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I've been an LPN for 2 years now and also work agency with General Healthcare Resources. I want to get my RN but my husband is in school also for his RN :bugeyes: so I have little choice but to do it online if I'm going to do it at all. I went to EC's website and created my EC account. Now what do I do :confused:? How do I know what and how many classes/courses I must take to get my degree? Do I have to pay the $75 fee to apply just to find out if I have to take too many courses? I took a lot of prerequisites at local community college for the RN already.

Also, I cannot find out on my state board of nursing (PA) if they even accept EC degrees- do you know if they do?? I don't want to get into anything I cannot get out of (ie: TCN). Thanks

Kelly

Specializes in EMS, ED, Trauma, CEN, CPEN, TCRN.
I am SO confused!!! I got my evaluation back and the first thing I did was enroll and pay the $875. Was that wrong? I've been paying it in monthly payments and now that that's payed off, I was going to start a class/exam. Do I order the books and start studying? Do I need all the books it says I do? I'm so confused???

Thanks ladies.

It wasn't wrong, but you can take pre-reqs and a couple of the nursing exams before you have to pay the enrollment fee. Once you've paid that, you've started the clock ticking toward your student services annual fee (SSAF) being due, which is $440. But no worries -- I did the same thing! ;)

Pick your first exam -- might as well start with Essentials of Nursing Care: Health Safety, which was formerly known as NC1. Download the exam content guide (when you've logged in to your "MyEC" page on the website, you'll see a link for "Free Examination Content Guides" somewhere down the right side of the page), and use that content guide to direct your learning. Some people use textbooks, others use notes from eBay sources like StudyGroup101, or used TCN modules on eBay. I used a combination of all of those things. There is a lot of information on Excelsior in this forum -- the search function can help. :) Good luck!!

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Specializes in Family practice.

My next question is do you think it's better to do the nursing classes first or the pre-req. I seem to need a lot of pre-req. I can really only afford to do one class/exam at a time as I'm paying as I go.

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Specializes in EMS, ED, Trauma, CEN, CPEN, TCRN.
My next question is do you think it's better to do the nursing classes first or the pre-req. I seem to need a lot of pre-req. I can really only afford to do one class/exam at a time as I'm paying as I go.

The sooner you are eligible for the CPNE, the better. There is a bit of a wait time for the CPNE. I saved a few exams for the CPNE wait time; during that time, I did Micro and two CLEPs -- Human Growth and Development, which covered the Lifespan Developmental Psych requirement, and Introductory Sociology, which covers the sociology requirement.

My advice (more of it, at any rate!): do as many pre-req classes as you can via CLEP. Which pre-reqs do you need?

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Specializes in Geriatrics.

I need to CLEP or re-take all my gen eds since the school I went to for my LPN is nationally accredited and not regionally accredited :madface: Wish I would have known then what I know now, but live and learn I guess. But anyway, since I need to CLEP out of all gen ed classes as possible what is a good study guide or website to prepare for this? I have never done anything like this & feel a bit lost. Help!!!

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Specializes in EMS, ED, Trauma, CEN, CPEN, TCRN.
I need to CLEP or re-take all my gen eds since the school I went to for my LPN is nationally accredited and not regionally accredited :madface: Wish I would have known then what I know now, but live and learn I guess. But anyway, since I need to CLEP out of all gen ed classes as possible what is a good study guide or website to prepare for this? I have never done anything like this & feel a bit lost. Help!!!

CLEP: http://www.collegeboard.com/student/testing/clep/about.html -- find your closest test center using the website and give them a call about scheduling. The university where I took my CLEPs only administered them every other Wednesday, or something like that. Each location is different.

One company that has study guides for CLEP tests is rea.com -- their prices are reasonable and their material seems good, from the limited amount I've seen. One thing, though -- please be sure you check with EC before taking a CLEP test to ensure they'll give you credit for it. There are a couple of CLEPs (can't remember which ones) that don't satisfy requirements for EC.

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Hiya,this is my first time posting...I really hope you all can offer some advice. I was in the 2 year RN program at my college and left after Nursing 3.(my young three girls really needed me to find a full time job..lol) I challenged the LPN boards and have been working as an LPN for 3 years now. I went into the bridge program(LPN-RN) , and took every class I needed to. I was almost done but didnt pass my final exam for my very last class:o . I am back to working full time now and cannot go back to repeat. I think I am going to apply for Excelsior. Please tell me this wont take another 5 years off of my life.lol Will I have to take the entire program? pleeeeeeeeeease help..I am starting to become so discouraged. Thanks in advance for any advice!!!

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Specializes in Geriatrics.
Hiya,this is my first time posting...I really hope you all can offer some advice. I was in the 2 year RN program at my college and left after Nursing 3.(my young three girls really needed me to find a full time job..lol) I challenged the LPN boards and have been working as an LPN for 3 years now. I went into the bridge program(LPN-RN) , and took every class I needed to. I was almost done but didnt pass my final exam for my very last class:o . I am back to working full time now and cannot go back to repeat. I think I am going to apply for Excelsior. Please tell me this wont take another 5 years off of my life.lol Will I have to take the entire program? pleeeeeeeeeease help..I am starting to become so discouraged. Thanks in advance for any advice!!!

If the college you attended previously is regionally accredited your general education courses should transfer, if the school is nationally accredited they won't transfer & you will have to take the gen eds again. I don't believe that nursing core classes will transfer, but the good news is that you can do them at your own pace. You can finish them as quickly as you want, but there is a wait time for CPNE exam...which varies but from what I have heard is generally around 4-6 months (don't quote me!). Your best bet would be to contact excelsior to see what classes will transfer...https://www.excelsior.edu/Excelsior_College/About/Contact. I just spoke to them yesterday to see what I need to do to get the ball rolling & they are very nice & helpful:D Good luck!

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Specializes in Med/Surg.
Please tell me this wont take another 5 years off of my life.lol Will I have to take the entire program? pleeeeeeeeeease help..I am starting to become so discouraged. Thanks in advance for any advice!!!

Well, it seems to me that you already know the material, so you can do it as fast as you can (or as fast as you can pay for classes, lol)

I started to take exams on Sept. 18th, enrolled on Sept. 21st. of 2009. Besides Nursing classes, I passed 6 gen. ed. exams (including Micro and A&P) My CPNE date is Jan.8th. and if I pass, I'll have only English to do before graduation. So, it is possible. Another example - algdragon (did I spelled his name correctly?) - he started in the middle of October and has only one test to do before CPNE, if I'm not mistaken. So, it is up to you.

I would suggest to apply first, see what EC will take from your previous classes and then go from there. You can call Excelsior - every time I called they were very helpful.

Good luck!

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Specializes in Wound Care, LTC, Sub-Acute, Vents.
well, it seems to me that you already know the material, so you can do it as fast as you can (or as fast as you can pay for classes, lol)

i started to take exams on sept. 18th, enrolled on sept. 21st. of 2009. besides nursing classes, i passed 6 gen. ed. exams (including micro and a&p) my cpne date is jan.8th. and if i pass, i'll have only english to do before graduation. so, it is possible. another example - algdragon (did i spelled his name correctly?) - he started in the middle of october and has only one test to do before cpne, if i'm not mistaken. so, it is up to you.

i would suggest to apply first, see what ec will take from your previous classes and then go from there. you can call excelsior - every time i called they were very helpful.

good luck!

don't say "if". say "when". because i know we will pass the cpne!!! :D

to alix3, you seem to have the foundation already from the rn program and being an lpn. try taking the first nursing exam and see if distance learning is for you. good luck!!

good luck happydrunkat with the cpne! kick the cpne butt!! did you get script yet for xanax? i'll definitely get one when it's time for my cpne.

angel

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Specializes in Med/Surg.

Thank you, Angel! Yes, my date is close and I'm starting to regret my decision not to get Xanax, lol.

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Specializes in Geriatrics.
Well, it seems to me that you already know the material, so you can do it as fast as you can (or as fast as you can pay for classes, lol)

I started to take exams on Sept. 18th, enrolled on Sept. 21st. of 2009. Besides Nursing classes, I passed 6 gen. ed. exams (including Micro and A&P) My CPNE date is Jan.8th. and if I pass, I'll have only English to do before graduation. So, it is possible. Another example - algdragon (did I spelled his name correctly?) - he started in the middle of October and has only one test to do before CPNE, if I'm not mistaken. So, it is up to you.

I would suggest to apply first, see what EC will take from your previous classes and then go from there. You can call Excelsior - every time I called they were very helpful.

Good luck!

so you can take gen eds after CPNE? So you only have to take your nursing classes before CPNE....or am I wrong?

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Specializes in Med/Surg.

You have to be within 10 credit hours to be eligible for CPNE. I have 3 left. And as far as I understand, yes, I can take CPNE first and then finish my English :) Actually, I was planning for longer wait and was going to do English while I'm waiting, but I got the date 4 days after I passed FCCA (I got a call on Dec. 4-th) and the date was just 1 month away. So, English can wait :))

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