Rebaba

I am in the 3rd sesester at Apollo. Our first semester, we had 2 students fail and 1 drop out for work reasons. Our second semester we had 5 students fail and 1 drop out. When a student fails, they are not allowed to move on to the next semester with the class they came in with. If there is an opening in the coming semester, they can retake the semester they failed and pay for it again. If there is not an opening, they must wait until there is one. We just had our first graduating class a few weeks ago so we don't have any results of pass/fail on NCLEX yet. So far thats all I know. Hope it helps some.

I got in on the first round and I haven't heard of anyone yet who had to wait a semester to get in. The waiting will only come into affect if it takes you to long to gather the info you need for them to decide or if the school gets more students applying as it has been. Initially when I went in for orientation they said they take 40 students per semester. In our class I think we have 24 and the other class has 22 so they obviously make some exceptions on class size also. As far as the number of days go, I was told as you get further into the semesters you will go more days and the times will change some. The reasoning is the clinicals at the hospital. You will still be doing class work at school for the lecture and lab but will be required to adapt to the schedule of the hospital at some point. I know the amount of money is high as Dolce said, which is true. Like you said though, everyone has a different situation. Not that I can afford $43000 or anything, but when I have 2 kids to support by myself and one is a teenager and the other a toddler, paying for daycare and teenage stuff (soon college for the oldest) is killing me. I need to make the money sooner than later. Just medical ins for us is over $500 a month. Add another $700 for child care and a gazillion other expenses and you go broke really quick. By the time I finish, my youngest will be out of daycare, so that money can go to pay school loans since it is already budgeted to not be in the bank anyway. With me then making more money and not paying for medical either, it makes more sense for me than to wait another couple of years just to get into CCSN, then another 2 years to finish school. Hopefully this plan works. It sounds good, but things tend to change in life so we will see. Before I signed up for Apollo, I had called a few hospitals where I had contacts from work. I checked with nursing supervisors, human resources, etc about what they thought about Apollo. Nobody seemed to have an issue with them. I did hear from 2 different places that if they had a 2 applicants with the same experience and one was from CCSN and the other from UNLV, that they would choose the one trained from CCSN. I was told that they seem to have more clinical experience where UNLV has less clinical experience. I'm sure that is all an individual preference, though.

The 1st semester is 2 days per week from 8am to 3pm. each class is 3 hours long and there are 2 classes each day. You get a 10 min break every hour. Lunch is an hour and is in between the 2 classes. I think the 2nd semester is 2 1/2 days per week. There are no weekend classes. The entrance exam is easy, and I'm not the best at taking exams. There were 3 sections and each one had between 20 to 40 questions. The exam was $20. Questions were about math, eng and science. Once you pass the test, you meet with the admissions rep. She gives you a list of things that you need to do or get for them (transcripts, etc). They then take all that info and test results and the board looks over the applications. They pick about 45-50 students for the next semester. If you don't get in that semester you get in the next one which is 4 months later. After you accept your spot, you meet with her again and sign your life away (ha ha). She will give a list of immunizations that are needed, drug test, etc. Each semester has 2 classes and each class has about 22-25 students. The 25 students in your class will all follow eachother to all the classes for 2 years so everyone will get to know eachother very well. Hope this all helps..........

Yes, I'm just retaking them. The $43000 includes all the classes (inc. pre req), books, uniforms, malpractice ins, fee for your RN state exam, stethescope and other supplies.

Yes and no. I, too, took most of the prereq classes. When the school first opened up, you could transfer all your credits because the school wasn't very busy. Now that the classes fill up quickly it is not an option unless someone drops out of the semester you need. For me, I finished all the 1st semester classes at CCSN. If I transferred in, I would need to wait to see if someone dropped out of the 2nd semester classes and take that spot. The problem is, there are others who are already waiting and they get in before me. I figure, I could be waiting for someone to drop out for a long time, which puts me back in the waiting game like I was at CCSN. When I figured out how much more it was to retake the classes at Apollo (because they deduct the transferred classes amount from $43000 price) and then compared it to waiting again to try to get to the 2nd semester and working part time for longer, It came out almost the same, so I went for it.

I started the program 3 weeks ago. I got what I could in grants which I don't have to pay back. The Stafford loans are covering the rest. I don't need to start paying those back until 6 months after graduation. So currently I wont have any extra expense out of my pocket. Working part time is tough on the pocket book, I wont lie. Right now, I just spend what I have to and cut out what we really don't need. I was just like your daughter and was debating if I could really keep waiting for one of the other schools, but when you sit down and write out the benefits and the negatives off all the choices, Apollo won. Good luck to you and your daughter. Let me know if I can be of any more help.

Thanks Kizzykatlove. That's so sweet. Everything I do is for my kids and the least I can do is make a good life for them since the divorce. I'm still working part time to pay bills and daycare but the Apollo schedule allows me to do that being classes are only 2 days weekly. I started Apollo last week. So far so good. Nevada law says they can't get the final accredidation until they have the first graduating class. If for some reason they never do, you can still get your degree and take the boards but you have to get special approval if you want to work in another state as an RN. Thanks so much for the support. I need all I can get.

I was debating that same question also. I finally decided to pay the money and go for it. My reasoning????? I have been working part time trying to get my prereqs done. By the time I get accepted into the program at CSN I will have to retake my Biol 189 because it will be to old. I have to pay for my own medical insurance because I only work part time now. With the money I have lost by working part time and paying for insurance for the last 1.5 years It just about equals the $43000 that Apollo costs. I have 2 kids to support as a single mom and the quicker I finish the quicker I can make more money. You apply for grants and loans also so that helps. I got about $8000 in grants and the rest in loans which you dont start paying back until 6 monts after graduation. To me it made more sense to take the plunge but everyone has a different situation.

I just started last week at Apollo. The prereqs consist of math, psych, eng, and soc for the 1st semester. 2nd semester is A&P 1 and 2 and microbiology. 3rd semester starts the nursing classes. Each semester is 16 weeks and there are 3 semesters per year. You go to class 2 days weekly from 8am-3pm. Each class has about 22 students in it. You will be with the same 22 students for the whole 22 months in every class. Hope this helps you. Good luck.