Americare Institute good LPN school?

itsa307 · Dec 30, 2007

i have no experience with this school but there is a post about it on the local IL nursing board with lots of information for you! good luck!

keeplookingup7 · Mar 2, 2009

If you want teachers that don't know the first thing about how to run a classroom, arrogant board members and very unhelpful employees, this is the school for you. The tuition is VERY expensive (they have upped their price to $17,000/yr now....ridiculous for a vocational school!)

Their credits do not transfer out to other colleges. They say they will accept transfer credits from other institutions (COD, ECC, Harper, etc.), yet most of the time they will not allow the transfer without you passing a ridiculously difficult CLEP exam. If you're thinking about transferring credits for A&P, forget it, they do not accept A&P transfer credits at all.

Students do not have access to their grades, they do not have access to course schedules usually until about a week before classes are to begin...very frustrating especially for those with jobs. I have been an Americare student for the past year and a half, and the school has consistantly screwed up my credits, misplaced grades (how does one misplace a grade?) from classes I have taken, and there is only one person in the entire school that can give you answers (the Director of Nursing) who is almost never available.

Faculty is very rude, does not return phone calls, and I am currently wondering how much longer their accredation will be valid due to the fact that so many students failed the NCLEX the first time around....the clinical sites are so far spread out (some are in Hoffman Estates, while some are in Chicago, for example). I have sat through classes where teachers have actually quit in the middle of the semester, leaving us without a teacher or trying to scramble and find a fill-in at the last minute.

In particular, our OB clinicals (supposed to be an 8 week course with clinicals once a week) ended up being only a 1-day clinical....out of the 8 weeks we only attended ONE clinical day because the teacher left...yet the school gave us credit for the full clinical. Illegal? I think so! Yet they had no problem failing students for missing lecture days due to bad weather during the exact same rotation...this is just one example among many others!

Do not waste your time or your money with this school. It is also VERY small and I do not believe it will be in business much longer. There has been one lawsuit that I know of taken against the school already (the man came into a classroom and served papers to the school right in front of all of us). I would seriously consider other LPN schools.

Community colleges have long waiting lists, but there are NO shortcuts when it comes to nursing. I would try as hard as possible to become accepted into a college that has a good reputation and a solid background before running off and wasting your money on these overpriced vocational hole-in-the-wall schools that are nothing short of a scam. I constantly regret ever enrolling in this school, I have wasted valuable money and time that I could have spent somewhere else.

wannabeRN13 · Mar 12, 2009

Wow! I'm so surprised by KeepLookingUp's posting! I'm sorry to hear you had such an awful experience because mine has been quite the opposite.

I had no problem transferring my credits from another school to Americare and some of my classmates were able to transfer their A&P classes. And I'm not sure if KeepLookingUP was referring to students passing other school's CLEP exams or Americare's CLEP exam. If she was referring to Americare's CLEP exam, they don't have that, instead they have proficiency exams. I think CLEP is a testing company that other schools use. None of my classmates told me that they were asked to get documentation from other school's that shows they took the CLEP exam.

I'm shocked that she wasn't able to view her grades! I've always been able to access my grades on GradeBookWizard. Also, I've called the DON's assistant a few times to make an appointment and there has never been a problem finding a time to arrange a meeting.

I know that paying $17,000 sucks, but I looked into the nursing program at Robert Morris and it costs almost $100,000! I researched the other private schools in the area, and it seems that their tuition is similar, if not higher than Americare's price. I applied at Americare because I felt I'd get the most for my money there.

It's true, the clinicals are spread out, but location doesn't really bother me. And at least they place you in a clinical. Some of my classmates who transferred from other schools told me that they had to find their own clinical locations! And I really enjoy the teachers! None of the teachers have decided to leave in the middle of the class yet. :wink2:

It's really tough for me to believe that Americare's nursing program is a scam when the Director of Nursing has her PhD and the nursing instructors have their MSNs or are working toward receiving it. (I would hope that they know what they're doing!) At least, this is what I learned in their information session. I also learned that they've had 3 graduating classes with more than a 90% pass rate on the NCLEX.

So, like I said, I've had a completely different experience. If anything changes I'll be sure to let you know. How does everyone else feel about it?

HellooooNurse · Apr 4, 2009

Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned. So Keeplookingup7, what did they do to you that has made you so upset?

I'm having a hard time with your post because I've never experienced anything like what you're describing. Also, I think you're being rather unreasonable about what you think is so ridiculous. Piggybacking on wannabeRN's post, private schools are expensive to begin with. Why is Americare's tuition so bad? I think it's reasonable. Sure it doesn't beat COD or ECC or something, but let's face it... If you could get IN to those programs in the first place, you wouldn't be having this discussion.

I also can't imagine that they'd do illegal stuff and get sued. They've been really anal with filling out forms and documentation and all that, it kinda gets annoying all the paperwork you have to do. But I don't know. It just seems pretty uncharacteristic of them.

Also, I love my teachers. I'm in AP2 right now, and half the class hates my teacher, the other half loves him. He's sorta strict I guess, but he just wants us to do well. It gets annoying when some of the people in my class complain though. But it's usually just the lazy kids who don't do the work that complain because the quizzes are "too hard". As if the human body is simple. I guess hating your teachers is the "cool" thing to do nowadays. He really makes lecture interesting. He cracks jokes all the time, some of which are a little off color, but we're all adults. He sticks around after class if you're having a hard time with the material and you ask him for help. But you have to take initiative, he doesn't hold your hand like you're a 5 year old - he's just not that kind of teacher.

Anyhoo. I'm sorry you had a lousy experience, but I feel like you're exaggerating to be honest. If there's one thing I can't stand about school, it's when students think they know everything. When they think they know how a classroom should be run, when they think the teacher is wrong and that they know more, and when they interpret administrative decisions as arrogant demonstrations of superiority.

Some people just need to put their pride aside and just try to work WITH people instead of against people. Life's more enjoyable that way.

lvaliav · Apr 4, 2009

Hi Hellooonurse and wannabeeRN, I was wondering about the AmeriCare in Schaumburg. My goal is to become an RN but being as that is so hard to do when the waiting lists are high. I am wondering about the program and and if you both are going to be graduating soon or if you know anyone who has graduated and was able to transfer their credits to another school, such as RN. Thanks. I just want to get started in my nursing career and hate waiting around for some dream opportunity. *sigh*:anbd:

tombatoto · Apr 13, 2009

you should definitely look into americare, i have a wonderfull experience going there.i took my first class back in june and its really worth the money. as far as unhelpful emplyees ive never stood there for more than 2 minutes without being helped, they reply to emails within 12 hrs or you could call them they are very helpful on the phone as well. i normally ask for michelle shes really approachable and she knows her stuff very well, so when in doubt,go to her. i agree with heloonurse i love my ap2 teacher! he may seem intimidating but hes very approachable!! he knows what hes talkin about on hes lecture. i have never encountered a lousy teacher so far everyone ive had for my classes are knowledgeable and very intelligent. ive been in americare for a year now, so far the education i have is worth every penny. i work for a nurse agency and 50% of the nurses we hire are americare graduates and they get the most compliments from our clients as far as skills and knowledge. i cant wait till they start their rn program. the only problem i have with americare is lack of vending machines. i wish they'd build their own cafe that sells food

lvaliav · Apr 13, 2009

Great! That makes me feel a lot better, I just want to enroll in a program that will really help me become a smart nurse. =) Thank you for awesome feedback. Hopefully they will put up a vending machine by the time I start in the fall!!!

Marcik8553 · May 5, 2009

tombatoto are you finish with the program??? did you find a job?? is it really a good program?? how are the cliniclas?? is there one every week??

student-to-be · Jun 3, 2009

Thanks for the all the Americare info, ladies! I'm going to an information session this Friday to find out more about the program and hopefully get myself enrolled! :yeah:

It sounds likes most of you are currently in the program, but anyone who has graduated or is near graduation, can you please tell me your next step and if you've enrolled yourself in a bridge program? If so, where at?

Is this program really 17k?! Yikes! But I guess that's about normal...

Does anyone know information about their up and coming nursing program and any cost information in regards to that? I suppose I can wait until Friday if no one knows this info..

lvaliav · Jun 3, 2009

I am not enrolled as of yet. I officially start this Fall. I am auditing their A&P this summer. But I think they increased it to about 18,000 something. The more known they get, the more they prices will raise, but I htink they are fairly cheaper than other programs and have heard good things from them. When do you plan on starting? I too would like to find out from people who have just graduated or are graduating soon on how well teh program is so far for them and etc. Thankss!

student-to-be · Jun 3, 2009

I don't know when I will start - finding out Friday hopefully! I'm enrolled in an Eng Comp class and CNA program this summer at Harper, so I will go from there and see what's best for me price-wise. I'd ideally like to begin in the Fall, but I don't know if that's possible due to the prereq's I will need. Do they only have fall enrollment? Or is there a spring enrollment as well? I spoke with someone today about their hopeful nursing program and I'm beyond excited.. but wondering what the cost will be. How long is the actual LPN prgram??