Which Distance learning program to go with for LPN to RN

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Hi, looking for opinions on which program to go with. I've looked into College Network, Distance Learning Systems and Rue Education as well as going with Excelsior direct. I'm somewhat sceptical about the first three however they are much more appealing then having to read a ton of books per course which is what I heard you need to do going the Excelsior route. I did go ahead and purchase a sociology study guide on ebay from one of the 3 but it's not arrived yet. Any insight on these programs would be greatly appreciated.

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Specializes in PeriOp, ICU, PICU, NICU.

Not sure about any other program but Welcome to the family, hope to see you soon. Good luck

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Thanks for the warm welcome. Would you happen to know anything good bad or indifferent about any of the programs I mentioned? It's so confusion as to who to go with.

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Specializes in LTC, Hospice, Case Management.

Graduated EC 5/05. My best advice is to NOT sign any contract with any of those first companies that you mentioned. I used chancellor study guides and thought they were great - but the price is outrageous. Keep buying those study guides off the internet and go with excelsior directly. why pay a bunch of money that you don't need to spend?

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Hi, looking for opinions on which program to go with. I've looked into College Network, Distance Learning Systems and Rue Education as well as going with Excelsior direct. I'm somewhat sceptical about the first three however they are much more appealing then having to read a ton of books per course which is what I heard you need to do going the Excelsior route. I did go ahead and purchase a sociology study guide on ebay from one of the 3 but it's not arrived yet. Any insight on these programs would be greatly appreciated.

There are some previous threads on this BB with lots of replies about all of the above mentioned you might try a search on each by name.

Welcome to AN!

Opal

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Specializes in Med/Surg, Tele, Peds, LDRP.

wannabe,

Im no expert because Im only a soon to be LPN grad looking to get my RN through distance learning, but its my understanding that the first two you mentioned arent actually schools, they are publishing companies that sell study materials for EC. I have read that they are very expensive and that many many people graduate from EC without having to spend all of that money. EC provides study guides for free and if you can learn all of the material on it, you should do fine on the exam. Also, lots of people say they never even bought the textbooks EC lists. Supposably You can find most of the information from a good med surg and nursing concepts book, as well as online.

If you do decide to use publishing Co. materials, I would suggest buying it at your leisure on ebay instead of signing a contract.

best of luck!

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Specializes in Child/Adolescent Mental Health.
Hi, looking for opinions on which program to go with. I've looked into College Network, Distance Learning Systems and Rue Education as well as going with Excelsior direct. I'm somewhat sceptical about the first three however they are much more appealing then having to read a ton of books per course which is what I heard you need to do going the Excelsior route. I did go ahead and purchase a sociology study guide on ebay from one of the 3 but it's not arrived yet. Any insight on these programs would be greatly appreciated.

Welcome to AN :)

Definitely do a search on Excelsior, I am sure you will find tons of information.

Good Luck

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I signed with the College Network before i researched everything completely. You do not have to sign on with a publishing company to go thru the EC program. You can definately get the books you need on Ebay or Half.com for a fraction of the cost the publishing company charges. However, I work full time, have a husband and 2 kids and don't have alot of time to be looking for the different guides so I am not completely sorry that I bought them all from the College Network publishing company. It was pretty convienent.

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I signed with the College Network before i researched everything completely. You do not have to sign on with a publishing company to go thru the EC program. You can definately get the books you need on Ebay or Half.com for a fraction of the cost the publishing company charges. However, I work full time, have a husband and 2 kids and don't have alot of time to be looking for the different guides so I am not completely sorry that I bought them all from the College Network publishing company. It was pretty convienent.

Thanks so much. It sounds like we're in the same situation in terms of working full time and a another full time job the family. I just don't have the time to read a bunch of text books and so I'm hoping someone can tell me if the study guides are any good. I just purchased sociology on ebay but it hasn't arrived yet. I just don't want to spend my time studing the guide and then finding out that you really do need to purchase text books. Are these guides all they are sold out to be. I just keep hearing if you study the guide you'll pass the test. Have you taken any test yet?

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Specializes in Mental Health, MI/CD, Neurology.

For the love of God do not go through a 3rd party. They are more expensive (despite what they may try and tell you on the phone) and some of them have the crappiest "study materials" that you could ever imagine. Trust me, I did it and regret it.

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