excelsior college

PatrickJ · Apr 4, 2005

Lots of people doing Excelsior.

I am in the initial steps of getting everything going.

I am an LPN, I have all my pre-reqs needing their NC classes only so my situation may be different.

I do find that many I talk to at work seem to be not so willing to advertise their interest in Excelsior but when they do admit it we find the discussions interesting.

I suggest looking into Excelsior directly vs other sources.

Patrick

http://citruslocal.com

barbiedee · Apr 4, 2005

Most of the people posting on this topic (distance learning) are current or former Excelsior students. If you ask specific questions, you're sure to get lots of answers here. I am about three quarters of the way through the courses I need for my RN, and I have found this website to be the best for encouragement, information, support, etc. I am sure that if you read the posts on this topic thread you will have a lot of your questions answered! Good luck!

eborgelt · Apr 4, 2005

I an enrolled in Excelsior right now. I have taken all of my Nursing Concepts tests and am waiting for a date to take my CPNE (Clinical Performance in Nursing Examination). I also have to finish Microbiology, but am taking that at a local community college and will transfer my credits to Excelsior. If you have any specific questions I can answer, feel free to email me at [email protected]. I have enjoyed taking Excelsior's program and would love to help you out.

Elizabeth LPN

RN to be July 2005

chris_at_lucas_RN, RN · Feb 12, 2007

I graduated in 2004 from the Excelsior program.

It definitely isn't for everyone. If you have a life and responsibilities outside nursing school, Excelsior's program can make a real difference for you, if you have the discipline to complete it.

One of its strongest attributes, IMHO, is that they really don't care where you learn the material, just so you learn it. They provide you with a study guide that includes, among other things, an outline of the material you need to cover for that particular exam (think of it as a "semester" because you will complete 7 of these exams to complete the nursing portion), study questions, and suggested readings including specific citations with page numbers.

Or, you can go the google route. I used google as my tutor. The internet brings an awful lot of info within our reach. Be careful to use legitimate sources there--anyone can post anything, and there are a lot of well-meaning but misinformed persons. Use material authored by professionals. One thing I noticed, the "good" websites aren't going to misspell the names of illnesses, medications, etc.

I would also encourage you to join a yahoo group called nontradnurses. There are several yahoo groups moderated (managed) by Excelsior students and Excelsior alums. They provide good moral support--that's what a lot of people miss going the Excelsior route, the companionship and support of other nursing students.

These groups also have note files, which I found extremely helpful. On nontradnurses (the group with which I am most familiar) the notes are organized by exam, and include practice tests. HOWEVER, you must remember that these notes were composed by other students, as were the practice tests--and you must must MUST double check everything that you do not know personally to be fact.

This actually works out well, because you will be learning in the process.

It is not necessary to buy notes since you can get everything you need for free between Excelsior College (you can download those study guides and don't even have to wait for them to arrive in the mail!), the yahoo groups, search engines like google, and sites like this one.

Good luck to you all--I found Excelsior's program to be fantastic, and now that I am out in the world practicing as an RN, I can tell you that the education I got was exceptional.

(Excelsior received some kind of award from one of the national nursing organizations, placing it in the top four--I think--"brick and mortar" nursing schools in the United States, and included their exceptional distance program. All this and I think it is still the least expensive program of its kind.)