TCN & RUE graduates

[ndragonfly]

I have been doing TONS of research on all of this. I hear a lot of negative about TCN & RUE, but what I want to know is if anyone has had any sucess with these publishing companies & graduated using them. Graduates from excelsior & IU. I know they cost a lot, I know they are not directly affiliated with these colleges, I know they are not colleges but merely publishing companies...but I want to know if anyone used them, liked them, is now a Registered Nurse thanks to them. Just curiosity.......

[elkpark]

I do not know the price difference, but I have enjoyed using them. It might cost less/more, it might not.

Where do you get the idea that there's any possibility it "might cost less"?? You're paying the full, entire cost of the EC program PLUS however much TCN chooses to charge you, PLUS all the interest you pay over the life of the financing contract. It's a LOT more (thousands of $$$ more, as Lunah noted) than just going through EC and buying used TCN materials elsewhere.

[jlrevis]

I am not here to defend my education decision. I am just answering the questions of our fellow students. I loved it! It might not be for everyone, but it worked in my situation. Thanks

[Lunah, MSN, RN]

No one is asking you to defend your decisions, and I'm glad it's working for you; a lot of people sign up with these education companies and never even take a test, but still owe thousands. But to state that going through TCN may even possibly cost less than going straight through EC is completely false, and I'd hate to see anyone mislead by information on these forums. Just trying to keep things accurate. :)

[LPN_2005/RN_10]

For current or future students of Excelsior, www.istudysmart.com have learning materials that don't require signing a contract. You can buy one studying course at a time, just to see if it works for you. It $219 per course, but it's still a great deal cheaper than TCN and RUE. I never tried them, but the idea of not being binded to an expensive contract without knowing if their materials are helpful or not sounds like a more attractive deal than TCN and RUE. So, if you paid $219 for one of their courses, you didn't like it for whatever reason, you'll be out $219, instead of thousands of dollars if you signed up for RUE or TCN.