Excelsior College or College Network

Nursing Students Excelsior

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I am eager to find an LPN to RN program. I obtained information on both Excelsior College:uhoh3: and College Network. It appears that the transition maybe easier with Excelsior College but I am not sure. Does anyone know which would be a better choice. LPN for 1 year and ready to move on.

If you don't have 0.08 seconds to spare and would rather waste months or years "hating on" TCN for "being dishonest" then carry on, please! It's not my life you're wasting! But don't try to discourage others from something they're interested in because you didn't take the time to do the research on things and get a clue yourself. :nono:

You want to get that finger out of my face, please?

And do not dare accuse me of discouraging others from continuing on with their educations. I have done quite the opposite here.

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Something else I noticed....

If you do a google search for Indiana State University..at the very top of the page in the "special" bought ads section there is a link to ISU. If you click it...low and behold a college network/ISU site comes up. Now go back to the search page and if you look on down the list of results..another Indiana State University link is listed. Click on it and it is the school's actual website. Surf through it and NO WHERE is TCN mentioned. NO WHERE!! Not in their A-Z's...not in their distance learning. NO WHERE. I would think if they were truely partners...The College Network would be listed on the ACTUAL ISU site. I'll bet you anything the number anyone has through TCN for ISU is a college network number. NOT the actual school. Look on the schools website and call THEM. Not the nmber TCN gives you. I may be on a conspiracy theory here...but it seems like something fun to possibly investigate. I could be wrong... But I thought it was super extra skanky of TCN to place a bought ad at the top of the search engine's list...making it look like an ISU link......:barf01:

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Specializes in ICU, PICC Nurse, Nursing Supervisor.

you know your right and it did not used to be this way. last year i went back through and reviewed the required courses and you clicked a link and it took you to a information page by tcn. now you cant find them anywhere..ain't that funny...if isu is still affiliated with tcn they don't want anyone to know...

something else i noticed....

if you do a google search for indiana state university..at the very top of the page in the "special" bought ads section there is a link to isu. if you click it...low and behold a college network/isu site comes up. now go back to the search page and if you look on down the list of results..another indiana state university link is listed. click on it and it is the school's actual website. surf through it and no where is tcn mentioned. no where!! not in their a-z's...not in their distance learning. no where. i would think if they were truely partners...the college network would be listed on the actual isu site. i'll bet you anything the number anyone has through tcn for isu is a college network number. not the actual school. look on the schools website and call them. not the nmber tcn gives you. i may be on a conspiracy theory here...but it seems like something fun to possibly investigate. i could be wrong... but i thought it was super extra skanky of tcn to place a bought ad at the top of the search engine's list...making it look like an isu link......:barf01:

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you know your right and it did not used to be this way. last year i went back through and reviewed the required courses and you clicked a link and it took you to a information page by tcn. now you cant find them anywhere..ain't that funny...if isu is still affiliated with tcn they don't want anyone to know...

given the circumstances, wouldn't you be a little concerned about an affiliation with tcn? maybe they realized that it might be a problem. lol

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can anyone tell me is it any easier to take one of these programs vs. going to rn school? i was in the rn program but had to drop out. my pre-reqs were very good, but i just couldn't cut the mustard in rn school with 3 kids and working!! :cry: still sad over this. i would have graduated in 8 days.

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can anyone tell me is it any easier to take one of these programs vs. going to rn school? i was in the rn program but had to drop out. my pre-reqs were very good, but i just couldn't cut the mustard in rn school with 3 kids and working!! :cry: still sad over this. i would have graduated in 8 days.

the above post is exactly why i am looking into tcn. i am a single mom with 2 kids. it seems a lot of people here are debating community college vs. online ed, but for a single mom, online education will allow me to work full time which is a necessity. it is why i went straight through for an lvn. you don't have as many choices and options when you are a mom. so i haven't decided either way, but staying on a waiting list, and going to class, and i would still need to work and take care of the kids. i almost don't think there is much of a choice with me, i just don't want to get ripped off, none of us do! but i paid 30k on a fast-track 11 month lvn with some divorce settlement money as i never thought i would ever be divorced, and it happened and i had to transition from stay-at-home mom to full-time worker. i have a ba and 7 of the 11 courses needed in phase 1 (from what i've seen of tcn's program).

but what i'm saying, if i am making any sense here, is just that, i just don't want to get ripped off and it seems lots of people gripe about tcn. that said, i live in california, and excelsior is not accepted here. my only online option is tcn, that's it.

when i was in lvn school people ******* and moaned and complained on an almost daily basis. many said they would never have gone to our school had they known what a crappy school it was, etc etc. well i would have because i needed an education fast as my circumstances were different. most of my classmates were living with mom and dad. i was like, okay, it's expensive, it's not the best education but getting an lvn in 11 months was great! no waiting lists, no prereqs (the prereqs alone would have held me back at least another year and the waiting lists even longer) - sure the program was not great, but i got through.

my point is just, if you have the option of community college or online or going to university for a bsn, then i suppose you will always wonder should i have done this or that.

with me, what will cost me is waiting. i just took my boards, don't even know if i passed yet, and i am already looking into an lvn-rn or bsn program and i think tcn may be what i am looking for.

yes, you can take prereqs, or phase 1 classes elsewhere and save some bucks, but i have almost all those classes done anyhow. and it's not so easy when you are juggling work and kids and etc to hunt down individual classes and see if there is a waiting list, and go through the application process etc...that is not including driving to your class, hunting for parking, etc

see people complained about my college excessively and i won't defend it, it probably should have been shut down. we had books and exams and class from 8-4pm monday-friday and clinicals days and/or evenings but we were essentially self-taught, the teachers were awful, didn't care, let us out early often even though there is an hour requirement by the state board.

hey if i go to tcn, tranfer into isu, and end up with a bsn that's great. and my kids will still be elementary school. see i can't wait or spend longer trying to get into a bridge program etc - and they are all hard to get into where i live, and the reason why is because my little kids keep growing! they keep getting bigger!

and when i finished lvn school my little girl, only 5, said to me 'mommy when i grow up i want to be a nurse like you', it makes me choke up still when i think of it! but my kids are so proud of their mom and that is what keeps me going...

now, i don't want to spend all my life studying nursing :bugeyes: but as california doesn't accept excelsior all we can do online is the bsn online, and i really think that is enough for me!

if you are in another state, i think you have more options, so i would just say find the program that will get you through fastest. so you can get some more initials after your name and be better able to pay for braces/summer camp/clothes etc for your little ones...

that said, i am essentially still lurking, trying to make up my mind, but i think i will probably go with tcn.

as far as it being harder or easier? well i felt self-taught in lvn school, we had to study a lot, but we've all taken the nclex and no one (so far as i know) has failed...

i don't think it would be much different except that i wouldn't have to be in a class at a certain time, and i would need to be more disciplined to get things done...

best of luck to you in your decision! and don't beat yourself up about the rn program you were in! we had lots of people in my lvn class who had been in rn and bsn programs and didn't make it for various reasons (often children were the reason)...hey it's hard!!! but just keep going! and you'll be a :nurse:...!!!

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With me, what will cost me is waiting. I just took my boards, don't even know if I passed yet, and I am already looking into an LVN-RN or BSN program and I think TCN may be what I am looking for.

One thing to know is that you can do the ISU LPN-BSN without TCN if you can do the legwork on your own. As you will see all throughout here is that TCN will only give you study materials (and possibly streamline it for you a little) but you'll get your degree from ISU. You are so far ahead of the game with some of the prereq's you've already done. You can look up threads on ISU here.

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Yes I guess that is what I am trying to figure out. I thought being in California and desperately needing an online course, I was left with only TCN but I now see what I need is essentially ISU. I will lurk and read other threads concerning the topic...thank you!

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make sure you check with your state nursing licensing. here in nevada EC credits do not count toward any degress and the Nevada Board of Nursing will not allow licensing of people who completed the EC programs.

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make sure you check with your state nursing licensing. here in nevada EC credits do not count toward any degress and the Nevada Board of Nursing will not allow licensing of people who completed the EC programs.

yes California doesn't accept EC either...I wish we had more options!

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Specializes in ICU, PICC Nurse, Nursing Supervisor.

this is completely news to me ....when did this happen.

make sure you check with your state nursing licensing. here in nevada ec credits do not count toward any degress and the nevada board of nursing will not allow licensing of people who completed the ec programs.
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