Thank goodness for allnurses...I have a meeting with a TCN "advisor" tomorrow.

SuesquatchRN, BSN, RN · May 11, 2009

You do NOT need TCN or Rue or iStudySmart or ANY of them to do Excelsior.

NO. DO NOT SIGN. Should your husband die and you need to drop out they'll still hold you to the contract. You will NOT be able to get out of it after the first whatever period your state allows.

caliotter3 · May 11, 2009

If you want to do yourself a favor you will not meet with a College Network salesman tomorrow. His goal is to get you to sign a contract for more than $5000 and hope to high heavens that you don't wake up for more than 72 hours so that you are stuck. Instead of meeting with the salesman, why don't you spend your time on http://www.excelsior.edu or doing an internet search for other programs that might be useful for you, skip the $5000 white elephant.

christy78 · May 11, 2009

Thank goodness you are reading these posts before you sign your life away! I unfortunately did not find allnurses until after I made a horrible mistake and signed up with rue. Now not only do I have a 6,000 dollar contract I can't get out of but they will not send me my modules as fast as I would like to take my test. My recommendation is try studygroup101, I found out about it here on this site they have study guides for pre-req courses along with the nursing courses and it is the same info and they are only $9.99 each buy one as you need one and go directly through excelsior. Do whatever makes you feel comfortable but if I can help one person not make the same mistake I did I won't feel as bad.-christy

ivanh3 · May 12, 2009

Cancel the meeting. Nuff said.

fmoore723 · May 12, 2009

I agree--you dont need to sign a contract. I too have signed with RUE--do they make you fax/email in your score before they send you your next module too?? HELLO!!! WE ARE PAYING YOU!!! Needless to say--there are plenty of resources out there. What youve listed sounds good. Ive also heard people rave about Studygroup101-which you can find on Ebay for $10/course. Another idea is to look up the recommended texts and buy the edition prior to what they recommended to save a little money. Other resources are the Yahoo groups-- "freehelpexcelsiorstudents" and "ExcelsiorRNstudygroup". These both have notes and such that people have provided to the group, as well as support, etc. Between the RUE Mentor Connection, here, and the Yahoo groups I pretty much have my bases covered with resources and support...Good luck!

Felicia

Raggedy Ann · May 12, 2009

From experience...RUN!!! Been there! Done that! No Fun! Like the posts before mine said. All you need is EC. Good Luck! Traci

Editorial Team / Moderator · May 12, 2009

Welcome to Allnurses! :)

Regarding other programs, ISU has an LPN-BSN -- online class, in-person clinical. http://www.indstate.edu/degreelink/lpntobs/ -- that is another potential option for you, as an LPN. There are issues with state boards of nursing accepting EC's degree that you should be aware of ... there is a page here with pretty updated info:

http://istudysmart.com/content.asp?cid=70

Granted, ISU's program isn't accepted everywhere yet either, but I think it is more likely to be, given the in-person clinicals. That is the issue that state BONs have with Excelsior -- that there is "just" a clinical exam at the end, no "clinical concurrent with theory." If you know where you're going to want to live/practice for the rest of your career, EC would be a great option. If you're not sure, you might want to look into ISU.

EC worked for me! (I always feel like I'm saying, "Hooked on Phonics worked for me! LOL)

BetterMeRN · May 12, 2009

You do NOT need TCN or Rue or iStudySmart or ANY of them to do Excelsior.
NO. DO NOT SIGN. Should your husband die and you need to drop out they'll still hold you to the contract. You will NOT be able to get out of it after the first whatever period your state allows.

Wow, that was harsh "should your husband die", I guess that's the reality of life huh? Good advice, you tell it like it is!!!!

2CareerRN · May 12, 2009

I made the mistake of going through TCN, I too did not know about allnurses.com. Cancel, don't let them suck you into it. Believe me they are salespeople and do it well...

caliotter3 · May 12, 2009

Wow, that was harsh "should your husband die", I guess that's the reality of life huh? Good advice, you tell it like it is!!!!

Well, my husband did die, and I can attest to the fact there are things you would rather get right the first time, than to deal with the consequences of someone dying and you being in the lurch, particularly when there are children involved.

SuesquatchRN, BSN, RN · May 12, 2009

When I made that comment I hadn't even noticed that he was being deployed, but that she was a mother of young children.

TCN will show you no mercy, and I just wanted to illustrate how merciless they would be.

Sorry to have come off so harshly. Although goodness knows I've been called blunt.

:)

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