Excelsior RN to BSN

I know this school was popular 5 yrs ago especially with LPN to RN students, and still is, but I do not really hear any info on the RN to BSN.

Any info appreciated.

7 Answers

Specializes in CEN, CFRN, PHRN, RCIS, EMT-P.

Unlike the ADN, the BSN at excelsior is composed of structured 8 or 15 week classes. The classes are online and require weekly participation on discussion boards, group projects and papers. If you want a BSN program that resembles the ADNat excelsior then check out WGU, they have self paced classes that end with a test or a paper and no group work.

Specializes in Emergency.

I don't know specifically about the BSN program, but I am in the LPN/PM to RN program. If they work the same and I'm sure they do, it is a valid way to increase your degree in my opinion. The classes aren't simple, the tests are proctored and it requires you to test your own ability to commit to classes without anyone standing over you. This style of learning is not for everyone but that you can apply knowledge you already have to your new program is a huge plus.

Specializes in Nurse Scientist-Research.

I just finished the Excelsior RN to BSN program a few months ago. I did not attend EC for ADN. I'll try to give a summarized version of pros & cons.

Cons:

1. You can't run through this program in less than a year unless you are incredibly talented or the rules have changed. 3 major barriers; A. You can't start any online courses until you finish their Information Literacy course which runs over 8 weeks. You can't get this course anywhere else; only the EC course will fulfill their requirement (when I went, you could take it through Penn Foster). B. You can't take any BSN nursing courses until you take the expository writing course ENG 201 Writing for the Professions which is given as a 15 week course. There is one other acceptable course given through BYU and it's not exactly accelerated. On the positive, the EC course is excellent to teach you how to write the exact kind of paper you will need to write through the rest of your EC path. C. You can take Research (the course or the exam) until you finish Statistics. This is a reasonable requirement but could slow you down. D. You must finish all the rest of the nursing courses before you take the final course; Capstone.

2 . This is the information age people. When a professor posts final grades for a semester, it shouldn't take a week or two to give you official credit for this course. Especially important when you are trying to get into the courses I described above (trying to get credit for the writing course, statistics, any other course so you can get a seat in Capstone).

3. Possible pro/con: Depends on your style: EC has very few BSN courses that are available to be done by exam unlike their ADN courses. At this time, there are still quite a few general education courses but for the BSN nursing courses there is only Community-based Nursing and Research in Nursing.

Pros:

1. EC is very generous in accepting credit (except with that writing course and information literacy). They try to plug every college credit you have into some hole. They accept CLEP/DSST/ACE credits, they give credit for many nursing specialty certifications.

2. They are pretty reasonably priced compared with others. My BSN, which included my getting about 20 credits of general eds (I used plenty of CLEP/DSST) cost me approximately $12,000. Thankfully I got about $7,500 in reimbursement from my employer (could have gotten more if I had timed things better).

3. Overall reasonable quality of professors. I had quite a few outstanding professors, a couple of mediocre ones and maybe one I felt was below par.

4. This is no fly-by-night diploma mill. You will get "properly schooled" and if you are open to it, you will actually be exposed to excellent material that can elevate the level of your practice. If you are not open to it, you can probably cruise through unaffected.

As to the specific question about writing papers:

There are many papers to write. This is an easy way to evaluate learning without having to put people through proctered exams. Every 3 credit course will likely require 2 major papers. The weekly postings require minimally 250-500 words to meet requirements.

I have my issues with EC (doesn't everybody have an issue with their school?) but overall, this college provided a very high quality program. You can find cheaper and faster ways to go but they are a solid program.

First, I did not do the BSN, but I have to say I took few of their exams (and let me tell you they were not the easiest). Took Pathophysiology (but I did a lot of other stuff, certifications, I enjoy reading advanced papers about how body works...) without studying and had A. Man handling testing center said, it is first time he seen someone to pass it with an A, and that pathophys attempting people usually leave crying. Then I took psychology exam, quiet confident since I have had that since my high school, I know a lot, I mean a LOT about that stuff. Yet it did not went that well like I pictured it would (I expected an A..). Lets say, generally, not to interfere with policy not to share the information: questions were about anything else but the actual psychology problems itself. So I guess it comes to - be plain lucky.

I also had some dissatisfaction with school, (but way, way less than I have had in other schools, and poor adviser sucked up my bi..ing, for which I admire her endlessly. Dear J., if you ever read this, I wish I could send you huge box of chocolates, you deserve every little crumb and smudge of it!) overall, I am very happy with them, I actually think it was great choice. Not perfect, but very very good. The customer service is really good. Some professors were great. Some were lets say biased since I did not follow their opinions on current topics, or "pleased them". Others were fair and just even I did not follow their opinion on current events. ... like anywhere else.

I do not like writing papers, and all that technical stuff. But I like how otherwise it is at ease, end of fingertips, everyone is nice and helpful, I was pretty much able to find everything on my own, and got accomplished a lot in short time.

I don't know specifically about the BSN program, but I am in the LPN/PM to RN program. If they work the same and I'm sure they do, it is a valid way to increase your degree in my opinion. The classes aren't simple, the tests are proctored and it requires you to test your own ability to commit to classes without anyone standing over you. This style of learning is not for everyone but that you can apply knowledge you already have to your new program is a huge plus.

Does Excelsior require writing papers?

Specializes in ICU.

I had applied for ADN to BSN at Excelsior probably 8 years ago. Did first class and didn't like the program. Dropped and ended up getting BSN from UTA.

I honestly don't remember exactly what was so bad about it. I'm sure a lot has changed in 8 years though.

Specializes in Med/Surg, LTACH, LTC, Home Health.

I'm in week 3 of 15 in the capstone (final) course with Excelsior. I got serious about completing my BSN last year. Aside from the writing requirement, all the general education requirements can be done as exams. Once I completed those, I took 4 courses during the fall semester. I managed all A's; took 2 courses during the spring semester and managed A's in both of those, and now, I'm nearly 12 weeks away from the BSN. There was only one class for me, other than the capstone, that had a group project. But there are papers to write. I never had more than 2 for each course and remarkably, they were never due at the same time. I've been dragging my feet with this degree since 2011 and completely sat the entire year of 2012. Barring life issues, had I known just how doable this program was, I would have been done a long time ago.

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