Warning - excelsior students

Nursing Students Online Learning

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warning to all excelsior students - i want all potential and current students to know what happened to my girlfriend. take it for what its worth. my girlfriend was a california excelsior student for 6 long yrs (worked full time, supported and took care of her 3 kids) . she spent thousands & thousands of dollars for very expensive books, tests (about $200 per test). skills bags ($150), dvd ($130) , flashcards ($25), audio cd ($25), workshop ($700), and the outrageously expensive and outrageously easy to fail cpne (the 3 day clinical examination that must be passed to receive your rn degree). she failed the first cpne (as way more than half do). that meant another $1800 to retake that. of course, there were airline tickets (about $500 per trip x 2), hotels (about $450 per cpne) and car rentals ($250 per trip). all together she spent close to $20,000 to obtain what is essentially a worthless degree. not one of the 14 hospitals she contacted would hire her when she told them she was an excelsior graduate. are you hearing me? not one. so, when they tell you they're accredited, yada,yada,yada - remember it doesn't mean you can get a job. she tried to enroll in 3 regular, legit college programs. they all refused her because she already had her degree and rn license. so now, she can't even do that. excelsior knew years ago there was a problem. they had the opportunity to work with the ca board of registered nursing. they didn't. if you don't believe me - go to their site. type in 'excelsior' and see for yourself. also, go to georgia's nursing website. see the problems there. nurses are being denied jobs because they're excelsior graduates!!! don't let this happen to you. go to a respected and accepted college.

How on earth could anyone cheat on an EXcelsior exam? They take your palm print! I've had to stand there for several minutes to get my palm exactly lined up the way it wanted so the system would take me, and I was on a first name basis with the people at the testing facility because I was there so often! LOL! I really don't know how you could cheat. You take nothing but your ID, ear plugs that they provide, and a white board and marker that they provide in with you. It's much easier to look over your neighbors shoulder in a traditional setting than to try to get away with it through Excelsior.

Oh sure, its easy to cheat on Excelsior exams. All you have to do is buy those glasses that show an image of the answers a few inches in front of your eyes. ALL traditional nursing programs have an electronic detection system that make the use of these glasses impossible. Pearson does not have this detection system, because they don't care, so its very easy to cheat. It would not matter anyway since the people who work at the testing centers are always *wine:cheers:or :barf01:or high or can easily be bought off with a can of :spam:. So you see this proves that Excelsior is substandard because their tests are easily cheated on and any :monkeydance: who can operate a computer mouse can "pass" them. An that's just my :twocents:.

In case you have not figured it out by now I am joking. I am a happy, very employed, well payed graduate of Excelsior so please don't flame me.:chair:

Specializes in Pediatrics/Adult Float Pool.

i just have to say i "love" the palm print thing--couple weeks ago, they were having trouble with the palm print accepting my palm. after trying about 10 times (no lie, really 10 times) the lady finally said "oh, forget it! i've seen you enough to know who you are, your picture matches the one on file, your id matches, and i can't imagine trying to take one of these exams if you didn't have to!" ha! definitely not gonna pull the wool over their eyes, palm print or not!

Just a note -- the only state that flat-out refuses to allow EC grads to endorse in with some hours (and won't even deign to allow a "case-by-case" basis) is my fair neighbor to the north, Maryland. However, with my pretty pretty Virginia-issued nursing license being a multi-state compact license, I'm betting I'd be able to work in Maryland if I maintained Virginia residency. Heh. Interesting thought, isn't it?

CA wont even explain what that whole "case-by-case" basis means. Now that's also frustrating.

Well if anyone does cheat their way through EC exams they are in for a rude awakening come CPNE time. You will not pass go if you don't know your stuff. And if you cheated your way through the tests, you won't know it.

Hahahaha, I'm talking to my friend right now who is right next to me and we are talking about the exact samething. She's complaining how there's this one student who is in her class who cheats her way through everything. I was explaining the exact samething to her. They wont pass the NCLEX because you CAN'T cheat your way through the NCLEX.

But in all fairness you will find cheaters in ALL SCHOOLS, and if people are putting Excelsior on the spotlight it's because they WANT to find something negative to say for whatever reason it may be.

Someone HELP!!! I am a graduate of Excelsior and just passed my NCLEX. :yeah: I graduated summa cum laude with a Bachelors degree and have years of experience as a paramedic and ER tech AND..... I can't get a job! Why? I am told by local hospitals that they do not recognize Excelsior degrees because of the limited clinical time (16 hrs-CPNE) provided by the program. This is after I applied to the State Board of Nursing and was approved to sit for the boards. I find it humorous that the State recognizes this nursing degree and yet local hospitals won't even acknowledge it. I have asked the HR departments if my resume was reviewed, as there is evidence of years of experience, and I am told it doesn't matter because I went through Excelsior's program.:mad:

I have a family and it would be difficult for me to move right now with the way the economy is, at least here in Nevada. But... I am now considering leaving my family behind to pursue a job in another state. This would be costly and emotionally devastating for my husband and little ones, but I may have no other choice at this point.:crying2:

Does anyone know of any hospitals in Nevada, either Reno or Las Vegas, that will hire a new grad from Excelsior? If not, does anyone know of a state that is hiring new grads-without hesitation- with an Excelsior Degree in nursing?

Please, if anyone has any advice, I would be very grateful!

Specializes in Cardiac Care, Palliative Care.

The VA hospitals will hire Excelsior grads.

http://www.jobsearch.vacareers.va.gov/Search.aspx?q=RN&lid=539&sort=rv%2c-dtex&cn=&rad_units=miles&brd=3876&pp=50&jbf574=VA*&vw=d&re=134&FedEmp=Y&FedPub=Y&caller=default.aspx

Your have to be very persistent following up with them after your application submission. Good luck!

Someone HELP!!! I am a graduate of Excelsior and just passed my NCLEX. :yeah: I graduated summa cum laude with a Bachelors degree and have years of experience as a paramedic and ER tech AND..... I can't get a job! Why? I am told by local hospitals that they do not recognize Excelsior degrees because of the limited clinical time (16 hrs-CPNE) provided by the program. This is after I applied to the State Board of Nursing and was approved to sit for the boards. I find it humorous that the State recognizes this nursing degree and yet local hospitals won't even acknowledge it. I have asked the HR departments if my resume was reviewed, as there is evidence of years of experience, and I am told it doesn't matter because I went through Excelsior's program.:mad:

I have a family and it would be difficult for me to move right now with the way the economy is, at least here in Nevada. But... I am now considering leaving my family behind to pursue a job in another state. This would be costly and emotionally devastating for my husband and little ones, but I may have no other choice at this point.:crying2:

Does anyone know of any hospitals in Nevada, either Reno or Las Vegas, that will hire a new grad from Excelsior? If not, does anyone know of a state that is hiring new grads-without hesitation- with an Excelsior Degree in nursing?

Please, if anyone has any advice, I would be very grateful!

Thank you for your advice. I have applied at the VA in Reno and I will call to follow-up on that application submission. I appreciate your help :D.

Hello,I am currently attending school to become a RN in California. After my program is done I would like to attend a RN to BSN bride program preferably at an online program so that I can work and go to school at the same time. I heard about Excelsior during my research and then happened to stumble upon this thread stating that Excelsior graduates are not hired in the states of California where I reside. This being the case, I checked California's Board of Nursing site to see if I could get information on any other possible online schools that have been banned but couldn't find any information. Anyone out there have any information or stories they would like to share about which schools are good for California nurses to get their BSN's???On another note, I found allnurses.com earlier this year and love this site. I have found so many useful information from so many people that post here. Thank you all :)

my understanding is that the CA issue is just about the RN program. Not having anything to do with any RN's that go on to get their BSN.

Specializes in EMS, ED, Trauma, CEN, CPEN, TCRN.
my understanding is that the CA issue is just about the RN program. Not having anything to do with any RN's that go on to get their BSN.

That is correct. :) It's the source of initial licensure that is the issue.

I don't believe that story for one second.

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