Help, starting Excelsior General Ed

caliotter3 · Mar 15, 2007

You might find it easier to start by taking a couple of these classes at your local community college. You can intermingle with students there, take classes at night, or on weekends, or online, and find it easier to locate the easier courses by talking with others. Also, keep in mind, what someone else considers easy may not be the same for you. Good luck as you get started. You must keep in mind that you should enroll in Excelsior by the end of September 2007 or you will fall under the new guidelines, which definitely will be harder.

GinoLPN · Mar 15, 2007

Thank you for the info.

I a friend of mine just told me about College Network, she said they put together course books that have everything you need to pass instead of searching through all of excelsiors refrences.

I called College Network and the advisior told me I should take the following classes & they would give me 30 credits and are basically what Excelsior requires and I'll be fine. She said the extra 1 credit I'll need will be Information Literacy and I can take that later on.

Basically only 7 classes:

A&P

Eng Comp

Psychology

Lifespan Psychology

Micro

Sociology

Analysis of Liturature "Humanities"

What do you think about them? any good?

If College Network is good I'll buy all the guides from ebay so I won't spend a ton of cash on them "$450.00 each!" yikes!

So.. the verdict on College Network is...."drum roll"

By the way my brother and sister are also Nurses. My brother is an RN & works here in FL, he works through a Hospitals staffing agency and makes 42.00 an hr "3 -12 hr shifts", plus more if he works in ICU ect.. Thats a ton of cash for a FL Nurse.

My LPN license doesnt make much cash here in FL, basically stuck in LTC, 1st shift 7a-3p 15.50 an hr, a little more on the 3p-11p & 11p-7a. Basically the pay stinks for LPN's in FL.

I want the kind of cash my brother makes so I'm very motivated.

Thank you,

Gino :)

caliotter3 · Mar 15, 2007

There are plenty of threads on this site that give you people's opinions of the publishing companies TCN, Rue, and others. Basically, a waste of good money. As you know, you can buy their study guides used on ebay for a fraction of the cost. There are also many threads with hints about how to go about tackling Excelsior on the independent study forum. While you are getting ready to enroll, go to the Excelsior website, http://www.Excelsior.edu, and download their study guide for NC1 as well as a copy of the School of Nursing catalog. You can take NC1 prior to enrolling. As you are already an LPN, you may get NC2 waived by the college. Excelsior will evaluate your transcripts from LPN school and let you know whether you have to take NC2. That test, too, can be taken before enrolling. Read the website thoroughly. They give a list of reference books for the NC tests. You can save money by buying older editions on ebay or half.com or by getting them on interlibrary loan. One person stated that he bought no references and did all of his studying from Saunders NCLEX review book and passed the tests. Whatever you do to get started, make sure you enroll by the deadline in September. Good luck.

kakalika · Mar 16, 2007

There are plenty of threads on this site that give you people's opinions of the publishing companies TCN, Rue, and others. Basically, a waste of good money. As you know, you can buy their study guides used on ebay for a fraction of the cost. There are also many threads with hints about how to go about tackling Excelsior on the independent study forum. While you are getting ready to enroll, go to the Excelsior website, www.Excelsior.edu, and download their study guide for NC1 as well as a copy of the School of Nursing catalog. You can take NC1 prior to enrolling. As you are already an LPN, you may get NC2 waived by the college. Excelsior will evaluate your transcripts from LPN school and let you know whether you have to take NC2. That test, too, can be taken before enrolling. Read the website thoroughly. They give a list of reference books for the NC tests. You can save money by buying older editions on ebay or half.com or by getting them on interlibrary loan. One person stated that he bought no references and did all of his studying from Saunders NCLEX review book and passed the tests. Whatever you do to get started, make sure you enroll by the deadline in September. Good luck.

Whats with the September deadline? What happens to those who enrol after Sept?

The Limey · Mar 17, 2007

Whats with the September deadline? What happens to those who enrol after Sept?

There will be 8 nursing exams instead of 7.

Along with the CPNE there will be 3 more required clinical "tests" - managing multiple patients, interacting with a disciplinary team, A head to toe assessment.

Check the PDF file on Excelsior for more details (Bottom of this page, right hand column: link )

irienurse · Oct 31, 2008

Go For It. You Can Do It. Every One Has To Start Somewhere