Question about CLEP and College Network

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Ok, if this has been asked before Please forgive me. But I met with the College network ppl and I have a list of all the prereq's I have to take....So I was wondering. Can I buy the study guides off Ebay, call up a testing facility and CLEP it without even paying the College Network a dime? Has anyone done this and is this sucessful? I see on EBAY alot of books that I can buy for studying materials. But I don't know how CLEP, DANTES and other credits are posted? My goal is to enroll into ISU once all my prereqs are done, but it just seems senseless to me to give The College Network thousands of dollars that maybe I can do on my own? Am I wrong? Can it be done? And who has done this? Thank you for your help. I am a single mom with NO MONEY right now, but need to get ahead to make it in this world!!LOL

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Specializes in Family Nurse Practitioner.

The CLEP exams I've taken only cost $60-$65, just make sure to check which CLEPs the program you are applying for will accept. Good luck. Jules

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do not sign up with them, its a scam and they are 194 a month for the bsn thru indiana astate, yes you can buy them on ebay and also check out yahoo excelsior study groups..Read the forums on here about college network also..

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Thank you. But I was wondering how you get the ones that say Excelsior (sure I didn't spell that right) on, how do you test out of those? Most of them are Dantes or CLEP, but there are about 6 I think that say Excl. exams on them. Is there a way around that?And once I have CLEPd or Dantes an exam what do you get as proof you did it? Does the exam site give you a legitmate paper to give to ISU or some other college? Thanks again

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Specializes in Trauma,ER,CCU/OHU/Nsg Ed/Nsg Research.

You can opt to have the results sent directly to the school for a small fee. I think it was about $10 when I did it. They will also give you your score as soon as you take the test.

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Specializes in Day program consultant DD/MR.

Thank you. But I was wondering how you get the ones that say Excelsior (sure I didn't spell that right) on, how do you test out of those? Most of them are Dantes or CLEP, but there are about 6 I think that say Excl. exams on them. Is there a way around that?And once I have CLEPd or Dantes an exam what do you get as proof you did it? Does the exam site give you a legitmate paper to give to ISU or some other college? Thanks again

For the EC exams you regiter on thier website they will give you a Student ID and you set up the tests at a local pearson vue.For the study material you can either find corosponding(sp?) TCN study guides on ebay or you can get the content guide through EC and buy the recommended book.

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Specializes in TLC.

Anyone out ther taken the technical writing course yet? Threw COLLEGE NETWORK it's my next Dantes test. Sometimes I feel like I am over-reading if that;s possiable lol

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I just wanted to input my experience with The College Network/Indiana State LVN-RN Bridge program.

I found that I really did not receive the support I needed in this program. You are pretty much on your own. I ended-up quitting the program.

For those of you that are located in the Los Angeles, California area there are two programs that cater to the needs of working LVN's. Mount St. Mary's College in L.A. has a new Associate Degree in Nursing program. The hours are in the afternoon/evening. You do your clinical hours on the weekend. Also, Glendale Community College in Glendale, CA has an afternoon/evening program with clinicals held on weekends as well.

Hope this helps.

For those of you who are considering an on-line, distance LVN to RN program, please carefully consider what you're getting into. I think that it is better to be in the classroom setting so you are receiving the full attention that you deserve. online programs are too impersonal. From my experience, I felt that I had no one to turn to and if I had a question about anything, my phone calls went unanswered.

Good luck to all of you who are persuing your RN. Don't give up the battle. You've come this far... don't give up on your dreams!!!! April :wink2:

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omg! it is so good to know i am not alone. u r the first person i know that has taken this ridiculous college network bridge and can see that it is total BS! i have been working my ASS OFF and literally getting by by a thread. It is next to impossible and even google cant answer some of the questions i have. I took a freaking public speaking exam today which was complete garbage and im pretty sure i failed the speaking part, so im ready to give up but not sure where i can finish b/c my husbands in the army!????

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Dear lrh3200,

It is my pleasure to give you information on the experience I had with The College Network. By the way, in what city are you located?

Don't give up hope. There has got to be a program in or near your city that has an LVN to RN program that is suitable to your needs. Keep me posted.

Also, I wanted to really emphasize that The College Network courses ARE NOT transferable to another institution. So if you plan on going on to get your master's degree you won't get credit for the classes you've taken thru College Network. :wink2:

April

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I am in Indiana. I finally got smart today and enrolled in the community college for the remaning general studies courses but was told excelsior college (for the nursing part) would be easier so i was going to finish that online. Do u know if those credits transfer? Did you go through the college network??? I have never ben so stressed trying to put my future together thanks to the college etwork. I also just found out that one of the classes i took throuh them i didnt even need and oops....they forget to tell me about 2 others that i needed. oh and not to mention the 895$ enrollment fee into the excelsior program that i was never informed of until now. hell after paying for all this i couldve went to a top notch nursing school seriously

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Specializes in Day program consultant DD/MR.
I am in Indiana. I finally got smart today and enrolled in the community college for the remaning general studies courses but was told excelsior college (for the nursing part) would be easier so i was going to finish that online. Do u know if those credits transfer? Did you go through the college network??? I have never ben so stressed trying to put my future together thanks to the college etwork. I also just found out that one of the classes i took throuh them i didnt even need and oops....they forget to tell me about 2 others that i needed. oh and not to mention the 895$ enrollment fee into the excelsior program that i was never informed of until now. hell after paying for all this i couldve went to a top notch nursing school seriously

I am not really sure if the EC credits will transfer, EC is not accepted here in Cali. I also think I $895 fee is every year that you are enrolled. In reality I think the distant learning programs are geared more toward convience than saving money. I was interested in doing ISU lvn-rn program but after added up I am having second thoughts here is the breakdown of what I came up with.

Phase I test out fees $2300 ( if no repeats), study material $1500-$7800 (ebay vs tcn)

Phase II 4csm's $2500 and test fees $900 app fee $25

Phase III $9800 tuition Tech fee $360 Distance ed fee $360 clinical fee's $1200, and ins $87, I have no idea what books cost but would estimate $2000

My estimate without all the extras that usually pop up (like each clinical wanting diff scrubs, increase in rates over the 5 or so yrs that it will take me ect. ect. ect.) $21,000 to $27,332.

I know this is not bad for a BSN, but then I think about it and I can spend 1/4 by doing it at a CC. Heck for $32,000 I can do private bridge from the school I went to for my LVN and that will take 18 months after pre rec's. I'm still torn as to what way I am going. Right now just gonna take a few pre-rec's at CC and hopefully build the confidence needed for the DL program or enroll in a bridge program.

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