unitek college

yoyoyoyo · May 19, 2009

sorry for not getting back sooner about all the questions

i was at the fremont campus.. and i still stand by saying that the teachers are questionable at best.. my understanding is that there is a new teacher there who should be a geriatric patient not a teacher lol... havent met her personally but i hear bad things out of the recent fremont class

if you have more questions PM me here and ill give u easier contact info..

i cant fully say every teacher there is bad.. some do actually care, some look @ it for more of a paycheck possibly.. i believe that my experience is one of many that DOES NOT get posted here.....

for the ATI you are required to pass with a 90% or higher after the average out or you do not graduate.. the key here is: they dont let you walk with your class or go through with pinning i believe and get your diploma.. you can retake the ATI at a cost of 100 i think until you pass.. this is word of mouth not personal experience..

remember every test section that they have requires you to pass with a 75% they do not include homework in that only the test scores.. so you can average a 74.4 and will fail a whole section having to repeat a level or semester as they call it now...

try hard there and make sure you get along well with your teachers and you will walk away learning more....

as for finding a job, bay area is saturated, you must move away from here to find a job easily.. san diego is one of the first places im looking at for jobs right now, the bay has some, but you must know someone very well with a great reference to find a good job.. otherwise start marketing yourself now to potential employers so your time will not go to waste

FEAR · May 19, 2009

I'm currently going to Unitek and 100% totally agree with yoyoyo.

There are some great and bad teachers at Unitek. Some really care, some teach for payroll, and some are just not knowledgeable. For the program you're assigned three teachers to teach you throughout the program. Unfortunately, my class had to keep rotating between teachers and until this day they can't freaking assign us a permanent one. For example, imagine trying to learn a specific subject in which theres 3 different teachers trying to teach you the same stuff at different times. It sometimes gets you confused and you will not know what to expect on the test since this information is coming from different people and they all emphasize on different things.

They definitely put the "you paid and chose to enter this program, you can also leave" card. They'll go on to how you should've done more research on choosing your school and so on. The administration treats us like kids, and less of a human being. Tests scores, reputation, and their pride are all that is important to them. We get written up for even stating our own opinion! ugghh and if you point out something that was not taught on the test, too bad, you're "supposed" to put in your extra time to know this stuff.

For clinicals, I agree that you'll probably still be wiping ass and doing more CNA work than LVN work. However if you have good teachers, they'll give you something more productive to do than wiping ass.

Unitek DO have good teachers. There were some teachers that taught us and helped us throughout clinicals in which we begged them to become our permanent instructor. Some of the newer ones were really knowledgable too and actually made us appreciate them. Unfortunately, Unitek made a new curriculum for the upcoming and new LVN program and our class gets the leftovers. Our good clinical site, our good teachers, etc all went to the next new batch of lvn students and RN students.

If it was not for one particular instructor that I have now, I don't even know what to say about this school. The instructor is KNOWLEDGEABLE and kind-hearted. PUts in EXTRA hours to prepare us for the NCLEX WITHOUT getting paid for it. So far, for the LVN program I think there are more "good" teachers than "bad" teachers right now. It's all in your luck with your teacher.

Oh and yoyoyo... I TOTALLY know WHICH teacher you were talking about!!! I've heard the horror stories that you had to go through... so uncool!

cmami · May 19, 2009

Sorry iicheninii, I didn't go to that school. Well I haven't yet... I plan to probably some time this year. I just had a lot of info from reading other posts which is why I made my own... since some are older and I want to see some other's ideas if they're out here. Thanks FEAR and yoyoyoyo for answering and clarifying it. I still will probably go since I am not sure about the lottery system at chabot or ohlone... and I CAN'T MOVE... so that's that I guess. Well good luck yoyoyoyo on that program and job hunt. Good luck FEAR on completing the program. I hope I can just find a way to make it work where I will be able to put the extra studying...

FEAR · May 19, 2009

I don't think that anyone should be discouraged about entering a program that they think is fast-paced or anything. I mean, it may be difficult at first but if some classmates of mines can give birth during the program, other having to take care of 4 children, anything can be possible. In actuality, the people with the most responsibilities in their life actually have some of the highest mark in class :wink2:

cmami · May 20, 2009

THANKS FOR THAT... I really needed that sense of optimism because my advisor who will remain nameless... is really discouraging.... how the heck does that person still have that job when they are so rude-mannered and don't even care... I mean you get paid to recruit... They're lucky I'm one of those people who already did research and had my mind set I would attend, regardless of the person who was presenting this school in such a hurried manner.

yoyoyoyo · May 26, 2009

I don't think that anyone should be discouraged about entering a program that they think is fast-paced or anything. I mean, it may be difficult at first but if some classmates of mines can give birth during the program, other having to take care of 4 children, anything can be possible. In actuality, the people with the most responsibilities in their life actually have some of the highest mark in class :wink2:

jf i think... lol

hi fear i think i know who this is..

SFGiants543 · Jun 14, 2009

I completely agree with yoyoyoyo and FEAR. I am telling you that Unitek is not worth the money. The fact that it is 11 months should be thrown into the garbage. I would have rathered spent 7 more months in a quality program for less money. This school is sooo unorganized you would think that they just opened yesterday. The clinical sites are a joke and not safe. Two of my fellow classmates got property and money stolen from one particular site. The CNA's expect you to do their work so if you enjoy wiping ass like FEAR said than you will have a great time! 90% of the time you are passing out trays and feeding. The staff at most of the sites treat you like a nuisance. Like FEAR said if you have a good clinical teacher than they will find things for you to do outside of CNA work... goodluck with that because I only had one teacher that cared. A BIG problem with Unitek is that the teacher who lectures is not the teacher who makes the test!!! So the person who makes the test can put whatever they want not caring if we were taught it or not. If you have an opionion about it be prepared to have your head ripped apart. If you are considering Unitek I definitely suggest you to research all other options!!!

FEAR · Jun 15, 2009

wow jf, you're on the dot.

and who might I be? :wink2:

KG916 · Jun 15, 2009

I agree with everyone above, Unitek is NOT worth the money.. I know alot of people that went that route and have not passed the boards, could not keep up with the pace, didn't like the teachers.. I mean the list goes on.

I know exactly how you feel about wanting to get in and get out but you have to weigh out the options, do you get want to get in and get out and have a possibility of passing the boards or do you want to get a solid foundation of nursing education?

I know the wait times are horrible, the lottery system sucks but you get an solid foundation, a good education that will set you apart from the rest when you job hunting. I'm a single parent, an immigrant to this country, english is my second language, it took me 5yrs to get all of my RN pre-reqs done, while working full time, 3yrs of waiting to get into a program, gave up, reapplied into a LVN program got accepted the first time, I will graduate with my LVN in December and then will do the LVN-BSN program thru ISU.

The other thing you have to look at the state of our economy, there are NO new grad RN positions anywhere, most of the hospitals are on hiring freezes unless of course you have 2-3yrs+ experience.

I would really think about all the options available to you, taking pre-reqs for the LVN are program online, they are not as many as RN, do the LVN program thru JC then do LVN-BSN- yes it will take you alittle longer, but there are really no short-cuts on becoming a Nurse, you have to pay for it somewhere rather pay in time now than get out in the field and not know what you are doing.

Good Luck with whatever you decided.

cmami · Sep 9, 2009

I agree with everyone above, Unitek is NOT worth the money.. I know alot of people that went that route and have not passed the boards, could not keep up with the pace, didn't like the teachers.. I mean the list goes on.
I know exactly how you feel about wanting to get in and get out but you have to weigh out the options, do you get want to get in and get out and have a possibility of passing the boards or do you want to get a solid foundation of nursing education?
I know the wait times are horrible, the lottery system sucks but you get an solid foundation, a good education that will set you apart from the rest when you job hunting. I'm a single parent, an immigrant to this country, english is my second language, it took me 5yrs to get all of my RN pre-reqs done, while working full time, 3yrs of waiting to get into a program, gave up, reapplied into a LVN program got accepted the first time, I will graduate with my LVN in December and then will do the LVN-BSN program thru ISU.
The other thing you have to look at the state of our economy, there are NO new grad RN positions anywhere, most of the hospitals are on hiring freezes unless of course you have 2-3yrs+ experience.
I would really think about all the options available to you, taking pre-reqs for the LVN are program online, they are not as many as RN, do the LVN program thru JC then do LVN-BSN- yes it will take you alittle longer, but there are really no short-cuts on becoming a Nurse, you have to pay for it somewhere rather pay in time now than get out in the field and not know what you are doing.
Good Luck with whatever you decided.

You are most certainly right!!! I hate the lottery system. I had one friend who I believe is still waiting (about 4 years now) to get into the RN program anywhere around here. Yeah, my cousin was lucky since her clinical was at kaiser and she went for an interview and she was the only one who applied for labor and delivery and she got it since everyone assumed it would be harder to get that position. I'm still lost. I'm taking pre-reqs still and I'm just trying to see what I can do to make it some how. But it is too much it's like $34,000 for the LVN program.... sigh. it's crazy, and my advisor keeps calling to get me started on the financial aspect so I can start on the next round of students, but it's soo much money...I don't want to be in debt like that. It's like a new luxury car. Not to mention the next $39,000 for the LVN RN program... it's too much.

Ginny Weasley · Sep 17, 2009

Check out St. Francis Career College in San Jose off of Story Rd. They have a really good LPN program, and a 100% pass rate for the boards (can't go wrong there can you?) Their only pre-requisites (which you can either do before or during the program) are general psychology and human growth and development (or its sometimes called human development) which can easily be taken online or on campus from a community college.

makeupdiva · Oct 20, 2009

Unitek is a horrible school, and so is Boston Reed and Western Career College. They all take your money and run. Check out St. Francis Career College in San Jose off of Story Rd. They have a really good LPN program, and a 100% pass rate for the boards (can't go wrong there can you?) Their only pre-requisites (which you can either do before or during the program) are general psychology and human growth and development (or its sometimes called human development) which can easily be taken online or on campus from a community college.

I could not agree with you more..Boston Reed has done nothing but cause me headache and problems! I am so disgusted with them. They have some great staff I will admit. But some of there teachers that teach the actual class have no idea what they are doing. I am sure they are great nurses but teaching is a whole different world. Some of the admin staff from Boston Reed is very rude and un-professional I have found. So its hard to actually file a formal complaint when its one of the higher-ups. I am glad though that some people have had better times there than I.