CryssieGRN2019

Last year in April, my best friend and I started an LPN program in our area. Im proud to say we have made it almost to the end and are still going strong. You have to make sure the friend youre going with isnt a fly by night, attention seeking, slacker. Make sure the friend has the same goal as you. We are in our 3rd to the last mod. We graduate Oct 5th. I honestly would not have madie it without him. We have leaned on each other and never argued.

The evening program is 530 - 1030 M - Th and Sat/Sundays for classes or clinicals every weekend or every other weekend. It depends on the required hours for the classes/clinical rotation youre in.

Hello, I feel like I have to comment as I am currently a student at MCI VA Beach. No disrespect to your friends, but I find it funny that 9 times out of 10, the people who are spreading these horror stories about the school have not attended classes there or received the information from a credible source. Anyway, the things that were told to you by your friends should not be taken for truth. I am an LPN student, who was previously looking into the RN(ADN) program, but realized that without having ever worked in the medical field that it may pose a problem for me to not have the foundation that I am currently receiving. While I would have loved to have finished with my RN right away, I am happy about the route that I took. MCI VB's BSN program was just recently started within the last 6 months or so, and is under review for NLN Accreditation. Correct me if im wrong, but from what you said, you dont yet have your ADN. The BSN program at MCI is actually only open to current RN's holding a license whether it be a diploma(i believe) or ADN. The ADN program at MCI was around $40,000 the last time I heard. This is higher than the majority of other schools, but this includes all incidental fees (i.e., books, uniforms, badges, parking fees, pays for half of your NCLEX cost, free practice reviews throughout school, etc) For example, with Sentara's Diploma RN program, it is $14000 on the surface, but that doesnt include books, uniforms, parking fees, lab fees, etc... Also, the MCI program is a program you can get into almost immediately, and it is 15months long and you receive a degree. Sentara is 22months long. TCC is not convenient schedule wise, and you might be on the waiting list for 2years after taking your prerequisites. A far as MCI students not getting jobs, that is absolutely ridiculous. The vast majority of students have a job 1 to 2 months before graduating the program. The area hospitals/medical facilities have told us on numerous occasions how interested in MCI students they are for future employment. Really, youre going to have to survey what means most to you. If you cant afford to stop working, you probably dont want to do a TCC program because of the stretched out schedules. Their web page says that your clinicals could be in the day or the night and their program is only days. I work full time, so does my husband, and we have a 2 year old. So I needed a program with some more structured times for classes/clinicals. Classes for evening students at MCI are 5:30 - 10:30 M-Th and some saturday/sunday classes or clinicals. I know this is long, but I just wanted to clear up the rumors that you have been exposed to. If you have any other questions feel free to ask.

I am currently in the old 18month LPN program. The program youre in has 5 week mods, and mine has 7 1/2 wk mods. Expect to learn a lot everday, Expect to get lots of paperwork. Expect to possibly have a test the first week. Its fast paced. Its fun. Its interesting. Take it all in and enjoy it. Study hard and do your best.

Thanks for clearing that up smn2009. I am in the LPN program at MCI Va Beach and the numbers that the original poster gave are all wrong. People that get frustrated and flabergasted over the "high price" have to remember that the reason that you pay more at a Tech school and specifically MCI is that it is a private institution, you are paying for the speed of your course, EVERYTHING AND I MEAN EVERYTHING IS INCLUDED IN THAT TUITION, Books, lab fees, uniforms, parking fees for clinical sites, a large portion of your NCLEX fee is being paid upfront, CPR class, Saunders NCLEX software access in all the computer labs at no additional cost. So when you add everything up and weigh your life dynamics it actually makes more sense for a lot of people. I got a grant from Virginia Beach, Student loans cover the rest to where I will only need to pay back $10 - $12K when I finish. And if youre a single parent, youre going to get lots of grants and/or scholarships to get you through it. So, yeah the cost seems high at the surface, but what is it worth to you to be able to maintain working and get a license to practice nursing. And clearly, there are issues with lack of information on the administrative time sometimes, but what college doesnt have that. Try going to a four year univ and see how much attention you get. I know, I did it and it wasnt pleasant. At least here the class sizes help to facilitate the learning needed for being successfull. Im not knocking 4 year universities only stating this to show that problems exist everywhere. However, I will never be able to say that I havent received an excellent education. I will continue to recommend MCI to other students, until they give me a reason not to. By the way smn2009, Just curious as to when did the RN program go to 18months? When I started it was 12 months in the day and 15 evening.

Thanks for the update on the program. I guess Im just skeptical, because I know the organization as a whole was kind of shady when it came to my husbands education there. He was always top of his class. Student of the Quarter, and never missed a beat. But all of a sudden, things started happening there that made even the teachers lose faith in the education the students were being provided. I attend a technical school myself, and I first hand have witnessed poor admission staff actions. However, my education and knowledge gained far surpasses my expectations. I would love to say that the cost of a program doesnt matter, as long as your getting a good education and staff that wants nothing less, but we are all in school for pretty much the same things; to learn to provide the most therapeutic care to our future patients, and to provide ourselves/families with a more prosporous life. However, If in doing this I put my family in financial turmoil, then what have I accomplished. You may be on another end of that spectrum. Yes my tuition is expensive ($24,000), but I was able to get grants through the state that have allowed me to continue and the length of the program was a big factor in my decision to attend. If im not mistaken, those grants wont be available to students of this program, because it is new at this ITT location. My husband decided to switch schools, because in the middle of him working toward a his Bachelor's degree, they discontinued the program and decided to only offer the Associates Degree. I mean, is that even possible. Things are going to happen beyond our control with our schools, but when my loans and things have been assessed and allotted for a specific program, I expect to be able to complete that degree. I dont doubt that the instructors are all nice or have wonderful backgrounds and extensive amounts of education. The staff were great when my husband was signing up, and for most of the time that he was in school. But at a certain point it changed. So since the tuition is not what was previously stated in this post, then what is the tuition amount for the program? Generally, when you dont receive a figure before you take testing and sign a contract at a tech school, it is going to be sky high. I just cant see how they could justify going off of a $/credit hour system for every program except for the nursing program. My husband's bachelors degree would have cost in excess of $47,000. There were just less credit hours in the program than the Nursing program will have. Im not out to deter you from attending and succeeding, I just hope that people will look at all aspects of these businessess (tech schools) and weigh their options. I have enjoyed my time in the LPN program at MCI, but have chosen to explore other schools, so that as soon as I graduate, I can get my RN degree/diploma. That is a personal decision of mine. I am doing it this way because I did not have any previous medical experience. I pretty much had a 95% guarantee that I would have gotten into our schools RN program, but I didnt qualify for enough financial aid. I decided to get my LPN cert first and then let my employer provide me with tuition assistance for my RN. That is just my route. Final thought, (since Ive gone on and on like im giving a dissertation..lol) If you are satisfied, and it works for you, Im only inclined to wish you the best of luck in your program, and let you know that I hope to possibly work side-by-side with you in the future. Sorry to be so winded I just dont want anybody to misunderstand where i was coming from.

Thats crazy.. I guess I forgot to mention that was the other reason my husband decided to transfer. I actually just calculated it and the program is 109 credits total between Gen Ed and Core courses. At $468 per credit, that comes out to $51,012 for the whole program at the March 09. You might as well go to EVMS and be a doctor at these rates. Gee Whiz that is just downright ridiculous. I'll let you know if I find anything else out.

I actually am also interested in Sentara's RN Diploma program. The cost is alot less for the purpose that you are taking it for, which is to become an RN. When you want to advance in your education and obtain an ADN, BSN, or MSN, there are bridge programs available. At that point you could have your student loans paid down from the diploma program. The primary reason that I would like to attend the School of Health professionals is the amount of hands on time that they receive in clinicals. I am in MCI's LPN program and we get quite a bit of clinical time, but nothing compared to Sentara's program. Things that we learn in theory class dont always make sense until you hit the floor, apply it to a human life, and see the instruments and conditions that you have discussed. A friend of mine graduated from Sentara, and at least a month before school was over she already had a job at Sentara's Heart Hospital, NOrfolk. I think that people place stigma's on programs that dont come with a "degree," but in the real world, RNs with or without degrees are making the same amount of money, or at the most $1 different.

My husband recently transferred from ITT Tech Norfolk to Devry, Chesapeake. He is in the technical field (working with radios and things). Anyway, we just go the mail, and low and behold....................... We got a flier from ITT Tech saying that their brand new RN, ADN program will begin Winter quarter 2008. So I guess they are excepting applications right now. They dont say on the flier or on the website anything about cost at all. It looks like the start date is December 1st. It seems kind of short notice. I wonder if that is an indicator of how the program will be.. lol. So, from what I could see from their standard academic schedule the courses are about three months long. The description said that there are 9 courses in the program. What do you guys think? Im kind of leary about this cause it has been talked about for at least a year or more. I wonder what has taken so long. Either they were taking their time to get fully prepared, or they are losing money daily without having any enrollment for this program they have been aimlessly preparing and decided to hurry up and start. I would just think that they needed to give people more of a notice for admission, transcripts, and financial aid processing. Let me know what you think By the way, I am an LPN student at MCI, VA Beach which is only about 10 minutes away from ITT Tech. Our RN program is only 15 months long and they have pretty good NCLeX pass rates. MCI's schedule is M-Th (evenings) and then some weekends for class or clinicals, while ITT Tech's program is supposed to be three days a week for class. Not sure about clinicals. I wanted to do the RN program initially, but financially I couldnt do it.

If you don't mind me asking, what did you hate about it?

Hello everyone.. Im a 25 year old wife to a Marine, and we have a 1 1/2 year old daughter. I started LPN school in April in VA. My program is evenings and is 18 months long. Our projected graduation is October 2009. I have enjoyed thus far. Our class really works well together, and Im excited for clinicals starting up in two weeks. I am having a positive experience for the most part. Just ready to get thorugh it and start working soon.

Technical schools generally dont have waitlists, but the cost is definitely higher because all costs are included. Sentara School of Health professionals is cheaper up front, but they do require that you pay all incidental cost that must be paid as you go along. ( books, id badges, scrubs, parking fees, lab fees) Also, with Sentara, you must complete your prerequisites elsewhere before you can be accepted. The pre-requisites could take about a year or 2 at community college. Their program is days only. Norfolk State, Old Dominion, and Tidewater Community also have nursing programs. TCC has a 2 to 3 year wait list. Im not real sure about the other. Hope this helps.

Im soo excited!! :yeah:I was supposed to start MCI - Va Beach RN program in May, but ran into some financing issues. I have never had any medical experience and also figured this would be a much better way for me to start off. Orientation is Monday and I cant wait.. HOpe I can get lots of suggestions and advice from those of you going through the same things.

We actually talked about that in our class tonight. One of my classmates said that ODU wouldnt be taking her credits from MCI's RN program. I can't understand why, because if you can get an associates degree from our school that is recognized by the accreditation agencies, it should be treated as if you have completed two years of college, and nothing less. Its ridiculous if you ask me. Are you trying to get your BSN? MCI just announced they are having a BSN hybrid and online program which is 9months long. I cant speak for the accreditation yet, because its a new program, but I would imagine that the same accreditation they are using for the RN(ASN) program, then they will be taking accrediting the BSN program.

I just started my pre reqs for the RN program in January. Im excited to find out what to expect also.. Hoping to be accepted. What program are you going into?