For those of you attending/graduates of Stanbridge...

AnaLVN · Jun 14, 2009

I graduated from Stanbridge College in Irvine back in October from their LVN program. I started out in the part-time program and realized it was way too slow so I joined the full-time program. It took a lot of sacrifice because I was still working full time at my current job. I'd work a 12 hour graveyard shift as an Emergency Medical Dispatcher (1800-0600) and have to be in class by 7am. Let me tell you it was hell! My first year in the part time program was amazing thanks to the best instructor who's changed my life. Unfortunatelly, he no longer works at the school. I've heard the program is now almost up to $30,000! It was $25,000 when I signed up and they gave us the biggest piece of crap laptops that could not have cost more than $100. To tell you the truth, the school sounded more glorified than it turned out to be for the most part. But there were still a lot of good instructors (as well as terrible that I hope they've gotten rid of by now) that really made my education worthwhile.

The clinical instructors I worked with were really good although I now wish they still would have pushed us more. The only negative thing I really have to stress on is that you have to be prepared to possibly have instructors being switched around on you a lot. We went through a lot of instructors during our last term and it made it really frustrating and difficult keeping up with the different teaching styles. Also, a lot of the power points had not been updated as well as the tests so we would have questions that were not supposed to be in our tests and were promised they were going to be deducted from our total score but never were. This cost me not getting an "A" by 2 points in the maternity section which I was furious about!! Nothing was ever made to fix the scores but thank God I still managed to graduate valedictorian.

Anothing thing that really ticked me off was that I signed a contract for the part-time program stating that all the NCLEX fees and livescan fees would be paid for but come the end of the year I was forced to pay the registration fees as well as the livescan fees or else my papers would not be sent out to the Nursing Boards. This reallllly made a lot of the students mad but we had no time to put a fight because of the possibility of our papers not being sent out in time. Anyways, our program encountered a lot of problems with fees and whatnot but in the end we all just wanted to be done and get out of there to move on with our life so we just let it be.

I'm super thankful for their ATI program though. This program is hard but works amazing! It gave us headaches and made us cry sometimes because you really need to know how to study and think like a nurse but let me tell you it is the answer to passing the NCLEX. I ran into some problems with the Nursing Board because they misspelled my last name so I couldn't register until it was changed (and it took them 5 1/2 months to fix it!!!!!! TALK ABOUT STRESS!!! :banghead: ) so I wasn't able to register for my test and take it until about 6 months after I had graduated and I still passed without having studied one bit after I graduated. I actually just got my liecnse in the mail about a week ago :yeah: . All I did was take the exit exam that ATI offers which is pretty much a refresher of everything you studied since the beginning. The way you are trained to answer ATI questions is the same way in which you will answer the questions for the NCLEX-PN.

So overall, after all my rambling, I'd take Stanbridge over Concorde and all those other vocational nursing schools. A lot of students from those colleges who failed the nursing boards the first time would come to our NCLEX reviews and oh my goodness they had horror stories compared to what we were complaining about at our school. I'm pretty sure Stanbridge still has 100% passing rate as well for the NCLEX.

Word of advise though, if you're doing part-time, make sure you are enrolled in a community college program working on your pre-requsities for an RN program. This way you'll be able to enroll in the LVN to RN career ladder program much faster. If you're doing the full-time program though, make sure you don't work full time like I did unless you want to drive yourself to near insanity for really good grades haha. I recommend working for HomeHelpers which the school offers pretty much a guaranteed position with while you're going to school. It looks great on your resume and have gotten many job offers after graduating thanks to it. Good luck and let me know if you have any questions, I'd love to help!

:nurse: Ana

sara8304 · Jul 28, 2009

Hi, Iv been looking at private lvn programs and iv come across Stanbride College in Irvine and I was hopeing that someone would have any input on the school. Im looking at goin there part time.

QB106 · Sep 1, 2009

So did you end up joining? Part time or full? How do you like it, if you have joined?

sara8304 · Sep 1, 2009

Hi there, I actaully havent started yet. I start NOv 9th. That was the next term that was open that fit my current schedule. So far just going there a couple times for the paper work and taking the test the school seems very cool. The people there are really nice and school offers alot. I looked at other schools and Stanbridge seems to be the school on top of things. Its pricy yes.. but i think it will be well worth it.

Blessed2beStressed · Sep 2, 2009

So did you end up joining? Part time or full? How do you like it, if you have joined?

yup :) I am there now. Just started on Aug. 25th. Tonight was our 3rd class...(I am taking the p/t course). So far, so good. I love the instructor...! We have a sub because our First Term instructor is off for medical reasons, I am sad to think that our sub will not be the one we have for the full term. I really love her teaching style and feel a connection with her already.

We get our scrubs and our first batch of books on Thursday...and I cannot wait. I am also bummed that Tuesday the 8th there will be no class due to....the holiday. Our first clinical was scheduled originally for Saturday the 12th, but that has been postponed due to many of the students being 'out of town' that weekend. So we will begin the clinicals on the weekend of the 19th.

I am feeling that I made the right choice by choosing Stanbridge. I checked out other schools and they did not measure up. Some people have mentioned that the Administration comes off as disorganized, but you just take the good with the bad. Keep your eye on the goal, and the goal is passing the NCLEX.

Not one school I have seen in all of Calif. can boast of a 100% pass rate.

QB106 · Sep 2, 2009

good for you. i just started pt time this past june. good luck ;-)

Blessed2beStressed · Sep 2, 2009

good for you. i just started pt time this past june. good luck ;-)

Congrats to you too. How is it going for you? are you enjoying it? hey, when you get a chance, pm me...I have a question....thanks :)

QB106 · Sep 2, 2009

Congrats to you too. How is it going for you? are you enjoying it? hey, when you get a chance, pm me...I have a question....thanks :)

I signed up yesterday, I don't know how to "pm" yet (i assume that means personal message) LOL:wink2:

Blessed2beStressed · Sep 2, 2009

oh...i think you have to have a certain amount of posts before you can use the 'pm', which is 'private message'. oh well, i was just going to ask you about the study load....

i am all for working my butt off, but according to them, it will add up to about 5 hours of study time a day. that is not possible for me with a family and work. How is the study load going for you and the other classmates? do you find this course so challenging that you need THAT many hours a day to pass?

Also, how are the clinicals going for you guys there? are you out in facilities yet? i know they do 12 weeks inside and 12 weeks out. where are you all in your program? (still term 1 for you??)...

so many questions, but i am a 'planner' and like to organize ahead of the game. thanks!!! :) :)

QB106 · Sep 2, 2009

they will tell you but BELIEVE ME you don't have to study that much each day, are you kidding me? iIMPOSSIBLE and RIDICULOUS to do so. Again, i can only speak for the first course which is nursing fundamentals, i never studied even close to that much, OR everyday. there may come courses where ill have to, but NEVER that much. EVER.

One thing i could say is that you will not pass by just reviewing the powerpoints, so dont rely on that, no matter how in depth they seem. you do need to read the chapters, and understand what you are reading.

i am part time like you, so yes i am definitely still in first term, i just barely finished my first course, i started this past june. so behind your class, we are the next in line newbies, so im just as fresh. so def ask other stanbridge students who have been there longer for their input.

we start the clinicals at a real facility sep 19th, but starting at a LTC not hospital right off the bat...

Blessed2beStressed · Sep 13, 2009

they will tell you but BELIEVE ME you don't have to study that much each day, are you kidding me? iIMPOSSIBLE and RIDICULOUS to do so. Again, i can only speak for the first course which is nursing fundamentals, i never studied even close to that much, OR everyday. there may come courses where ill have to, but NEVER that much. EVER.
One thing i could say is that you will not pass by just reviewing the powerpoints, so dont rely on that, no matter how in depth they seem. you do need to read the chapters, and understand what you are reading.
i am part time like you, so yes i am definitely still in first term, i just barely finished my first course, i started this past june. so behind your class, we are the next in line newbies, so im just as fresh. so def ask other stanbridge students who have been there longer for their input.
we start the clinicals at a real facility sep 19th, but starting at a LTC not hospital right off the bat...

we are having a few hiccups with our first term course. Our instructor is out for medical reasons....and we have had a few subs. Last Thursday we were given a pretty heavy load of homework. Most of the students I have spoken with over this weekend are freaking out with this load. I am trying to hold it together myself, but to be honest, it is a bit much. can you briefly give a norm of the work load you guys get? I am hoping this is a glitch. the instructor informed us that she did not have a 'syllabus' to go off of....(um, hello?). IMHO, she did not know what she was doing....and just threw some things together. 3 chapters in Rosedahl, 2 Ch's in Memmlers, 50 math problems in Pickar, and reviewing the MED terms and A&P....oh, and to be prepared for a quiz or 2 - but forgot to bother to give any info on what those quizes entail.

I have had a few emails from other students, like i said, and everyone is feeling pretty lost at this point. IS THIS THE WAY this school is going to be like? if so, i feel lied to at this point. I understand their are glitches, and i can be flexible, but this is even too much for me at this point. the home work load is overwhelming. the class instruction was disorganized and the instructor was hard to follow. I even asked a question in order for her to clarify a word for me on the body quadrants, and she told me i would have to 'look that up myself'. nice "teaching".

blech.

sorry, venting here. please give me hope for this school yet....does this sound like the 'norm' workload your class is getting?????