Indiana State University BSN Thread for Current Students

Excelsior has nothing to do with the CSMs. You take those directly through ISU. TCN's modules really are the perfect tool to study for those tests HOWEVER you can get them elsewhere and that's recommended.

Oh yea, I need CSM study material for ISU not Excelsior.

How do you search for the CSM study material elsewhere and what sites, on ebay I'm just getting NCLEX results, I just need CSM study material for the 4 nursing course?

I am in the same boat as you, I might just have to bite the bullet and buy them from TCN. I hope I can get a deal. My guess will be that everyone have the materials is actually using them to study, so they can make the November deadline.

i am in the same boat as you, i might just have to bite the bullet and buy them from tcn. i hope i can get a deal. my guess will be that everyone have the materials is actually using them to study, so they can make the november deadline.

before you sign on the line for the e-book study guides from tcn consider this: tcn study guides are about $525 each, and i found that some of the test questions were never covered in the study guide. i speak from experience as i did buy the tcn guides, but i also bought saunder's comprehensive study guide for nclex, which also has lots of test questions and rationales. in addition i bought lippincott's study guides for the tests...they have 4 different books each with similar names: a's in med surg; a's in mother/child, a's in mental health, etc. both of these books will cost you a fraction of the cost of the tcn book. still need more test questions, get an additional nclex book that has only test questions and rationales. know the info for the test and also study the questions in the sections for the area you are taking the challenge exams.

tcn study guides are no magic bullet--i speak from experience. to pass the challenges, you must understand and retain the information. tcn's guides are no different from any other study guide for the subjects but you pay a high price for them. it is your choice. btw the reason you are not locating the guides online is because they are only available online via computer hookup with tcn--they are not regular books but only e-books. only those who paid an additional 60 dollars for each book, would have a hard cover book. i bought the regular book because i work nights. i studied when things were quiet but did not have internet hookup. because i had the actual tcn hardcover books, i was able to compare what was taught in the three books--tcn, lippincott, and saunders. they were all good books. the tcn study guides had about 5-10 review questions. i wanted more questions and the other books worked out quite nicely.

Before you sign on the line for the E-Book study guides from TCN consider this: TCN study guides are about $525 each, and I found that some of the test questions were never covered in the study guide. I speak from experience as I did buy the TCN guides, but I also bought Saunder's comprehensive study guide for NCLEX, which also has lots of test questions and rationales. In addition I bought Lippincott's study guides for the tests...they have 4 different books each with similar names: A's in Med Surg; A's in Mother/Child, A's in mental health, etc. Both of these books will cost you a fraction of the cost of the TCN book. Still need more test questions, get an additional NCLEX book that has only test questions and rationales. Know the info for the test and also study the questions in the sections for the area you are taking the challenge exams.

TCN study guides are no magic bullet--I speak from experience. To pass the challenges, you must understand and retain the information. TCN's guides are no different from any other study guide for the subjects but you pay a high price for them. It is your choice. BTW the reason you are not locating the guides online is because they are only available online via computer hookup with TCN--they are not regular books but only E-Books. Only those who paid an additional 60 dollars for each book, would have a hard cover book. I bought the regular book because I work nights. I studied when things were quiet but did not have internet hookup. Because I had the actual TCN hardcover books, I was able to compare what was taught in the three books--TCN, Lippincott, and Saunders. They were all good books. The TCN study guides had about 5-10 review questions. I wanted more questions and the other books worked out quite nicely.

Thank you, I will definitely look into this study material. I already signed up with TCN but I have a 3 day grace period and I will be cancelling tomorrow. The entire package was way to much money and I am not trying to go into debt especially from study material. Is it true that ISU give you a list of books to buy for studying? Oh gosh I have alot of studying ahead of me, if i want to make the November 1 deadline. I am a bit discouraged. I still have to take the PN, Cleps,4 CSMs, and Teas.

Hm to rn, I still jave my TCN materials if you need, them I didnt use them. Lol. It was a waste of my money. Lol.

thank you, i will definitely look into this study material. i already signed up with tcn but i have a 3 day grace period and i will be cancelling tomorrow. the entire package was way to much money and i am not trying to go into debt especially from study material. is it true that isu give you a list of books to buy for studying? oh gosh i have alot of studying ahead of me, if i want to make the november 1 deadline. i am a bit discouraged. i still have to take the pn, cleps,4 csms, and teas.

if at all possible cancel today and don't wait. i would call and then send a letter with return receipt showing they received the letter. be prepared for a hard sell as they will do all they can to keep you from cancelling.

does isu give a list of books? i don't remember. i do remember they have a list of objectives for the test. if you go through the objectives and use this as a study guide, it may help. as far as books, they would be the books that are used in the isu class for the subject...you know, normal nursing books for the subject.

Hm to rn, I still jave my TCN materials if you need, them I didnt use them. Lol. It was a waste of my money. Lol.

I email you back. but why do you feel it was a waste of money? did you take the exams using tcn materials?

If at all possible cancel today and don't wait. I would call and then send a letter with return receipt showing they received the letter. Be prepared for a hard sell as they will do all they can to keep you from cancelling.

Does ISU give a list of books? I don't remember. I do remember they have a list of objectives for the test. If you go through the objectives and use this as a study guide, it may help. As far as books, they would be the books that are used in the ISU class for the subject...you know, normal nursing books for the subject.

Thanks I am in the process of cancelling now. hopefully everything goes okay. Sorry I have another silly question. when will I receive the list of objectives? I already applied to ISU, however I am awaiting my official eval. Hopefully I will hear something this week.

i email you back. but why do you feel it was a waste of money? did you take the exams using tcn materials?

do i believe the tcn study guides are a waste of money -- yes. because i bought them as well as other books, i was able to compare the info in both.

thanks i am in the process of cancelling now. hopefully everything goes okay. sorry i have another silly question. when will i receive the list of objectives? i already applied to isu, however i am awaiting my official eval. hopefully i will hear something this week.

i do not remember when they gave me the list of objectives the student must know to take the test--which serves as a study guide. it may be when you pay 1/2 of the test fee. there is a difference between objectives and a list of subjects the test will cover.

see: http://www.indstate.edu/nursing/pdfs/testing-program-docs/nursing-challenge-exam-instructions.pdf as isu has changed their policy. isu now states:

"you purchase the four csm’s from tcn (the college network 1-800-395-3276), but take the exams through isu on isu’s blackboard website. the four challenge exams are n106, n224, n328, and n330. if you do not pass an exam on your first attempt, you will be required to show proof of purchase of the relevant csm from tcn to carol layton before your second attempt of the exam."

in the past, isu stated it was not necessary to buy the tcn study guides and that if you failed on the 2nd attempt, you had to buy the tcn study guides. why the change? is our allnurses blog taking a toll on tcn and cutting into the income of the person(s) at isu who wrote the study guides?

the isu site implies that the potential distant learning lpn to bsn student must buy the isu study guides--this is not true--at least until challenge test is failed.

another new policy change: "for the spring 2012 semester, all four exams (n106, n224, n328 and n330) will be required to be completed by the november 1, 2011 application deadline, so please give yourself time for exam retakes if not passed successfully."

Hey everyone thank you all so much for the wealth of information you provide. Ok so with all this info it's easy to get confused atleast I know I am. I want the option of convience ISU offers but I don't want to deal with extras TCN. I wanted to know if ISU accepts straightliner/online courses or distant learning courses other than those offered through Ivy Tech also are lower level nursing credits transferrable? I want to transfer in as many credits as possible to save on time and money.

i do not remember when they gave me the list of objectives the student must know to take the test--which serves as a study guide. it may be when you pay 1/2 of the test fee. there is a difference between objectives and a list of subjects the test will cover.

see: http://www.indstate.edu/nursing/pdfs/testing-program-docs/nursing-challenge-exam-instructions.pdf as isu has changed their policy. isu now states:

"you purchase the four csm's from tcn (the college network 1-800-395-3276), but take the exams through isu on isu's blackboard website. the four challenge exams are n106, n224, n328, and n330. if you do not pass an exam on your first attempt, you will be required to show proof of purchase of the relevant csm from tcn to carol layton before your second attempt of the exam."

in the past, isu stated it was not necessary to buy the tcn study guides and that if you failed on the 2nd attempt, you had to buy the tcn study guides. why the change? is our allnurses blog taking a toll on tcn and cutting into the income of the person(s) at isu who wrote the study guides?

the isu site implies that the potential distant learning lpn to bsn student must buy the isu study guides--this is not true--at least until challenge test is failed.

another new policy change: "for the spring 2012 semester, all four exams (n106, n224, n328 and n330) will be required to be completed by the november 1, 2011 application deadline, so please give yourself time for exam retakes if not passed successfully."

having to pass the csms before the application deadline has been a policy for 2 years...not new this year....see post #75 at https://allnurses.com/distance-learning-nursing/indiana-state-university-365874-page8.html#post3695660