Oh well...Three-peat?

Editorial Team / Moderator · Sep 2, 2016

Yay!!!!

BabyFood26 · Sep 2, 2016

Hey there BSNbeDone. I've noticed you have a wealth of knowledge in the Excelsior College subject!! This seems like the best route for me going for my RN right now. I'm only worried about a few things!

If I understand correctly, if you choose to take exams for credit, you must pay as you go per exam, right? I thought this is what I wanted to do. But I also know that I probably won't be able to afford to keep up with my fast pace either. So I am thinking I need to go the online course route so I can receive federal aid. But I just don't know!

Can you throw me a rough amount you spent to get your ASN? or what their fee schedule is like? I know that I could be calling and speaking to an advisor, but honestly I am dreading that pressure from the advisor to just dive in and get signed up, before I really get some real life advice from someone who's already been through it.

I would super duper appreciate anything you have to share!!

Thanks:wacky:

NotMyProblem MSN, ASN, BSN, MSN, LPN, RN · Sep 4, 2016

Hey there BSNbeDone. I've noticed you have a wealth of knowledge in the Excelsior College subject!! This seems like the best route for me going for my RN right now. I'm only worried about a few things!
If I understand correctly, if you choose to take exams for credit, you must pay as you go per exam, right? I thought this is what I wanted to do. But I also know that I probably won't be able to afford to keep up with my fast pace either. So I am thinking I need to go the online course route so I can receive federal aid. But I just don't know!
Can you throw me a rough amount you spent to get your ASN? or what their fee schedule is like? I know that I could be calling and speaking to an advisor, but honestly I am dreading that pressure from the advisor to just dive in and get signed up, before I really get some real life advice from someone who's already been through it.
I would super duper appreciate anything you have to share!!
Thanks:wacky:

Hi there!

I'm afraid I can't offer much help here as far as the costs. When I went through in 2009, those exams were around $250 each...much cheaper than they are now. I think I may have spent about $5K at the most, including the CPNE. That includes the Info Lit course, application and enrollment fees, graduation fees, etc. However, EC does allow you to set up a payment plan for everything you would need from them. If memory serves me correctly, your exam would have to be paid in full before they release the ATT to Pearson Vue.

The course option did not exist when I went through the program. Of course, the courses are going to be more expensive than the exams...that's to be expected. This did not include the fact that I was sitting in a community college at the same time, completing general education requirements. Their costs, like everything else, increase yearly, around July. So, what the program cost me back then and what it's going to cost you now is going to resemble a generation gap. :woot:

And personally, I've found the EC advisors to be far less aggressive than any other advisor that I've spoken with from other institutions because they want to make sure you understand how the program works and what you may be facing with your BON after graduation.

Once you set up a free login/password account with them, you will be able to see the costs of each exam and course, and get a rough estimate of what you'll be paying out based on what credits you need. You can find this information without having to speak to an advisor. However, you won't know the official figure until after they do a review of your transcripts for previous credits. After that review, your amount may increase or decrease, depending on what courses you've taken before.

I hope this helps. By the way, the moderator who responded to my thread previously (Pixie.RN), has far more experience with EC than I do.

As proof of how things change, when she received her ASN from EC, the exams were the old Nursing Concepts series. I came along during the last few months of that series existence, during the evolution of the Nursing Theory exams.

This site is a wonderful source of information. Remember, pointers and tips are awesome; but the information you need has got to be current in order to be of use to your particular program and situation...don't want to tell you anything wrong.

Excelsior College | Excelsior College Costs & Financing

j.caughern · Sep 5, 2016

I am currently enrolled in the LPN to RN transition. Do you have any suggestions on how you studied or resources that helped you? I am currently outlining the chapters in the books based off of the content guide outlines provided by EC but they are pretty plain and not very informative. Did you order book, notes, or what did you do to complete so fast. I greatly appreciate it

NotMyProblem MSN, ASN, BSN, MSN, LPN, RN · Sep 6, 2016

The main thing that contributed to my completion time was a program that EC once offered called the package program, where every exam needed was offered at one low price of $120 per month. By the time the second payment was due, I was done with the theory exams.

I was also sitting in a local community college at the same time for the easy prereq courses. I used the excess/overpayments from the community college financial aid to pay for EC's exam-based program. I also took a couple of CLEP exams to knock out some prereqs to save a few dollars, too. As you can see, I combined several options...did whatever I needed to do....to get that ASN degree and not taking forever to do it.

As for study materials, I used notes that I found on eBay....no books. But it was still a horrendous amount of reading and studying. I had a couple of close calls where I only studied for a week prior to taking the exam. I always scheduled my exam before I started studying, and I only allowed myself 2 weeks for this. I studied for 23 days for A&P and 30 days for Microbiology using notes from studygroup101.

But, the program is awesome...not easy. My job had cut my hours so severely that I had on average, 5-6 days a week available to study....and that's exactly what I did from 8am-8pm. Kids were grown and gone; husband was working. So, I had loads of free time. I took tons of practice questions and reviewed rationales for the answers when I wasn't reading the notes portion of my selected study materials.

If you use anything to prepare for your exams other than the recommended textbooks and you fail, you cannot challenge your grade. So, if you go with outside resources, make sure that the information aligns with the exam content guides, and that you know and understand that information inside and out...so much so that you can identify that information no matter how it's worded on the exams.

EC has made many changes and a couple of additions since I went through, like turning the FCCA into an 8-week course. Back then, it was on paper and I completed it in a day and mailed it back in.

The key is to not stop once you start. I skipped all resemblances of leisure time while I did this...no movies, ball games, shopping, etc.. Whenever my husband and I went anywhere, I studied as he drove. Determination!!!

infinity85, ASN, BSN, LPN, RN, APRN, NP · Dec 26, 2016

hi bsnbedone! glad to see you here still- i have become a RN now! woohoo. onto my bsn journey now. i happened to see our message exchange from like 2 years ago. and yes you are still hilarious!