Rue and Excelsior Question

Hi all! First time poster, long time reader here, thank you all for the wonderful information that you share!

My friend and I graduated this August from Marion S. In Geneva NY with our LPN. We are waiting for authorization to take the boards, all that aside... We are looking into going to get our associates through an online Program.

The question is this...... She has been talking to RUE and I have been talking to Excelsior. We got together tonight and put our info together and are completely confused.

Rue's program is around $11,000, with much of that being paid to Excelsior, and Excelsiors program is around $6,500. From what I have been reading, Rue is a "helper"????

This is all very confusing, we need to finish a couple of prereqs before starting the program, but would like to get our ducks in a row to make a plan.

Anyone with a little knowledge on this subject who could help clear the confusion would be graciously appreciated!!!

Thanks so much!!

Jodi

All the information and resources, provided by RUE, are provide free by Excelsior. Please do not fall for the sale of RUE.

Grannynurse :balloons:

First make sure your state, or any state that you "think" you may want to work in later will accept EC program. Second - Rue is nothing but a study guide publishing company - they sell study guides to help you understand and pass EC exams. DO NOT PAY RUE FOR THESE - YOU CAN GET THE SAME GUIDES USED OFF EBAY FOR A FRACTION OF THE COST. Do every thing straight from EC. Obviously RUE will not tell you this because their whole business revolves around getting people to pay these huge prices. Third - Go to the "student forums" - then pick "distance learning forum". Many many threads about EC that you should read before deciding this is the right program for you. I loved it and thought it was great - but - IT IS NOT FOR EVERYONE! Good luck and hoped this helped.

Thank you very much for clearing that up for us! I didn't realize there was a forum on here for nursing students... Thank you for pointing that out to me.

I appreciate the advice.

I contacted the college directly and I'm glad I did. They informed me that the company I was looking into (The College Network) is not connected at all with Excelsior, but sells study guides only. I am so glad that I didn't sign anything with them.

My advice is to contact Excelsior College directly. Go to their web page and call their number, speak to the admissions office. Don't sign anything until you speak with the college directly.

I graduated from Excelsior and I did not use any of the study guides such as Rue, Chancellors, College Network, etc. Excelsior allows you to print out a study guide from their website which outlines what you need to know to pass the test. At the end of the study guide it will tell you what textbook(s) to use. You end up using the same book(s) for several of the classes. I bought all of my textbooks from www.half.com You don't have to buy the most recent edition. Anything past 2000 will do fine. Nursing Fundamentals just don't change. Also go to http://groups.yahoo.com/group/rnstudygroup/?yguid=83821276 for all the information you will ever need. They even have special study groups for each subject and everything is free. I spent approx $9,000 to graduate. That includes each test that I took with the clinical being the most expensive $1,500. I paid as a went along and was debt free when I graduated. This was a very positive experience for me. I understand that some states are now putting conditions on Excelsior graduates such as having 360 clinical hours before graduation. Excelsior's clinical truely is a joke. You need only very basic information to pass. Being an LPN for 26 years before becoming an RN I didn't feel the need for more clinicals. Good Luck