Kaplan college in San Diego RN program

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Hi, I will be starting the RN program with Kaplan as soon as we relocate. My husband's in the Military so the wait lists at other colleges turned me away from them.

Do any of you go to Kaplan? If so, how did it work out for the student loans and stuff , I am confused. It seems as if tuition is around 45000 for the couple years of the program. I am eligible for the pell grant and the military grant of 3000 per year. But would the loans be able to cover everything else since it's a vocational school more than a traditional college? Thanks!

when do you guys find out if you're in for January?!?

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RE: Kaplan College's RN program

I recently visited Kaplan's San Diego campus this December. They did not give me a hard figure for the 20 month RN program, but suffice to say that it's a good $50K. By the way, the max they will take off for credits earned elsewhere is about $8K. Credits earned meaning A&P, math, English, and micro etc. from an accredited college. One nice thing about Kaplan, as compared to say Pima Medical Institute, is that Kaplan does not make you retake general ed and science courses over again. This way you can focus on the core nursing curriculum if you already have the the other stuff out of the way. Make no mistake; however, Kaplan is a non-WASC accredited, for profit entity. Page 19 in their catalog openly states that credits earned at Kaplan are unlikely to transfer to other colleges, or universities. This includes National University people. So, why pay the steep tuition? If you want your, non-transferable, ADN, yet can't wait 2-4 years on a community college's wait list then these private schools are a viable if not expensive alternative. Bare in mind that obtaining your BSN down the road will be more difficult if you go the Kaplan route for your ADN. Yes, they have a pricey ADN to BSN program, but that's a whole separate BIG student loan proposition. Hope this info helps. At this point I'm still thinking it over. John PS I'm not replying to the above post. Couldn't get my message posted as a stand-alone message. ??

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Hi John,

I am also very interested in the RN program as well. After your meeting can you give me some info on hours, price etc. We are moving to SD next year so I am just looking ahead.

Thanks!

Hi Liberty Bell,

I'm still learning to navigate and post messages here. RE: Kaplan College's RN program

I recently visited Kaplan's San Diego campus this December. They did not give me a hard figure for the 20 month RN program, but suffice to say that it's a good $50K. By the way, the max they will take off for credits earned elsewhere is about $8K. Credits earned meaning A&P, math, English, and micro etc. from an accredited college. One nice thing about Kaplan, as compared to say Pima Medical Institute, is that Kaplan does not make you retake general ed and science courses over again. This way you can focus on the core nursing curriculum if you already have the the other stuff out of the way. Make no mistake; however, Kaplan is a non-WASC accredited, for profit entity. Page 19 in their catalog openly states that credits earned at Kaplan are unlikely to transfer to other colleges, or universities. This includes National University people. So, why pay the steep tuition? If you want your, non-transferable, ADN, yet can't wait 2-4 years on a community college's wait list then these private schools are a viable if not expensive alternative. Bare in mind that obtaining your BSN down the road will be more difficult if you go the Kaplan route for your ADN. Yes, they have a pricey ADN to BSN program, but that's a whole separate BIG student loan proposition. Hope this info helps. At this point I'm still thinking it over. John

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personally Kaplan would be a waste of moeny....1st: their courses are not creditable....2nd: kaplan use to be Meric college.. and meric college was not that great of a school (my dad took the rn classes....and well lets just say it didnt work out....more on the schools part)..and to tell you the truth...you would have to challenge the rn testing for kaplan.... if they put you in PCAT...dont take it...because basicaly PCAT is classes to be a CNA...and thats a fat waste of money and time....your better off doing lvn and continuing to rn...but KAPLAN is not a great school....if you already have had experience in nursing and have already taken most of your basic classes like a&p, micro, eng, math....then let me tell you ..your just paying to start those classes over....if your moving to san diego for a good amount of time..i would say you should not take a vocational school....if thats your only choice, look for another school other than KAPLAN....my better choice would be NATIONAL UNIVERSITY....that were i will be planning to go after lvn school this year... their option are completely better...

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I agree in part that schools such as Kaplan are not first tier. However, bare in mind that such ADN programs are quicker and easier to get into. Community College route- Two years of pre reqs followed by a two-three year wait list. National is better as the actual degree is accredited, but it's also a BS program. Therefore it's much tougher to get into and complete. Kaplan is approved by the nursing board. That's who gives you the RN lic. But, the AS degree isn't worth a darn if you want to build upon it. That's the big downfall to going to a Kaplan. If you're 20 years old then by all means go the conventional college route. Those older and, or less patient can consider the $$ private for-profit schools as a viable choice.

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personally Kaplan would be a waste of moeny....1st: their courses are not creditable....2nd: kaplan use to be Meric college.. and meric college was not that great of a school (my dad took the rn classes....and well lets just say it didnt work out....more on the schools part)..and to tell you the truth...you would have to challenge the rn testing for kaplan.... if they put you in PCAT...dont take it...because basicaly PCAT is classes to be a CNA...and thats a fat waste of money and time....your better off doing lvn and continuing to rn...but KAPLAN is not a great school....if you already have had experience in nursing and have already taken most of your basic classes like a&p, micro, eng, math....then let me tell you ..your just paying to start those classes over....if your moving to san diego for a good amount of time..i would say you should not take a vocational school....if thats your only choice, look for another school other than KAPLAN....my better choice would be NATIONAL UNIVERSITY....that were i will be planning to go after lvn school this year... their option are completely better...

SD2LB,

I understand what you are saying, it's just so hard that we will only be in SD for 3 years. I have been a CNA for a while working at an assisted living facility and I have only a few pre reqs taken, only math and english. Do you think the LVN program would be better to take from Kaplan? If I take the LVN and we move out of state, will I be able to continue my education towards an Rn program in another state?

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SD2LB,

I understand what you are saying, it's just so hard that we will only be in SD for 3 years. I have been a CNA for a while working at an assisted living facility and I have only a few pre reqs taken, only math and english. Do you think the LVN program would be better to take from Kaplan? If I take the LVN and we move out of state, will I be able to continue my education towards an Rn program in another state?

Hello, Even private schools like Concord and Kaplan which offer LVN programs are costing at least $30K these days. However, once you have your LVN, or LPN as it's referred to in some states, you can more easily become an RN with additional schooling down the road. Again, realize that 90% of these tech schools that "sell you", sorry, let you "earn" an AS degree are worthless when you try to carry them over to a so-called real school, i.e. CC, or universities. That's a bummer, but at least the license itself is as good as gold. Take a look! Some community colleges offer a 30 unit LVN to RN step up program. If you have English and math, hopefully at least intermediate algebra, then that's a great start. A&P, general chemistry, and micro are basically the only classes left. Check into San Diego City College for their ROP LVN nursing program. If you don't have the time to take the aforementioned sciences, plus any wait-list, then by all means pay say $300/mo which starts 6 months after graduation from a Kaplan or such and be working as a nurse in about 20 months instead of 3-4 years from now! It's expense, but every year you're not working as a nurse is a year you're not making better money right? I see I strayed from your question. Your LVN will transfer to another state; however, you will need "real", transferable general ed and sciences courses at some point to move forward.

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Hello, Even private schools like Concord and Kaplan which offer LVN programs are costing at least $30K these days. However, once you have your LVN, or LPN as it's referred to in some states, you can more easily become an RN with additional schooling down the road. Again, realize that 90% of these tech schools that "sell you", sorry, let you "earn" an AS degree are worthless when you try to carry them over to a so-called real school, i.e. CC, or universities. That's a bummer, but at least the license itself is as good as gold. Take a look! Some community colleges offer a 30 unit LVN to RN step up program. If you have English and math, hopefully at least intermediate algebra, then that's a great start. A&P, general chemistry, and micro are basically the only classes left. Check into San Diego City College for their ROP LVN nursing program. If you don't have the time to take the aforementioned sciences, plus any wait-list, then by all means pay say $300/mo which starts 6 months after graduation from a Kaplan or such and be working as a nurse in about 20 months instead of 3-4 years from now! It's expense, but every year you're not working as a nurse is a year you're not making better money right? I see I strayed from your question. Your LVN will transfer to another state; however, you will need "real", transferable general ed and sciences courses at some point to move forward.

hi..i see you know a lot.. am considering kaplan but how true is it that they are not regionally acreditted? how can it affect me assuming i took my adn classes there? plus whats the best route to be nurse? take lvn and get the lvn-rn bridge or take adn? i already have a&p, chem, micro, psycho,socio,algeb but i took that from my home country.. whats the best school anyway?

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Thanks for the info Mareeh77, I am currently in the PCAT program with plans to apply to the RN program in Sept '09. I am currently holding a gpa of 3.95 which hasn't been too difficult to obtain as long as I don't miss any lecture days. I'm assuming that the RN program is much more intense and I probably would be lucky to hold a 3.00. My class was recently told that only students with a 3.95 or above can apply to the RN course. Anything less they would have them apply to the LVN? Not sure if this is true, I was initially told that your TEAS & past healthcare experience is what they look at. Do you know any different?

mchuffy--my sister was an RN here in SD for 10 years before moving to AZ. She worked with several Meric RN's and said they were just as good as other schools. Don't let anyone cheat you out of your dream when you can get there that much quicker. I was talking a prereq class a semester while working full time and did that for 5 years before enrolling in Kaplan. It would take me another 5+ years just to start my RN program. I'm hoping I will be working as an RN by that time going to Kaplan. Just a thought...but good luck whichever route you go.

Sorry that it has taken me so long to respond...just finished 1st semester...i'm one of the bridge students..n i'm usually a straight "A" student, but on a bad day I might get a "B". All of the 1st semester bridge students w/nursing experience passed with a "C-C+" in the nursing course. It's highly intense considering that we are graded on a higher scale. To get an "A" you have to be carrying a 97% or higher. It's pretty intense.

I use to be one of those people who refused to even go the Maric (now Kaplan) route. But the average starting pay without any pay differentials of an RN is $30/hour which amounts to $60,000/year. In my case, the program is costing $32,000. That is money and experience that I am throwing away by waiting to get into another RN Program. As an added bonus, University of Phoenix gives credit for the classes taken at Kaplan and they have regional accreditation. 13 classes at Univ. of Phoenix makes up the upper division nursing classes that would need to be taken. Any extra GE's can be taken at a local community college to help with cost. After 1 year, you should be seeing about a $10,000 increase in salary depending on how you play your cards. As long as you can afford Kaplan, there really is no reason why the school shouldn't be considered. I've noticed that the people who talk badly about the school haven't actually taken courses there or are going on opinions of people who had bad experiences there. Being a student at Kaplan has definitely enlightened me to the ADN program there and I can say from being there that it isn't as bad as people make it out to be. Expensive, yes. But, how much is getting the ADN that much sooner worth to you. That really should be all that matters. As for getting a future education beyond that, that route is also open to you.

My mom is also an RN who went the traditional college route and after working with Kaplan students doing clinical rotations at her hospital had finally urged me to apply at Kaplan.

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Well said mareeh...i recently graduated from kaplan in Dec. I now work in the ER starting out at 34 an hour...for me, kaplan was a great school and i enjoyed every bit of it. all of the instructors and staff really want you to reach your goals..i sarted in 06. i did all my pre-reqs there and i paid 45,000.. i have about 30000 in school loans but it was worth it.. i know people who got on wait lists when i started in 06 and they are either starting a program this year or still waiting. if you are considering going to kaplan, make you experience the type that you want. no one is going to hold your hand during this process and it needs to be all you. i knew of the "bad" rep "maric" had before going there but you know what, everyone is different and only YOU can represent yourself and what you have to offer. work hard and do whats best for you..if you really want to get your BSN after, go to Pheniox..trust me, if you really want to, time will not be a problem as they have online and night classes..money will not be a problem then considering you will be making over 60000 a year :)

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Can anyone tell me what the actual Kaplan nursing program entails? I met with an admisoins girl last night, and she won't tell me anything until I take the CNA course. I need more information before I can make such a big decision.Such as actual class and/or clinical time, approx. weekly study time, etc.

I am totally commited to this, but I need to see if it is actually possible. (I have 2 small children, and no family around to help )She says I may need to study 15 hours a day...is that about right?

thank you soooo much for your help!

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How difficult would it be for a person with the bare minimum requirements to get into the RN program at Kaplan?

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