Any ECPI grads or current students here?

[garnetgirl29]

I'm just curious as to the experience current students or grads of the Charlotte ECPI campus had. I have an appointment with a recruiter tomorrow evening. The school is close to me, and the appeal of evening classes and a 14 mo. program is drawing me in, but I'm also very afraid of the quality of the education I'll receive and how employable I will be upon graduation.

I am a 34 yr old divorced mother of two. I've been doing home daycare for 10 years and I want to get into nursing. I cannot afford to take the years to go through an RN program. We live paycheck to paycheck and money is painfully tight. I'm looking for a fastrack to a career that I will feel good about and that will support my family.

Due to cost, I would much prefer to take classes at a community college such as Rowan-Cabarras, but there are all the pre-req's I'll have to take plus the CNA course and even then, no guarantee that I'll get in. I don't want to do all that and then not get in before the time limit on the pre-req classes would be up. Also, I 'd like to be practicing before my children graduate! They're 10 & 12.

Also, can an LPN's salary in the Charlotte area comforably support a family of 3? I know I will get some sort of financial aid, but I have no idea how much. Does anyone know of special programs for single moms? My kids are on medicaid, and while we would probably qualify for food stamps, we're not receiving any other assistance.

I know an LPN's hours are all over the place. I actually like the idea of working 3 or 4 days a week at 12 hr days. I currently work 6 days a week; M-F typically being 11 hours and Sundays being 4 hours and I barely make $20,000/yr. This year has been espcially hard, so it's likely even less.

Considering the entire cost of a community college program, with the pre-req courses, cna classes and everything, is there that much of a difference in cost? Realistically, does anyone know how much I should plan to spend out of pocket at ECPI? If it ends up being $10,000, or more, is it worth it to get into the field that much sooner and begin paying?

At this point in my life, I don't have time for failure, so I HAVE to make this work. Thanks!

[CrazierThanYou]

I definitely would NOT go to ECPI. I am always leary of those types of schools and often, employers are too.

Also, don't do CMA. Like the above poster said, there is no advancement opportunites and the pay is low.

In my area, there are no CMA jobs. I know people who have had their degrees for YEARS and haven't found jobs.

[AndreaM]

Wow I guess ECPI Rn programs are different depending on which one you attend. I started at ECPI VA Beach and besides having alot of information to learn in such a short amount of time there was so many students in each class that it was very hard to get one on one time with the instructor and the Director of the RN program was NEVER availiable. The clinicals were awesome- we went to several hospitals in the area and had alot of hands on training. The down side to VA beach campus clinicals is that there was no room for error. They did not work with anyone if an emergency came up (say, a car accident on the way to clinical)- a 0 would be given for that day and no make up would be offered. I then switched over to Newport News campus and totally different! The RN Director's door is always open; plenty of tutoring was offered from the instructors, and make up days were offered for clinicals. We also attended a wide array of hospital settings. The ECPI/MCI staff have been nothing but helpful. Both schools have a very good NCLEX pass rate. I graduate Thursday! I moved to Fayetteville with husband and will be taking my boards in NC. Oh before I forget, I worked as a Nurse care partner (Basically a CNA) after I finished my first round of clinicals. It really helped me with my skills because I didn't have a background in healthcare. At ECPI they will try to tell you to go LPN and then come back and go to school for RN if you have no healthcare experience.... please do what is best for you and know that you can do it!

[AndreaM]

Like I said before all ECPI's are different. The clinical experience and the number of clinical hours I obtained thru ECPI's program has set me up for success. Knowing that employers may have a negative view of programs like ECPI, my resume reflects the number of clinical hours and location of clinicals. I also have references from several of the nurses whom I did clinicals with.....

[NorthernCaliRN]

I know this is an older post; however, could someone tell me what the cost of ECPI's RN program is? I am a student in the Central Valley of CA and was just curious. Also are there any other private schools in the Charlotte area that is worth the money?

Thank you for any input one would like to add!

Cassandra:)