Yes I am a current student and No I would not recommend the program.
You should know that the clinicals are not graded and 50% of your grade is on the final day of each course. 2 tests each - one on the computer. If you get lower than a 76 you will fail the course. If you fail a course you will need to wait 3 months before taking just that class over again, thus you are 6 months behind orig. grad date.
Be prepared that if you have 4 courses that your finals will be scheduled mon-thurs 2 tests a day for your final week. These exams may be one at 8 am and the other as late as 5pm each day. You could have an A going into the final and still fail the course. A comprehensive course covering over 1000 slides, 50 chapters..comes down to 50 random questions on your final day. Nothing else matters...your care plans, etc are not graded. You will receive multiple math exams that if you don't pass on 2 attempts you fail the course.
I have over a 3.5 gpa currently and I wish someone told me how bad the program was and is. If the class has a high average on the midterm, then the Professors make the final that much harder in an attempt to bring the class average down. Once you are in this program, just remember you can not transfer anywhere, you are stuck. Drexel knows this, so it is to the schools financial benefit if you need to repeat a course. And if you need do not pass the final HESI be prepared to pay Drexel 4 thousand more to fix what they failed to teach you.
I just started reading the Nursing Handbook for 2008-2009. Well, it's the co-op one, but I think the stuff applies to the ACE also.
I see they have a "no cell phones in class rooms or clincials" policy. Is that actually enforced (or just enforced in people that use them all the time?). I just ask because I'd be concerned with theft, and may not be driving (since I still haven't bought a car).
Also, how strict are they with earrings? I have multiple earrings. They are all small hoops with capture beads. Would I be able to just switch them all to studs (ouch?)?
How hard are the clinicals I see they are either satisfactory, or you fail the course. Has anyone had bad experiences in them or failed them? (How many people fail the clinicals in a class)?
And what about the stuff like criminal clearances and CPR? Are they going to give me significant warning to have those done (I do have CPR, expires in June)? Anyone done the online renewals?
Someone register all of your classes, so you don't have to worry about any of that. You don't have any choice in which cohort you get placed in, and what schedule you have. You are given a schedule, and you deal with it. You can't switch professors, most class have more than one professor who handles lecturing. And, yes, there are better and worse professors, but you honestly have no choice in the matter.
They will send you a letter about orientation in the mail, I wouldn't panic yet. I called toward the end of August for September's start, and orientation, their answer was we haven't figured it out yet, we'll let you know, but it will be the second week of Sept...so...you have awhile to wait yet. I would call sometime in February, when they have a better idea.
Turn your cell phone off or on vibrate while you are in class or clinical. How strictly it is enforced depend on the professor. Most will tell you, turning it on vibrate is okay with them, some want it OFF. But if you carry it on you, it should be fine.
Earings, NO hoops...Things can get caught in them and be yanked...painful. I would at least change them to studs. But keep in mind you are dealing with different population...so conservative is the way to go (according to most of my professors).
Clinicals vary...if you try and practice, practice, practice, and practice, you will pass. I have had many classmates who failed the pratical in meds and foly, but they were able to re-do them. Yes, you may re-test once...you may have to go to remediation, but you do get a second chance. If you fail the second time...generally you fail the practical. So far, I have heard of ONE student failing practical both times. First quarter, it is unlikely you will fail clinical (hospital portion), but not impossible.
They had us take classes for Healthcare Provide certificate and Heartsaver First Aid. I believe both are necessary. I don't believe you can renew them online. I think they gave me two months (I could be wrong) to go through the criminal clearance, CPR, drug test, immunizations, and whatnots.
Hoping you can help. I will be attending the ACE program in March 2009. Anyone have helpful material they are done with? I've read the review books are the way to go. Also any other suggestions are appreciated.
I live in phila and also drive so if someone is looking for a spot, we may be able to work something out.
Thanks and hoping to hear from you!!
Also if anyone has to take the Ethics course through Excelsior, I have some helpful information you can use.:hpygrp:
Hoping you can help. I will be attending the ACE program in March 2009. Anyone have helpful material they are done with? I've read the review books are the way to go. Also any other suggestions are appreciated.
I live in phila and also drive so if someone is looking for a spot, we may be able to work something out.
Thanks and hoping to hear from you!!
Also if anyone has to take the Ethics course through Excelsior, I have some helpful information you can use.:hpygrp:
I would love any info on the excelsior ethics exam ... i am currently signed up to take it in a week or so. Any last minute advice??
I'll also be starting in march ... can't wait to get started!
A friend of mine had all As and Bs in her ACE courses. But she failed the HESI exit exam twice. When she was getting ready to take it the third time, I thought she was going to have a nervous breakdown. She knew if she didn't pass it after a certain number of times she would be out, with no BSN, and no certification to take the NCLEX. Thank goodness she passed it on the third try. But she had to pay thousands of dollars in extra tuition while she "remediated". Ugh.
I would love any info on the excelsior ethics exam ... i am currently signed up to take it in a week or so. Any last minute advice??
I'll also be starting in march ... can't wait to get started!
Hello and sorry for the wait. First off good luck with the exam. You get 3hrs for 135 questions. Hopefully you took the practice exams as they helped tremendously.
What else? Lets see... Be confident and dont panic. Take time to read through the questions and take a break if you need one.
Well good luck and come tell us how well you did :)
I attended a community college in Pittsburgh, PA. The program's rules are similar. 75% was bare minimum for passing. Clinicals were on a pass/fail basis. Not only was our math exams 2 tries then fail, but so were ALL of our nursing skills exams and we performed them in a separate skills lab! Fail any one component (lecture, skills lab, assessment lab, clinical), and you failed the entire semester. You couldn't retake only the protion you failed, you had to retake the ENTIRE semester! Our finals are comprehensive too, except we had 100 questions, some semesters were split between diff disciplines such our semester where we had peds, maternity, AND med/surg (all in 15 wks!). Get a 74% and you're doomed! I believe the final was 30% of our grade. We didn't take the HESI but we had these ATI exams which are similar. If we didn't pass we had to remediate and pass it again with 90%. Then our final semester, we took the ATI RN Predictor. If you didn't pass the predictor with a 90% predicted NCLEX pass rate, you had to do 3000 NCLEX questions, one-on-one counseling sessions, etc..all in 4 weeks, WHILE doing your mentorship and attending other classes. Then 2 days before graduation, you'd have to retake that ATI and if you don't pass a 2nd time, you fail the class! Ergo, no graduation from you. And this was only a 2yr ADN program! Maybe that's why it's so respected out there...they have high standards. (some ppl. leave the prog and go to university progs cuz they're easier!)
I guess what I'm saying is that I hear and feel your pain, but it is not a song that I haven't sang or heard from peers in my school and surrounding universities.
P.S. Many schools, even PITT, and Duquesne have complaints regarding poor organization, so good luck with that!
Oh and did I mention that in my comm. college prog. if you failed a course twice, you had to start the nursing program over from the beginning! Someone failed the 2nd to last semester twice and had to reapply to the program and take ALL the courses over! From Nursing 101!
I applied to their '09 ACE program, weeks after the deadline. While gathering everything I needed for the application, I e-mailed (Oct. 30) the Office of Admissions with a couple of questions and guess what - the reply took A WHOLE MONTH (Dec. 1)! That experience to me, was a red flag. It just didn't feel right that someone (who I thought was given the task to answer inquiries) would take such a long time to answer a few questions (nothing complicated or needed any research). It felt so IMPERSONAL. Well, I received their rejection letter early this January and couldn't care less. Good thing, now that I'm reading the threads about Drexel and also because I got a phone call from The Johns Hopkins University this Monday and was given a slot in their 2010 ABSN program. A Drexel reject, now a Hopkins chosen one, go figure!
By the way, to those who are going into Nursing, more because of "a calling" than of money (unless money is the only thing calling you), please look into programs that have a comprehensive admissions process (like JHU-SON). They do not care so much for your sky-high GPAs (but of course, they wouldn't hurt), but also your essays, recommendations, and resume. This gives them a wholistic picture of what you are as a person, what you've accomplished, and what you will be able to accomplish in the future, not just for your self, but for others.
CalicoKitty, BSN, MSN, RN
1,017 Posts
i emailed asking about that.. as of dec 8th, nothing is scheduled.
the response was:
"the orientation date has not yet, been determined it will take place sometime after march 1, 2009 your academic advisor will let you know the date."