san diego kaplan

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i'm considering going there.

what is their reputation? do their grads get jobs as easily as anyone else?

btw, i know their credits don't transfer. pls dont bring it up, it's not an issue for me.

Thank you! That's exactly the kind of other info I needed to know. :clphnds:

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I was supposed to be applying for the July 14th deadline (Sept class)...unfortunately, because I am a healthy water drinking person, my urine screen came back diluted and I was informed that Kaplan doesn't allow re-dos. This broke my heart because I had everything all set...paid for all the tests and screenings...and knew I was going to have a great chance at getting accepted. No Go. For anyone still interested in the program, please be very aware that you CANNOT drink water before your pee test! To each their own for what school works best for you...but beware of how sensitive the pee test in. BTW, I absolutely do not use drugs--I hardly even take Tylenol!...I guess I just drink too much water for their test.

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Hello, Cutie is correct in that you have to pass each semester with a 75% average. Also, that if you fail a semester you have to pay to retake it. realistically though, I don't know of any school where you can retake a class for free. To me, school is school, whether it is a community college, state/university, or private post secondary education. these classes transfer to kaplan university and university of phoenix. That shouldn't even be an issue.

Cutie started in the old quarter curriculum. Everyone that i've spoken to in the ADN program agree the structure and grouping of classes is awkward and confusing. I am, and everyone after me will be in a new semester program. the class breakdown and schedule is well organized, straight forward and easy to follow.

When Cutie stated that all RN programs are impacted, she is totally correct, even national university. you have to apply for the following year at national and you have to pay more out of pocket. kaplan is becoming that way too. only the top 45 are accepted per semester.

bottom line, how long do you want to wait? I was like Cutie, i thought to myself, "the sooner i got in, the sooner i finish". It's all on how you make of it. Im not representing kaplan college, i just don't want you to research forever and not end up anywhere. everyone is going to have an opinion because our situations are different. my educational experience at kaplan is different from Cutie's. To me, an RN license is an RN license.

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Hello, Cutie is correct in that you have to pass each semester with a 75% average. Also, that if you fail a semester you have to pay to retake it. realistically though, I don't know of any school where you can retake a class for free. To me, school is school, whether it is a community college, state/university, or private post secondary education. these classes transfer to kaplan university and university of phoenix. That shouldn't even be an issue.

Cutie started in the old quarter curriculum. Everyone that i've spoken to in the ADN program agree the structure and grouping of classes is awkward and confusing. I am, and everyone after me will be in a new semester program. the class breakdown and schedule is well organized, straight forward and easy to follow.

When Cutie stated that all RN programs are impacted, she is totally correct, even national university. you have to apply for the following year at national and you have to pay more out of pocket. kaplan is becoming that way too. only the top 45 are accepted per semester.

bottom line, how long do you want to wait? I was like Cutie, i thought to myself, "the sooner i got in, the sooner i finish". It's all on how you make of it. Im not representing kaplan college, i just don't want you to research forever and not end up anywhere. everyone is going to have an opinion because our situations are different. my educational experience at kaplan is different from Cutie's. To me, an RN license is an RN license.

Just to be clear, I understand if you fail a class that you have to retake it in order to proceed. In any other circumstance, I would just pay for the class without a complaint. The problem here is that if more than half the class isn't passing, there's an issue with the layout of the schedule and/or the instructor. The director confirmed that they know it's a problem yesterday and told me it something they are working on but it takes time. So in the meantime, students are having to pay for the school to work out the bugs in the program. Some students were kicked out of the program yesterday because of this. That is what I'm upset about.

Also I did not start as a quarter student, I started as a semester student and I am in the semester program and it still has issues. I started last Sept. into the 2nd semester because I had so many classes transferred over, I see from your previous post that you are in second semester and probably have a certain instructor ...that class was a walk in the park and it has an awesome instructor. I think he's my favorite instructor so far. Actually everyone in your first two semesters there are pretty good...no complaints there so I can see where you're coming from. Fourth semester (technically 3rd for us) is what I'm talking about...I hope when you get into it they've fixed everything. The instructor is inexperienced and they have her teaching an accelerated course. This is a 5 unit course (usually taught in 16 weeks, being taught in 8). It's an insane amount of material to cover in all fairness but then it taught by an instructor that has little experience and no respect for students. On top of all that she can be sarcastic and mean at times. These issues have been discussed w/ the director and she's told us that things will be different and the instructor will be addressed (she told last semster students the same thing). So nothing changes and I have to pay to retake the same class, in the same format w/ the same instructor. It's just not right.

Regarding National though, I have heard they have a BSN program. Yes it's a little bit more and I think it may be 2-3 months more but you would have your BSN. Besides if you retake a class at Kaplan (which seems to happen all too often) you've then spent more time and money anyways but you still get an ADN (if you make it through). I don't know though, all I'm saying is check them out.

Bottom line, I just really regret not going elsewhere and when I was researching this school (which is hard to do btw because there isn't much online, you pretty much have to call or set up an appointment with a *counselor* to get anywhere) I came across this website as one of the only places that I could get feedback on this program. It was all pretty positive and led me to make the decision to go to Kaplan. This is why I think it's important to let potential students know both sides of the story so that they can make an informed decision. Yes an RN license is an RN license, we all sit on the same boards but that's only if can make it through the program. I think it's terrible that some students walked away yesterday with nothing but a ton of debt. These students were not slackers. I am not a slacker (I got a B in med surg 1 and Pharm. last semester), I worked really hard but still I failed but I don't feel so much like I failed the class, I feel like the program has failed us as students. Just my :twocents:

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hey cutie! I'm sorry for the situation that you are in. oh man, i hope things are better when i get there. i know your instructor even before kaplan. she is a really cool person outside of campus (smart, competent, cheery disposition) i dunno, the should've, could've, would've doesn't matter anymore. just finish and as our second semester instructor would say, "make those six figures." haha.... i guess i'll see you on campus.

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Specializes in M/S, Peds.

I took my sciences at National with hopes that I would be accepted into their BSN program. I didn't get it. I don't know why, my gpa is a 3.5, it couldn't be my essay, how could i get that wrong it was about me. Who knows the real reason but the bottom line was that i didn't get in. After being heart broken and "taking a break" my husband urged and pushed me to apply at Kaplan. I wasn't willing to wait on the community colleges waiting lists. I just want to be an RN and have a career for my family.

I applied to Kaplan, and found out I got in a little over 2 weeks later. as mentioned above, I came in as a 2nd semester student. I know that semester 4 is going to be hard, but aren't all accelerated programs a little tough? My only issue is that one of my sciences didn't transfer over and I am require to retake it. (I'm taking it now). I have heard that some of the upper MS instructors aren't "so good" but i did hear that our advanced MS instructor is awesome. Cutie, I hope everything works out better for you, and for those of us who are headed that way.

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Just to be clear, I understand if you fail a class that you have to retake it in order to proceed. In any other circumstance, I would just pay for the class without a complaint. The problem here is that if more than half the class isn't passing, there's an issue with the layout of the schedule and/or the instructor. The director confirmed that they know it's a problem yesterday and told me it something they are working on but it takes time. So in the meantime, students are having to pay for the school to work out the bugs in the program. Some students were kicked out of the program yesterday because of this. That is what I'm upset about.

Also I did not start as a quarter student, I started as a semester student and I am in the semester program and it still has issues. I started last Sept. into the 2nd semester because I had so many classes transferred over, I see from your previous post that you are in second semester and probably have a certain instructor ...that class was a walk in the park and it has an awesome instructor. I think he's my favorite instructor so far. Actually everyone in your first two semesters there are pretty good...no complaints there so I can see where you're coming from. Fourth semester (technically 3rd for us) is what I'm talking about...I hope when you get into it they've fixed everything. The instructor is inexperienced and they have her teaching an accelerated course. This is a 5 unit course (usually taught in 16 weeks, being taught in 8). It's an insane amount of material to cover in all fairness but then it taught by an instructor that has little experience and no respect for students. On top of all that she can be sarcastic and mean at times. These issues have been discussed w/ the director and she's told us that things will be different and the instructor will be addressed (she told last semster students the same thing). So nothing changes and I have to pay to retake the same class, in the same format w/ the same instructor. It's just not right.

Regarding National though, I have heard they have a BSN program. Yes it's a little bit more and I think it may be 2-3 months more but you would have your BSN. Besides if you retake a class at Kaplan (which seems to happen all too often) you've then spent more time and money anyways but you still get an ADN (if you make it through). I don't know though, all I'm saying is check them out.

Bottom line, I just really regret not going elsewhere and when I was researching this school (which is hard to do btw because there isn't much online, you pretty much have to call or set up an appointment with a *counselor* to get anywhere) I came across this website as one of the only places that I could get feedback on this program. It was all pretty positive and led me to make the decision to go to Kaplan. This is why I think it's important to let potential students know both sides of the story so that they can make an informed decision. Yes an RN license is an RN license, we all sit on the same boards but that's only if can make it through the program. I think it's terrible that some students walked away yesterday with nothing but a ton of debt. These students were not slackers. I am not a slacker (I got a B in med surg 1 and Pharm. last semester), I worked really hard but still I failed but I don't feel so much like I failed the class, I feel like the program has failed us as students. Just my :twocents:

Hi,

I'm one of the students that did pass. I have to say that it was definitely a challanging course, but I have to disagree w/ you when it comes to the instructor. She actually gave all the information on the topics being discussed, and we shouldn't blame her for having to give us so much material to learn in such a short time frame. She had no control over that. We were told in the beginning that the program would be accelerated.

The exams were definitely challanging, to say the least. It's funny how when people fail, they like to put a lot of the blame on other people but themselves. I understand how upset you must feel because I was close to failing at one point, also. Actually, most of the class was in that predicament. Most of us, even with passing grades before taking the final, did not feel certain of ourselves going into the final. But, I never at any point, felt that it was for the instructor's lack of teaching the topic.

For myself, I have to say that she is probably the best instructor I've ever had, even if she is also the toughest. I'm not completely happy with the grade I received, even if I did pass. But, I'm not going to blame the instructor for that. I know that I could have prepared more than I had.

I'm an audible learner and I usually retain things very easily from that standpoint. I don't have time to study like most of the students do, so I rely heavily on the lectures that are given during class. The fact that I was able to pass on her class on mostly just her lectures alone says tons about her teaching capability.

I think that everyone just became a little spoiled with the other instructors who gave more detailed study guides to their exams; whereas, this instructor pretty much gave a disease process and expected you to be able to answer any question in regards to it.

You have to remember that when you take the nclex, you aren't going to be getting a study guide for that.

Regardless, I wish you the best of luck while retaking the course. I know, for a fact, that the instructor you have now is very good with her study guides, so you should do fine.

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Specializes in M/S, Peds.

Mareeh, thanks for posting. I have to agree with everything you said. I knew coming into this program that is a jam packed (literally) accelerated program. I recently didn't pass my 3rd exam (74%.... 75% is passing) and I can not blame it on anyone but myself. It's time to remediate and get on with it.

But I wanted to say thank you for posting about your experience. I'd love to hear more about it.

Congrats on passing, when do you take your boards?

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Mareeh, thanks for posting. I have to agree with everything you said. I knew coming into this program that is a jam packed (literally) accelerated program. I recently didn't pass my 3rd exam (74%.... 75% is passing) and I can not blame it on anyone but myself. It's time to remediate and get on with it.

But I wanted to say thank you for posting about your experience. I'd love to hear more about it.

Congrats on passing, when do you take your boards?

I haven't completed the program yet. I was writing in reference to the course that calicutie appearantly didn't pass and was very upset about. I'm not due to graduate till January.

I will tell you that 1 of the key things that helped me get through was that I didn't allow any of those bad test to get me down and I never wasted time complaining about things that I couldn't change.

During that last course, I had below passing grades (

I was very skeptical myself when signing up for the program because I wasn't sure what kind of education I was going to get considering how accelerated the program is. I have to give kudos to those who actually complete the new semester program without having to repeat a course, because the material has turned out to be extremely difficult - especially going into the 4th semester.

Just remember to try to really understand the information being given to you in each semester, don't just memorize. The test given to us were based on your understanding of the application of the material read, so just memorizing is only going to get you so far. Plus, every following semester builds on the information from the semester before, so if you miss any reading from the previous semester, you'll find yourself at a disadvantage.

Find reliable study partners, this will help you get the required work complete. Plan study groups with people that will facilitate your learning experience (this can be difficult). Remember, that you can always do the study group over the phone. Someone else might catch important information that you might miss in the book. During 1 of your sessions, go through the chapters you're being tested on and ask eachother questions that pertain to the information given in the book.

And, it's never to early to practice NCLEX style questions. I actually practice using the CD's that come with the NLCEX review books. I like the NCLEX 4000, but there are quite a few good ones out there. Make sure that you are able to review questions by topic. For instance, I'm studying endocrine right now, so I'm doing all the endocrine questions from my review cd. Even if I haven't read, it helps to give me a quick review because the rationales to the answers are given to you. I also use search engines to find nursing quizzes and games on my topic. I can't sit and read a book for too long, so switching activities helps me to stay interested. One last thing, try to see if you can come up with other med-surg books from other authors. Some med-surg books explain things a little better than others.

Good luck to you, Lyndsey. I'm sure you'll do fine.

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Specializes in M/S, Peds.

Ah, gotcha! So you are in term 4? If so, I'm 2 behind you. I have to agree that letting the test grades get me down. I surely do not let it really bother me. I have to accept the test score, the reasons (either good or bad) and move on. Thanks for the response again!

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i called this school yesterday and the customer service was realy bad the person who answer the phone was very rude!

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Specializes in M/S, Peds.

Chex, that is soooo aweful. I know that right now, we just had a batch of new student apply for the September start for ADN and the admission reps are not taking any calls while all the paper work is examined and determined for acceptance into the program. I hope that if you call back you will get better service. One of the men in admissions is awesome, you should talk to him.

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