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Hello, I'm 24 years old and I was a CNA for a year and I just received my LPN. Well, I live in a large city in upstate, NY that has only two nursing programs. I applied and I'm on the waiting list until 2009!!!!!!! The programs offered here for lpn-rn are 3 semesters long. I take care of my Grandma so leaving the city and venturing off into another program out of state is completely out of the question.

My dream is to become a psychiatric nurse or just an AND and work in a psychiatric institution. If I enroll at excelsior will that hinder my chance of gaining employment and said institution? Also, is excelisor lpn-rn program take an average of 3 semesters to complete? I'm looking to get it done within a year. I only work part time, and I take care of my Grandma with the rest of my time. I don't have much of a social life so I'll have nothing to do but study and work.

A friend told me that an online degree gets laughed at. Is this true? I like to think of myself as a "smart cookie" and I don't want to degrade my intelligence to what is only referred to as an "online degree" and have employers laugh behind my back. I also don't want to wait until 2009-2010 to get accepted into the program. I'd rather get it over and done with now whilst I'm still young (and don't have to pay rent lol).

So, if anyone out there that can lend a word of advice it would be greatly appreciated. Thank you for reading my rant, otherwise.

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Specializes in Med/Surge, Private Duty Peds.

Go to www.ec.edu and you will find out a ton of information. to answer one ?, I have known and know a couple of EC graduates and they are awesome.

sorry the link is www.excelsior.edu so sorry, brain is not working today.hehehehe

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My sister just completed LPN school. She was in a rush to get something under her belt and didn't want to wait the two years to start bringing in a cash flow so she can go to school. She has to wait a semester in order to do the bridge LPN - RN, and during that semester she's going to get most of pre-req's and others out of the way. There is also a site called nursingabc.com that has some pre-req's but make sure you check the list to see if where you want to apply accepts those credits. It's $300 a course and I did the chemistry portion off the site. It's self-paced and I was done within 3 months.

A lot of people have had great success with Excelsior degrees. My Mom is getting her LPN to RN through there (I come from a family of nurses..aunts, grandmas, cousins, sisters, hehe). Most employers and schools will look at your GRADES and not the institution (considering it's credible which Excelsior is).

You're 24..you're still young don't be in a rush to get everything done with. I'm 26 and I just got my RN. Like you, I worked as a CNA (hated it! that's tough work for low pay) and then I got my LPN and worked with that for a bit and then I only had to go to RN school for a year because I was taking a class every now and then to get something out of the way. If you work up the later cna -> lpn -> rn ->bsn it looks outstanding on your resume, at least that's what I've heard and I've had no problems. I don't have my BSN, but that's what I'm ultimately aiming for.

If you fear that your degree will get laughed at then just take some courses at a community college until you can get in the nursing program. I know a lot of online business degrees and whatnot are a mockery to employers, but I'm not sure about a Nursing degree.

Whatever route you take, good luck. Pace yourself, though!

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The only discrimination I have read or heard about concerning EC graduates has been the states that have dropped endorsement of their program or placed stumbling blocks to getting licenses for EC graduates. Most employers look at the letters RN and focus there during the job interview. Reputation of nursing program does not usually come into play until you get further up the totem pole.

For an RN program, do what is right for you. You are hindered by not having a wide variety of accessible programs. Based on your description of your responsibilities for care of a relative, I would suggest working locally with your LPN license (for clinical experience, if nothing else) and using Excelsior. Your situation sounds like a classic example of the type of student for which Excelsior is meant. Good luck, whatever your choices for the future may be.

Also, after exploring the EC website, if you decide to go through EC, please try to make your decision and enroll before Oct. 1. They are changing their requirements on that date and I am sure you will find the old requirements more to your liking. All info is explained on the website.

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I was licensed in Texas without a problem and received an internship leading to a permanent job in my first choice of specialty (NICU). While people do laugh at me (because I'm a klutz and a bit on the injury-prone side), my degree doesn't get laughed at, as far as I can tell.

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I forgot to say in my previous post that one of my past acquaintances got her ASN from EC and related to me that during her first job interview for an RN position, she hit it off with the interviewer because of EC. The interviewer was knowledgeable about EC and had a positive view of EC. My friend attributes the successful interview and her hiring to the conversation regarding EC.

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