Excelsior Pass Rate?

featherzRN, MSN · Jun 15, 2004

I took the CPNE at Long Beach (California), which I have heard is one of the 'hard' sites. We had a relatively large group of students (12) and 10 of us passed. The two that did not pass were completely unprepared for the exam - one hadn't even read the study guide!

I passed without having to repeat any patients or skill checks - started the program in February and finished (with the CPNE) in August while working full time. So if I can do it, you can too! :)

Spazzy Nurse, RN · Jun 15, 2004

You can even violate copyright just by giving away material, like file sharing on the internet, even without selling it.

Copying something and selling it or giving it away can be violating copyright laws. Selling or giving away original materials is not. They are 2 very different things.

And hey! What boards have I been banned from???? I didn't know I was if I am. If I'm not, maybe since you guys are, I should go there and raise a little hell so I can join your little Banned Club.

Hey! We can even make club t-shirts. :smokin:

chris_at_lucas_RN, RN · Jun 15, 2004

I wouldn't worry about Rob becoming moderator of anything. There are two or three Yahoo groups that he started and that's his right. It doesn't take much to see that it is just a vehicle for advertising Excel Advantage or Academy of Nursing (they have some other names too--not a good sign).

I have actually spoken to him--he's not terribly bright, has no nursing experience, admits he knows nothing about nursing or about nursing education. At the time we spoke, his organization didn't even employ one single nurse.

It is laughable that he has issues about copyright laws. I haven't seen anything on his site that is original, and there are no citations for sources, so I guess the copyright and plagiarism issues are for others...:rotfl:

Incidentally, I was moderator of the nontradnurses site for awhile, and I got rid of him immediately, as well as two or three of his little honchos, but not before I learned that several of them are "enrolled" Excelsior students, so that gives us a good idea of where some of his info comes from, and what his sources might be.

I am for free enterprise--but I am also for the protections provided by law. No plagiarism, no copyright infringement. Can you sell used materials? You bet--you own them, you can sell them. Can you claim you wrote them? No.

BTW, copyright issues are different for educational purposes.... Same deal as for photocopying materials for teaching purposes.

Rob's just a jerk. He won't ever become a moderator here. The fact is, this site is run very well, and commercial references get pounced on pretty fast--it appears the moderators err conservatively (i.e., removing a post that might be OK but looks like its not, as opposed to leaving a post on that might not be OK), and I'm fine with that.

If I have any issues with old Rob, it is that he advertises a lot of stuff he doesn't have--the quality is terrible, and his website looks like it is associated with Excelsior College. The school's name is everywhere, and you don't see a disclaimer unless you click on the school's name.

A last little note, and then I am back to working on the sugar glider's cage, you can join any yahoo group from which you have been banned simply by using a different yahoo ID. I make up names from time to time and join his little groups just for the fun of it. (That's how I knew about the copyright posts, etc.) It tickles me to be in there when I'm not supposed to be..... BTW, my current name in his groups is "Mary Douglas." If I get banned on that name, we'll know either he or his confederates are members of this BB.

Isn't this fun??? :chuckle:rotfl:

Sheri257 · Jun 15, 2004

BTW, copyright issues are different for educational purposes.... Same deal as for photocopying materials for teaching purposes.

I believe that some educational purposes can qualify under the "fair use" exemption. But it's not a blanket exemption. There are limitations. Just FYI.

Copying something and selling it or giving it away can be violating copyright laws. Selling or giving away original materials is not. They are 2 very different things.

Actually, you probably have a point there. I have read news stories about the RIAA going after sales of used CD's but, maybe that was inaccurate.

BTW ... were original study materials being sold or where materials also being copied and downloaded in these Yahoo groups?

:coollook:

barbiedee · Jun 17, 2004

I agree with Spazzy (See Spazz, told you you were my heroine!) Purchasing a study guide, making copies and selling the copies would be copyright infringement....but I can't see any problem with selling the original item you purchased. If there were a problem, hundreds of ebay sellers would be in jail.

I have just one question after reading this thread. (No, not who is Rob whatshisname....I found out all about him LONG ago!) How do people start and finish the program in such a short time???? I started in October, and have only finished three electives (Microbi, Developmental psych, and Gerontology), and am just now finished NC1. My hat is off to all of you speedy students...any tips to get my brain from geriatric slow-mo to youthful speed demon??? At this rate my pediatric PCS will be geriatric before I finish!!! :crying2:

DC2RN · Jun 17, 2004

I agree with Spazzy (See Spazz, told you you were my heroine!) Purchasing a study guide, making copies and selling the copies would be copyright infringement....but I can't see any problem with selling the original item you purchased. If there were a problem, hundreds of ebay sellers would be in jail.
I have just one question after reading this thread. (No, not who is Rob whatshisname....I found out all about him LONG ago!) How do people start and finish the program in such a short time???? I started in October, and have only finished three electives (Microbi, Developmental psych, and Gerontology), and am just now finished NC1. My hat is off to all of you speedy students...any tips to get my brain from geriatric slow-mo to youthful speed demon??? At this rate my pediatric PCS will be geriatric before I finish!!!

I enrolled last September, and did all of my Nursing Concepts tests in a two week period, but I had been studying the material for about 8 months already. I chose to take all the exams at once, because I found a lot of overlapping material from test to test. I had taken all of the prerequisites, except Sociology, before entering Excelsior. I took the Sociology CLEP, which I thought was a joke.

In Excelsior, you still spend a lot of time waiting for the college. After you finish all of your NC test, it takes about a month to get the CPNE application, and another 3 to 6 months to get a CPNE appointment. I passed the CPNE on May 2, 2004, but I do not officially graduate until tomorrow. So you can move along pretty quickly, but you still spend a lot of time waiting for Excelsior.

chris_at_lucas_RN, RN · Jun 17, 2004

Wow! That is fast...

I had a similar experience except that I got my CPNE enrollment packet within a week of calling them about being ready to sign up for it, I faxed my choice three days later (I'd received it on a Friday, so it really wasn't that much of a delay), and I guess it took about a week to get my slot, 'cause it was about then that somebody from here emailed me about how to find out if I had the appointment or not.

Then, I called each PAC each week "just to say hi" and remind them that I could come at the drop of a hat. Friday I got the call (see my other frenetic post), and by dusk of June 27th, I'll have finished the CPNE one way or another.

From my last NC exam (4/27) to taking the CPNE (6/25), is about 8 weeks. I guess I've been lucky.... Waiting for the school hasn't been a problem.

Spazzy Nurse, RN · Jun 17, 2004

Barbie--- the reason you have finished only 4 exams since Oct. is because you ROCK! That is so great, and way faster than most people go through the courses. Keep up the awesome work! Plus it seems as though once you start nearing the end of the NC exams, you get a little adrenaline kick when you are seeing that light at the end of that tunnel of hell, and shoot through those last few. I did, anyway. Maybe you will too.

Pay no attention to Chris and DC..... they are abnormal superheroes and I am deathly afraid of them. :chuckle

barbiedee · Jun 17, 2004

Thanks Spazzy for the lift. I printed out your words of encouragement and posted them by my desk....What can I say? I get by with a little help from my friends!:) I figure the reason it took me so long to get this far was Microbi. My last science course was in grade 11 back in the mid 1970's, so it took me almost four months for that monster. As my mentor at work says....it ain't a race! It takes as long as it takes. Oh, and by the way, regarding the pass rate of the CPNE, I am encouraged that it is in the 65-68% range...at least that shows that Excelsior is not a 'diploma mill', graduating anyone with the bucks to enroll. It shows you have to work for it and know your stuff under pressure. Heck, if you can pass the CPNE, you should be able to work under ANY type of pressure! Enough babbling...gotta go hit the books again. Thanks again all for such great information and encouragement! Its much appreciated.:balloons:

featherzRN, MSN · Jun 17, 2004

I also took the sociology CLEP and I agree that it's a joke. :)

To me the boards seemed like cake after getting through CLEP. I can't remember a more stressful test EVER. It's not that it's DIFFICULT (it's not, if you study),but just the stress of having someone standing next to you with a clipboard evaluating your every move drove me nuts. Plus, at the time I was an 18 year old LVN with not a lot of money, and the (then) $900 I paid for the test was a HUGE sum of money to lose if I failed.

That said, memorize the study guide inside and out and you should do fine, as did most of my 'class'. :)

Spazzy Nurse, RN · Jun 18, 2004

Oh, and by the way, regarding the pass rate of the CPNE, I am encouraged that it is in the 65-68% range...at least that shows that Excelsior is not a 'diploma mill', graduating anyone with the bucks to enroll. It shows you have to work for it and know your stuff under pressure. Heck, if you can pass the CPNE, you should be able to work under ANY type of pressure!

That is exactly my thoughts towards the CPNE. Sure, some of the skills you have to perform aren't real life, and some of the methods of doing things aren't real life either. Some people think the CPNE in a whole is ridiculous.

BUT.

I think the reasons why you have to do what you have to do for the CPNE is 1) see if you can handle the high speed pace and be able to keep a zillion things straight in your head and 2) to show you that sometimes you have to do things someone else's way, whether you agree with it or not. That's just how real life works. Took me a few years to figure that one out on my own, and I think going through EC's program is what helped me to do that.

MiaLyse, APRN · Jun 18, 2004

I took the Sociology CLEP, which I thought was a joke.>>

Can I ask what you used to study with? I am currently studying to CLEP this and Human Growth & Development. tia

Kelly