so she wanted me to do the ma route. i was there to do the lvn not ma. the next day i went to stanbridge and passed the exam on the first try...i do not like concorde at all. my friend graduate from concorde and she did not say good things about concorde in gg. american career college has low reviews and the admin staff are pushy...calling and calling. i visited many schools and i decided to attend stanbridge college. i like the school. good luck.

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smileymcsmiles check out stanbridge college in irvine. i like the school. i didnt like the other LVN programs i visited in oc, ca.

yes, once your in lvn school, its no life, its studying for hours morning, night....exams 2 times a week, stressful, strict uniform, but you will be an lvn nurse once complete....check out all lvn schools......its hard work but if your willing to do it...choose a school with high nclex score remember its all about studying and learning from the lecutes insturctors....that's how each college has a high nclex score on the website...stanbridge has high nclex and i know why because they push us, :lol2:we push ourselves to do great in school and we believe we can do it by passing the nclex with the great insturctors there.....good luck!

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Please please please!!! Look and do your research on this school. I was attending Concorde (Arlington campus) for the VN program. I was recently dismissed because I did not pass Nutrition. I knew that going into Nursing was going to be a tough road. But the DON and the President of the campus would not budge to give me a second chance to come back to school. They practically wanted me to beg them to get back in. I refused that! Why should I put my education on hold? So now I am taking a step down and going for my CNA certification then work my way up.

This school is all about the money. As my friend said, "They are running a business and not a school." Now that I am no longer there, they are asking me to pay them $5,000.00 WTH? Basically they want me to pay for what they lost from the loan. IS THAT RIGHT AT ALL??? What sane person would want to do that?:confused:

It seems that they keep pushing future students to go for the medical assistant program. I had a classmate that did take that program and she did not get a job right away. So she went back to go for the VN program.

When the DON dismissed me from school, (BTW: She made me leave in the middle of my morning class) she was so condescending. And the first thing she said to me, "Sad morning isn't it?" WTH?!!! :mad: I was crying in her office and telling her that this is my dream and she did not show one bit of emotion whatsoever. And then she made me leave for the rest of the day.

The president of the campus is no good either. She asked me, "What is your real reason for not passing? We would be more understanding if you had a death in the family, or if you were really sick. But you didn't have any of that. You just did not pass." HOW RUDE!!!! I worked my butt off in all my classes. I have NEVER HAD ANY MEDICAL TRAINING PRIOR TO GOING TO THAT SCHOOL. My teachers were the ONLY REASON why I would have stayed or pushed through. They saw my progression and how determined I was. But apparently that does not matter to the DON or the campus president.

This campus in particular is just horrible. There aren't enough words to describe it. The only positive thing I can say about this campus are the TEACHERS and classmates. The teachers understand because they are there with you everyday in class or at clinical sites and they see what each student does. They are the reason why that I am still going to go for my RN later in the future. They still believe in me and I am so grateful for that. :redpinkhe

Yes it does suck to take a step down and really start from the beginning, but in the long run I know that it will make me a better nurse.

So please, think hard before attending this school. If I could take it all back, I would have rather gone through a university so I could get my BSN.

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I go to Concorde's San Bernardino campus in CA. I'm in the part-time program & I'll be graduating in August. Truthfully, I chose Concorde because it was supposedly the best out of the other vocational schools in that area. After a year and a few months into it, I truly regret it. Like what a lot of said, they're only after your money. They tell you all the nice things that they offer like great teachers & tons of clinical sites but it's a bunch of crap. There are only a few teachers at this campus that I feel I can actually learn from. & the clinical sites? What clinical sites? Until recently, my class was stuck at the same convalescent home for clinicals for almost an entire year. The reason? We were told that there weren't any other sites that accommodated our clinical schedule. (Part-time clinicals are in the evenings & Saturday mornings) When they finally put us into a different facility, we found out it was another convalescent home. We haven't had any experience at an acute care setting at all. My class alone has gone through so much crap with the school & we've made plenty of complaints to the administration but there's no use because there's no one that lasts that at this campus to even make any changes. Seriously, we've had 5 director of nurses within maybe 8-10 months span. & right now, my class is has been without a permanent instructor for about a month now & not one person from administration has tried to tell us what is going on. It really sucks because I entered their program with so much excitement & high hopes. Now it takes sooo much for me to even go to class. & it isn't just my class that's been put through this sort of crap, there is another class who has also had the same sort of bad experience. If you look up consumer complaints on Concorde, you'll find a complaint written by a girl in the other class. I don't know about anyone else but my opinion, don't go to Concorde or at least this campus.

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Specializes in Hospice / Ambulatory Clinic.

Oh that sucks about the not getting any acute experience. I wonder if that is the reason why hospitals dont hire LVN's anymore. I got a lot of acute experience at school but then couldn't get a LTC job because I didn't have much LTC training *sigh*

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