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.
we can discuss this topic for 300 pages and we are never going to agree about the whole ec program. excelsior rocks! :rckn: so i'm gonna unsubcribe to this post because its clogging up my email and come back in a few weeks and see how bad people are: :deadhorse. i had a great experience with excelsior and recommend it to anyone who state accepts the program. if anyone wants to know more about it, just send me an email or private message and i will help all i can and give you honest information. take care!
Could you please quantify that for those who would like to learn from your expertise?
For example 10 month full time 40 hr/week vs 24 month 25 hr/week, etc...
Thanks!!:wink2:
I did my EMT-B (that's EMT-Basic) at a community college, and it was one semester; it included one ambulance ride-along for 8 hours, and 16 hours in-hospital (in the ER, plus some hours in the OR, so we can learn about managing airways with the anesthesiologist). My EMT-P (that's EMT-Paramedic) was an additional 2 years/four semesters and came with an Associates degree. I did numerous in-hospital clinical hours (with RN preceptors) in the ER, local trauma units, a burn center, OB, psych, peds, etc., in addition to all the time that I precepted on an Advanced Life Support (ALS) unit. (In order to graduate, we had to have at least 50 calls as the lead ALS provider, but bear in mind you can't be "lead" from day 1, so it really does take time.) Each of the four semesters for EMT-P has a "clinical internship" (those are the RN-precepted, in-hospital clinicals) in addition to the "field internship" (being on the medic unit with an ALS provider). And those are just the clinical hours -- we also had all the classroom stuff, too -- A&P, pharmacology, pathophysiology, assessment, medical care, trauma care, etc. The degree outline is here, if you're interested in reading it: http://www.nvcc.edu/curcatalog/programs/pdf/HLT-EMS-AAS.pdf -- EMT-B is the first semester, and the rest is for Paramedic.
Just to add, you have to pass a state EMT-B exam for certification at the end of that first semester -- it's 3 practical stations. At the end of the other four semesters, it's the National Registry Paramedic exam for certification, which includes something like 12 practical stations and a written exam.
So, yeah ... there is a bit of a difference between EMT-Basic and EMT-Paramedic. Just a bit. Many people are really not aware of the difference.
I've been reading this post on this particular forum for a few days now. Heres my take on EC. I live in Albany, very close to EC. I've inquired on their nursing program, paid my $75 dollar fee, sent in a copy of my license. That would be LPN license.
I received an email in my EC login from a advisor encouraging me to fully enroll. I do believe it's 8 hundred an some dollars per year. Keep in mind my application clearly stated I went to a vocational school for my LPN, in other words, I have no credits to transfer, zip, none, notta.
If it wasn't for this forum and various others I would have not known that I didn't have to fully enroll until I finished all my prerequisites and completed nsg concepts one and rec'd credit and not had to take nsg concepts 2.
The moral of this story is, "in my opinion only". Excelsior college is in it for the money and thats point blank. Look at the pass/fail rate of the CPNE, It's in the 60 percentile. Thats alot of money to be made on their behalf for repeats, and many have repeated.
All that effort, time spent studying, and yes, you all put your undivided whole hearted body and soul into all that needs to be done to excel in each subject. I looked at the study material and the practice tests. It's not easy and u must know ur stuff.
But the pass rate remains low, so many of us seek out CPNE work shops to add that extra know how. Of course thats an added fee.
That in it's self and the email I received from Excelsior turned me right off. I know going to a traditional college can be an inconvenience to some, and yes before someone replys with "You can fail in traditional college also" I would rather take that chance. Further more, you do have the added advantage and experience of a clinical instructor to guide you "hopefully" in the right direction.
The bottom line is: The wording in this topic is 100% correct "WARNING"
Excelsior college is looking out for excelsior college. Money talks, and Excelsior is making mega money with it's nursing program. Do the math. 20 people per month pay for the CPNE. (guesstimating) 10 fail. Round it off to 2 thousand dollars per shot. Thats 20K Excelsior pockets. I'm sure the numbers are much higher. And if after the third try at the CPNE with a fail your out. Yeah who wins here?
I would really like to see some of those ce's perform under the pressure the students go through and get it 100% right each shot. I doubt it could happen.
Excelsior college won on my end to. They got my 75 bucks, non-refundable.
Do yourself a favor. Look into taking all your prerequisites online, many schools offer them. It's the same as doing excelsiors program, sorta kinda. When it comes time to do your clinicals and you have restraints such as children, try and find a friend, relative to help you out. Remember it's temporary.
If you feel Excelsior is the route for you, by all means tackle it with full force.
Know your options and know the ways of excelsior college when it comes to policy. We all know the stories of being sucked in (College network, rue) in my mind and the response I received from Excelsior is no different.
And to touch base on a topic; If we're all caring for patients for the benefit of health, be it, CNA, LPN, RN, etc... It's still called NURSING!
Please people be easy on me, just my thoughts on Excelsior.
You are entitled to your opinion, of course. :) But I do know that EC isn't just in it for the money, all the time ... there are humans there. For example: if you cancel your CPNE weekend within a few days of your scheduled date, you supposedly forfeit the entire fee ($1900). Enter the case of J., whose husband unexpectedly walked out on her (after 20-something years of marriage) the very week before her CPNE, leaving her in complete emotional shambles. Not only did EC allow her to reschedule on short notice, they did *not* penalize her for rescheduling, and didn't charge her an extra dime. Though they could have, if they went by the book. So I've seen the human face of EC. Is it a business? Of course it is. All schools are. Anyone who doesn't believe that is naive. (See recent controversies regarding traditional schools using the exit HESI to boost NCLEX pass rates. Heh.)
The CPNE is tough. It has to be, and I wouldn't want it watered down. I am, however, dismayed that the pass rate is dropping. As I've said elsewhere on this forum, I'm curious to see the 2008 numbers. I hope they're trending upwards.
Just a minor clarification: enrollment is $895 -- that's a one-time fee. The annual student services fee is $440. Just wanted to clarify that it's not $895/year.
I think everyone has a right to decide what is best for them and to have the freedom to make an informed decision on where they want to educate themselves. I agree with you that in the end it is supposed to be about taking care of people and it gets lost when people start pointing fingers saying your education isn't as good as mine and/or I wouldn't hire someone from EC even though I go there for my BSN etc.... That's when it hits a nerve because there are a lot of great nurses who may not be able to practice in a couple of states because of a few people who decided after all the years that now it isn't good enough yet it was fine before. EC is a business just like every other school out there so they are not free of faults and money makes the world go round. It is just time for nurses to stick by other nurses instead of tearing each other down. If someone decides to do distance nursing let's encourage them. Many are working already trying to support families and can't take that time away from work to go to school or many other reasons but it is their choice and it should be supported that someone wants to continue their education and better themselves instead of block their way.
this is a worthless post...i think we all know EC doesn't hold up in certain states...there is always VA or BOP...
EDIT:
News flash ***Colleges, especially private ones, are businesses*** of course they are in it to make money. they have a product that we pay for. EC is an extremely easy and pain free way to get the RN license. it is what it is.
this is a worthless post...i think we all know EC doesn't hold up in certain states...there is always VA or BOP...
EDIT:
News flash ***Colleges, especially private ones, are businesses*** of course they are in it to make money. they have a product that we pay for. EC is an extremely easy and pain free way to get the RN license. it is what it is.
Sbuxdrinkr...Just wondering....Have you taken the CPNE ? I am not eligible yet, but from what I hear it is not easy and can be quite painful. Have a great day! Traci
Specializes in ICU, PICC Nurse, Nursing Supervisor.
are you trying to be funny or are these your actual feelings toward ec...please do explain what is so pain free and easy about taking this method toward obtaining your nursing degree...cause i'm not feeling it. i took all the same nursing courses as a regular on campus student... i just took the final and tested out of the course...as far as the cpne (i see you are quite the expert being a nursing student ) i don't get the comfort of having the instructor there to guide me or teach me ...i have to go in as a first day rn and obtain 100% accuracy on all areas of patient care from care plans down to the last ml of the i&o on adults and peds...not only that 100% accuracy must be obtained on med calculations, iv pushes,drips, injections and wound care...
there aint nothing about ec easy..you have to be extremely motivated , confident, determined and have above average skills to succeed in this program.. at this point i am taping my fingers together or i will get another warning posted on my account ...
ec is an extremely easy and pain free way to get the rn license. .
this is a worthless post...i think we all know EC doesn't hold up in certain states...there is always VA or BOP...
EDIT:
News flash ***Colleges, especially private ones, are businesses*** of course they are in it to make money. they have a product that we pay for. EC is an extremely easy and pain free way to get the RN license. it is what it is.
The CPNE is fairly easy nursing but the pressure to perform with perfection is nerve wracking....Yes, most private institutions are in it for the money. EC is a good program for the right student, given they are unable to go another route.
Funny. Ha. Ha. Nice joke....easy and pain free.... Everyone including me seems pretty stressed about the CPNE. Even my family is stressed out so not sure where you heard that. Flying to a different state, going to a facility you don't even know, performing in front of examiners you never met and expected tp perform 100%. It is a stressful,nail biting, anxiety driven experience and to top it off knowing if you don't perform it 100% you have do it all over again and another $1900 to fork over. I don't know about others but when I was in LPN school having a teacher watch me at clinicals truly not very stressful and it was easy. Clinicals were a learning experience not a test. Never once in a clinical at a hospital or clinic did they expect 100% and if you didn't know something like trach. care they walked you through it. CPNE the examiner is silent and watching everything you do to 100% accuracy. It is what it is.
bjbabs24, one thing that helped ease my anxiety somewhat -- you don't have to be 100%. There *is* a bit of a safety net! You can fail each lab station once and have an opportunity to repeat each one. You can fail an adult and pediatric PCS and repeat them. I know, I know ... that doesn't REALLY help, but it's a better perspective than having to be 100% or else, you know?
Thanks!!! I know the safety net is there for repeats but it just seems like so many are failing lately and over just such minor things. I know we shouldn't base ourselves on what others do and just focus on ourselves. I truly have only one shot at this, sick child getting support from my neice to fly in and help my husband etc... and will not get that chance again. So, all or nothing for me. Thanks for the support!
Many people are really not aware of the difference.
NC Girl BSN
1,845 Posts
we can discuss this topic for 300 pages and we are never going to agree about the whole ec program. excelsior rocks! :rckn: so i'm gonna unsubcribe to this post because its clogging up my email and come back in a few weeks and see how bad people are: :deadhorse. i had a great experience with excelsior and recommend it to anyone who state accepts the program. if anyone wants to know more about it, just send me an email or private message and i will help all i can and give you honest information. take care!
kim, rn
excelsior graduate february 20th 2009.