Samland Institute

cute-1 · Aug 1, 2008

Hi.My boyfriend is in the current class.He really likes the flexibility.He has class on Mon and Tuesday from 8-4 and clinicals on Fridays.....Some of the students have their clinicals on Wed or Thursday depending on which group they place you in.The class is 5 weeks and the price was around $600.

He put 200 down and they said that he has to pay the rest before school is out.

The Southside location has clinicals on 69th near Kennedy King college.

He gets plenty of homework,mostly about medical terminology.

LJUN71 · Aug 1, 2008

Hi.My boyfriend is in the current class.He really likes the flexibility.He has class on Mon and Tuesday from 8-4 and clinicals on Fridays.....Some of the students have their clinicals on Wed or Thursday depending on which group they place you in.The class is 5 weeks and the price was around $600.
He put 200 down and they said that he has to pay the rest before school is out.
The Southside location has clinicals on 69th near Kennedy King college.
He gets plenty of homework,mostly about medical terminology.

Thanks for the info, it was very helpful. I want to help my son take the class there and the southside location is where he will go. Im familiar with the nursing homes over there across from the old kennedy king. There's two over there next to each other, which was my first job as an lpn in the 90's. Tell your boyfriend I said good luck.

Micci · Aug 5, 2008

I did their weekend program in Bolingbrook because it was most convenient for me. Took 8 weekends, not too bad. The instructor was nice. I think it was probably easier and more informal then the community college class. Cost about the same. This was back in 2005 though.

afshanaslam · Apr 18, 2012

Hi, I am trying to take a BNATP (CNA) class during the summer of 2012 starting MAy. has anyone ever taken BNATP class at park ridge location at Samland institute? how is it like?

Thanks

dcw132003 · May 2, 2012

im looking as well afshanaslam but looking to start in july. did you find anything. there is one course with, i forgot the name but their number is773-445-2277, the cost is 798 before the class starts and 900 after. a little too rich for my blood but if push comes to shove. thats where i will be come july 16

FutureNeoNursing · May 21, 2012

I start my classes at the southside location next week. I have spoken with other students and they have only positive remarks,they help you find a job as well.

cnaclassinlimbo · May 31, 2012

WARNING TO ALL POTENTIAL STUDENTS OF SAMLAND INSTITUTE! STUDENTS ARE STUCK IN LIMBO WHILE STATE INVESTIGATES PROGRAM at 101st Western, Chicago location....just finishing 5th week of CNA program and completed the final exam which I passed; one more clinical class to go to complete program when instructor informs us on May 24, 2012 that the state of Illinois is investigating the school due to complaints and has found that their program doesn't meet the requirements. State found instructors are guilty of cutting program hours about 50%, not providing required educational content, falsifying attendance sheets, incorrect student to clinical instructor ratio, and students failed most clinical skills when tested. The state actually sent one of their own in to investigate. Currently our class is not being allowed to proceed. Their new starting class has been canceled. School is not providing any answers and doesn't return phone calls to us students.

As a student in this class I can assure you that all of the above is accurate. These instructors show up almost an hour late for every class, take excessively long lunches, and dismiss class hours early. Students don't say anything for fear of instructors position of power to fail them. Administrator of school is around to see what is going on and does nothing. Majority of students in the class felt instructors were rude, ignorant, and demeaning and didn't care about instructing. Word is out that school has a lot of complaints. The other locations have complaints too. If our class can't proceed than we students have just wasted about 70 hours for nothing. I am posting this because I seen others on this site have posted about Samland and I want to warn others about the situation going on at this location. I may end up losing my money and time invested but I can at least try to make others aware. I wish I would have had a warning about this school before it cost me my money and my time. I would advise that you attend a program elsewhere because if this school was okay the state wouldn't be investigating and ordering them to cease their program. Don't know how other locations are but the fact is that all locations are owned and operated by the same group of people. If they would allow this to happen at this location then stuff is probably happening at the other locations as well. There are 30+ students in my class that are now sitting in limbo because of this and there is nothing we can do about it.

A good school would not even be involved in something like this so consider this if you are thinking about going here.

FutureNeoNursing · May 31, 2012

cnaclassinlimbo can you private message me, I have a few questions because I was just up there giving them my voucher for the cna class that was supposed to have started on May 28!!!

cnaclassinlimbo · Jun 2, 2012

I am sorry FutureNeoNursing I am not able to private message you because as a new user on this site you have to have had 15 postings before you are allowed to pm with others which I don't have yet.

I'm sorry if you found my original post upsetting which I'm sure you did given your situation. I wrote a truthful and accurate account of my current situation because I don't want any other person to get caught up in a mess like I and 30+ other people have. Posting about the problem was the only way I could think of to provide a warning to others.

I don't know if you will be attending the day or evening program. I attended the day program and that is what my experience and the above posting pertains to. We were told last week by my instructor whom was going to be the instructor for the new daytime starting class this week that the class was canceled because of the state. This appears to be true because I had a friend call there to inquire and they said the next daytime starting class will be around July 4.

I noticed that you say your class was supposed to have started on May 28. Does that mean that your class was canceled or postphoned? If so, may I ask what reason they gave you? I see that the 28th was on Monday; are you going to be attending in the evening? If your class was canceled or postphoned then you now know the true reason why.

I could tell you many things that I experienced at this school and the clinical site but I am cautious because I'm sitting in limbo waiting to see what is going to happen and I'm unwilling to put myself in danger because I'm posting the truth. My opinion of this school is very bad! I went into the program feeling positive and enthusiatic. I was very much looking forward to it as the first step to becoming an RN. I have a lot of other schooling behind me and I can honestly tell you that this is the worst experience I have ever had with a school.

At the point when we were given our final exam we had received a total of 37.5 hrs. of instruction in theory out of the 80 hrs. required and a total of 22 hrs. of clinical out of the 40 hrs. that were required. (Last clinical was canceled but we were only going to be taking the clinical final so no actual clinical time.) The reasons for this are stated in my original post. Students were in a tough spot; do you say something and then how are you gonna be treated? Complain to administrator? She was around and saw for herself. You seen the size of the school and we were the only class being held on those days. This cutting of hours started with the first day and continued every class and clinical thereafter. I'm sure you would agree that this amount of hours is unacceptable and should be to all.

I personally wanted all the education I could get not to mention what I'm paying for. Others didn't seem to care as much as if they were getting away with something too. Don't know. Guess it depends on what type of education you want and why your there. Some people don't mind receiving less then what they should. I found it to be insulting to provide less then what people are getting in other programs elsewhere and less then was required. There was issues with lack of skills instruction and missing educational content too.

I already described the instructors very accurately. Acted like they were doing you a favor being there as if you didn't pay to be taught or they weren't being paid to teach you. It was odd. If you asked a question you were given a nasty response most of the time. I assure you that 95% of the people in my class were bothered by the behavior of these instructors. The other 5% I didn't discuss it with.

I don't know about the evening instructors here or the instructors at their other locations. I can and am only speaking of my experience at this location with these instructors. I can say that the owners or overall management has not handled our situation well at all. Never even heard a word from them about the situation except to cancel the last clinical and then to cancel the days that were gonna be added on. Requested a reason they wouldn't provide any. Requested a return phone call several times, never got one. That tells me what kind of operation it is.

I think this program was being operated like this for sometime because the instructors never seemed to be bothered by the thought of getting in trouble. I guess if people are giving you positive reviews about their experience here (if it was same instructors with same stuff going on) then I guess those people don't mind receiving less then they should. If you do and your seeking a better education and environment I strongly encourage you to look elsewhere. I wish I would have. Hope this helps you figure it out. Don't count on the school to be truthful with you because I don't think they will and I don't think their troubles are over.

By the way, you mention your voucher. Is this from WIA? If so, I thought it was interesting when I found out that they charge WIA participants $920 for program and other payers $630 for program. (They told my friend when she called that information) I have students under WIA program in my class and I know it is same program provided to all so I wondered why that would be. I looked for a reason and came across the following that might provide explanation. It is a website of the Workforce Development which posts a document submitted by Samland where Samland explains about their BNATP program. It list the tuition cost to WIA participants and what that cost includes. The odd thing is that I'm pretty sure the WIA participants in my class never received this supposed list of things (uniform, stethoscope, CPR, etc.) that Samland states is included in the WIA participant tuition price. Could you look for yourself and tell me what the cost is for you if using WIA and what they said would be included for you? Do the following:

Type in search bar the following: Illinois Workforce Development System Home

Select "Illinois Workforce Development System" from search list (will show address above)

click on consumer info button

click on first selection "search...IL..list of WIA-certified training programs"

type Samland in search bar; click search

go to 2nd page of program listings for Samland; then click view button shown for the BNATP for Western location choice

scroll down document to #10 which shows tuition price $920 and what is supposed to be included for this price

What do you think? Hope if you are using WIA this is what they told you. If not better go to someone at WIA and let them know.

sincerely, aspiring CNA

cnaclassinlimbo · Jun 2, 2012

FutureNeoNursing,

Got your message and I'm sorry your upset. Imagine how it feels being in my shoes. Better for you to know before then after.

Think about what you said in your message. Makes sense with what I told you.

Did you read my whole reply that I posted? If so, please answer some of those questions that I asked about. I would really appreciate it because I'm curious. I will look for your reply. Thanks!