Which degree???

[Getiton1]

Aubs,

I am happy to report that I have just learned that ALEK's is ACE certified again! This is fresh news! Just happened a couple days ago. If you need Math Credits, ALEK's is accepted for Intermediate Algebra for most TESC BA/BS majors, and it's 20.00 a month! Read up on ALEK's if you are not sure what it's all about or check out their website.

Best of Luck!
Tara

[sanantone]

Hi Aubs,

I am an RN, and I went to Excelsiors RN program and am just 2 courses shy of graduating from TESC's BSN program. Here are my thoughts and insights.

Just like you, at the age of 17, I wasn't 100% sure what I wanted to be when I grew up. Just like you I was okay with blood and guts (My mom is a Medic and my 80% family is in medicine the rest in the arts (Graphic Artists of Architects). My best advice about what degree to pick is to follow these thoughts:

1. What are you naturally good at?
2. What would your Mom and Dad say you were a natural at?
3. What could you see yourself doing for 12 hours a day and not hating every minute of it?
4. Where do you live/where COULD you live...and what kind of jobs are in those geographic areas
5. Where do you see yourself in 5 years? 15 years? 30 years? If you had a time machine, what would you tell your "old" self to choose?

Okay, now suppose you want to be an RN or BSN. I would NOT take this decision lightly. Being an RN is no joke. You hold peoples lives in your hand and your days (and night shifts) can be very long and demanding. Also, most hospitals (at least by me) are moving toward something called MAGNET status which means they don't hire RN's just BSN's and if they hire RN's it's usually those with loads of experience.

Still interested? Okay, here's the deal.

Excelsior will only take you into their RN program as an LPN, or a Paramedic. Depending on how many credits they let you transfer in the rest of the credits you will need to earn at a community college or via CLEP. CLEP is cheaper and faster. If you don't have your LPN or Paramedic license/Certification, I don't think you can get into Excelsiors RN program, unless they changed something? Anyway, so going through a Paramedic Program might be faster and more interesting if you want to get your feet wet. LPN school takes at least a year, the wait list can be long, and for me anyway, it was very VERY demanding.

Okay, so you pass the LPN courses and also your NCLEX-LPN exam...or you pass your Paramedic school and your Exam...and you still want to go for your BSN. I looked at going to Excelsior and TESC, and I am SOOOO glad I went with TESC. TESC is much easier to work with than Excelsior. My only complain with TESC is the length if time it takes for an evaluation to show up on your transcript. Other than that, I have loved the ease of my online classes and I have found it a really do-able program WHILE working. So there you have it! If you have zero nursing experience and no other Bachelors degree, any kind of 2 year nursing degree will take you...well 2 years! On the other hand, taking a degree in some of the other majors suggested, will likely be faster. Keep in mind, that nursing courses are not always available all the time. For example, I JUST learned that the second to last class I need will only be offered now (January) and today (Thursday, 19-Dec-2013) is the last day of registration for late enrollment at TESC...or OCTOBER 2014! So if I don't get in by tomorrow, I can't even complete my required classes due to the schools policy of how to take classes and in what order. So, this happens quite often in nursing. No matter what major you choose, take a load of CLEP's that are required for every degree and get a feel for which CLEP classes you gravitate towards. You know you are going to need. English, psych (Developmental is pretty easy), Take a Business course (management is easy), Math (note, ALEK's is still not ACE approved, but they expect to hear if it is, or is not at the end of this month), and if you Mom think you would be good at Humanities why not take a Humanities CLEP? It's 6 credits! YAY! You won't be wasting time taking CLEP's if you are set on applying to one of the Big 3 (TESC, EC or WGU). Follow your heart, but check out on Monster what jobs are requiring if you expect to find work easily after graduation.

Best of Luck!
T

One minor correction: The Big 3 are TESC, EC, and COSC. WGU does offer a prelicensure nursing program in select markets.

There are other ways to qualify for EC's nursing program, but most aren't practical. The most practical option other than LVN/LPN or paramedic is becoming a midwife. The other options are things such as military corpsman, physicians trained outside the U.S., respiratory therapist, and physicians and physician assistants trained in the U.S. There is also this exception.

Individuals who have completed at least 50% of the clinical nursing credit hours with a minimum grade of C within 5 years of enrollment into Excelsior College will be reviewed on a case-by-case appeal basis. Only applicants who are currently employed in a clinical capacity and maintained good academic standing (minimum grade of C in all nursing courses) throughout their nursing program will be considered in this appeal process.

Excelsior College | Admission Requirements for Associate Degree in Nursing Programs

[Getiton1]

Thanks for the update/minor correction Sanantone. I haven't been in the RN program at EC for a while, so I am glad to know they have additional options. I think nursing is a noble profession, and I hate to discourage anyone who really WANTS to work in a helping profession. I am glad to know that EC is open to people with varied backgrounds, and they review it case by case. After years as a nurse, I can kind of get a "feel" for who really wants to be a nurse and who is just doing it as a way to get a job. I am assuming that EC does the case-by-case review with a similar thought process...which is wise.

Not sure if you were part of a thread a while back from someone who wanted to be a nurse so they could sell things or something a little far out like that? That was a first for me. Not sure what ever happened to that person??? But when you are a nurse working your 13th hour for the 3rd day in a row you and you have screaming, barfing patients, and their alarms going off, that's not a good time to realize you picked the wrong career. Just getting through the CPNE at EC is an exercise in discipline and focus. You really have to want it because there are still a lot of experienced nurses out there who are the living stereotype of "eating their young". I feel that since I have been through it...it's almost and obligation to tell people considering it as a practical career that there is more to nursing than looking like a nurse on General Hospital, E.R. or Grey's Anatomy. For those that truly love caring for people, it's often referred to as, "the toughest job you'll ever love"...just like the Peace Corps slogan.

Thanks again for the update/clarity/keeping me honest on the big 3 and EC's admission criteria for their RN program. This will be great information for future people looking to find a way into the field.

Take Care,
T

[sanantone]

I think EC toughened their admissions standards because a lot of students were failing the hands-on portion whatever it's called. That why the last exception only considers people currently working in a clinical capacity. They will probably only consider those working as CNAs, physical therapy assistants, diagnostic sonographers, or something like that.

There is an unrealistic image problem in my field too. Almost everyone seems to want to be an FBI agent, work in homeland security, or become a CSI based on what they've seen on t.v. There are a lot of people who also want to become police officers, but they have no idea what's required to become one or all of those other things.

[Getiton1]

Hi Sanantone,

Exactly. The final nursing exam for Excelsior's Nursing Program is the CPNE (I think it stand for Clinical Performance in Nursing Exam). It's 8 credits and basically you go to a hospital that you have either never been to (often it's in a different state since only a few states host it), and you take care of real live patients for 3 days. If you pass all the patients and labs in 2 days you are done. It's SERIOUSLY intense. I have studied with very experienced Medics and LPN's and they fail. The mental game is a lot of what that exam is all about. Anyone reading this thread that has gone through the EC CPNE will likely back what I am saying because it's got a ridiculously low pass rate. I think it's around 60%.

Excelsior Pass Rates!!! - Excelsior College Online Nursing Degrees

You have to be absolutely cool headed and focused to pass this CPNE exam and hope that you don't have one of the evil reviewers is what I have gathered from people that have taken and passed a well as those that have not. If a person is not even sure they want to be a nurse, these MSN's will sniff out any weakness and pounce. It's a 2,000 exam plus time off from work, travel and likely lodging. I feel like as a person who walked through that fire, that I should at least warm people it's hot.

I think EC toughened their admissions standards because a lot of students were failing the hands-on portion whatever it's called. That why the last exception only considers people currently working in a clinical capacity. They will probably only consider those working as CNAs, physical therapy assistants, diagnostic sonographers, or something like that.

As a kid of a medic, and several people in the armed services as well as other public service sectors, I agree that people think going into them is going to be some kind of exciting glamour job. I only saw the affects of those jobs as a family member. People I know still can't talk about what they saw in Iraq after 3 tours in the early 2000's.

Being a FBI agent is dangerous. Working in Homeland Security is not always like it is when watching "Homeland". Plus the day to day is not always as exciting as they show on TV. In real life, there is a lot of investigation that takes months and even years to put together. Another harsh reality about law enforcement is people you have been interviewing die, families are split up, there's a lot of politics and bureaucracy. One thing I have noticed in the last 10 years is people get into the police academy and forget that they are still supposed to protect and serve the people. Not seek and destroy them. The very best people in law enforcement, keep the human aspect of security, and work for the greater good of the entire society. They have excellent critical thinking skills and common sense. They see the BIG picture. The worst people in law enforcement I have seen are cocky, show zero critical thinking skills and have no desire but to establish dominance over the common every day citizen. Whenever I see a great law officer or hear a story where a cop or law enforcement person went out of their way to do something noble and good for a common citizen, I try make a point of saying "thanks". The example that comes to mind for great cops is 9/11. I live pretty close to New York, and my Mom and I volunteered to help out right away. We could see the towers burning, and watched as people jumped to their deaths on the monitor. I can't thank the police and firefighters that ran into World Trade to save other people that September morning that didn't come out. I absolutely did thank the ones that did. But I knew a few of these brave people and to me they were the bravest and strongest people ever, and I will never ever forget them. When I think of the best people in law enforcement, I think of them as chivalrous Knights. People that are loyal to the cause of something bigger then themselves for the sake of a better more peaceful society. They put their life on the line, and for that I am grateful and humbled by their bravery. It too is a noble profession serving the public, and I am in support of the people that risk their lives to defend a peaceful way of day to day life. We need you and I feel you are important to a peaceful society.

Sanantone, do you think that TV dictates the career choices of young people? For example, the top shows are Homeland and often Hospital based shows. When 30 Rock was popular I think people went into that kind of career. How much do you think the media influences career choices?


There is an unrealistic image problem in my field too. Almost everyone seems to want to be an FBI agent, work in homeland security, or become a CSI based on what they've seen on t.v. There are a lot of people who also want to become police officers, but they have no idea what's required to become one or all of those other things.

[sanantone]

All I know is that there is a bunch of people in LinkedIn's criminal justice group who can't understand why they can't find jobs as investigators. First of all, they don't understand that crime scene investigators just document and collect evidence. They are not the detectives or other kinds of investigators interviewing witnesses and solving crimes. Some crime scene investigators have training in criminalistics, but there are usually separate groups of people doing the evidence collection and analysis. Some of them don't understand that they aren't qualified to work in a lab with just a criminal justice degree. They also don't know that most detectives have to start off as patrol officers. If they want to go directly into investigations, they need to apply for a federal law enforcement agency like the FBI and maybe some state agencies. I've lost count of how many times I've had to tell people that the FBI and CIA do not require or even prefer criminal justice degrees.

When someone says he or she wants to work in homeland security, I automatically know they have a lot of research to do. Saying that you want to work for homeland security means nothing. There are a lot of agencies that fall under the Department of Homeland Security. The jobs vary a lot: plain old physical security like TSA, processing immigration papers, law enforcement at the border or ports of entry, intelligence, and the Coast Guard. Most of the intelligence and operative jobs are not under the Department of Homeland Security. I also have explained many times that a degree in criminal justice or homeland security is not going to make one stand out for federal intelligence jobs. Those aren't even the preferred degrees for most of the positions.

I guess what I'm trying to say is that young people are influenced by television shows. While the television shows do give an unrealistic portrayal of law, medicine, and CSI, I don't blame them for young people not doing their research to find out what it takes to qualify for these jobs. There are way too many people who think they can go straight into law enforcement with a degree in CJ. Criminal justice degree programs are not a law enforcement academy. They think they are going to learn hands-on stuff and get bored when we start lecturing them on laws and criminological theories. Another very common misconception is that students think they NEED a degree in criminal justice in order to become police officers. A very small percentage of law enforcement agencies require a degree; and for those that do, a very, very small percentage will require a degree in CJ. Most will happily accept a degree in anything and will not give preference to CJ degrees. I have learned in the past few months that many people in the criminal justice field as either practitioners or educators are annoyed by shows like CSI and NCIS.

[Aubs]

Holy cheezits, these are fantastic responses! Thank you so much!!

ejcompere - I also liked the illustration/animation option but the schools that I liked were all too expensive. My parents want me to get a more "useful" degree anyway. I still hold out hope that one day I can get a degree in illustration or find a program that I really like and pay for it myself.

UptonSinclair - I considered that too! I love working with animals (except for euthanasia, puts me in tears) but I can't find any local programs for them and the ones I do find put me into debt up to my eyeballs.

Getiton1 - Holy moses, your answers have been an incredibly huge help. There's a local community college that has an LPN program which is what I was looking at. I had no idea that Excelsior wouldn't take me if I didn't have it. :/
I'm keeping the nursing option as a back up plan. Apart from artistic fields, I don't have any other interests. I have no idea what I'm good at and the only thing my mom says she could see me doing is working at a convalescent home because she thinks I work well with older people (to be honest, I'm worried about upsetting them so I tread lightly). My dad wants me to come work with him at his airport job that he doesn't like anymore.

After reading through this thread about people getting degrees based on what they see on TV.....I can understand it. It's the only thing you "know" about a certain profession. You've, supposedly, seen it in action, it's your one point of reference in the abyss that is figuring out what degree for what job in the unpredictable future.
I have spent years researching jobs but articles and statistics...they don't cover the emotional aspect of the jobs, the heart of the work, sometimes they don't even cover the REAL work! They'll give you a brief, happy synopsis of a positive sounding job and you're hooked because it sounds so easy.
That's what's frustrated for so much over the past few weeks: how can you know what job you want to do when you haven't actually done it? How can you know that nursing is what you want to pursue for two, four, etc. years when you haven't cared for a single patient and you CAN'T care for a single patient until you have that degree under your belt? It's all skewed around to make no sense.

Anyway, thank you, thank you, THANK YOU soooooo much!

[sanantone]

I've heard nurses advise aspiring nurses to work a little while as CNAs. You can also do some shadowing. In my field, I recommend that students go on ride-alongs.

[Getiton1]

You are welcome Aubs,

The Instantcert family is a good group. Much like siblings sometimes we disagree, but overall we respect each other and stick up for the "family" which is earning credit by exam.

Since you are really totally unsure what you want to do when you grow up, you might want to talk to a guidance counselor from your high school and see if they can give you an honest idea of what they think you would be good at. Also, there are a lot of books on the topic. One of which is called "What color is my parachute?" Other options are to ask the High School or do a google search online and find a free of cheap Meyers-Briggs test to get a basic idea of where you fall as far as introvert/extrovert intuitive/analytical etc.

Myers-Briggs Type Indicator - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Here's some other tests that point you to or from certain fields. For example and introvert would probably HATE being a reporter of newscaster. But an extrovert would likely thrive with all the attention and action.

Roger Birkman - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Strong Interest Inventory - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Really, no one can know what motivates and excites you better than... YOU!

Here's another idea. Why don't you take a few of the "Free Clep Prep" exams and see which subjects you do well in with little of no study? They are free after all! That will tell you where your strengths and weaknesses are.

As far as finding something you are good at but actually LIKE to do, I agree with Sanantone's idea of riding with someone in a career field you like. The idea of being an Health Aide, or Certified Nursing Assistant (CNA) (also called Personal Care Assistant/PCA) is a good way to get your feet wet if you think you might want to be a nurse.

Another idea might be to look at your "likes" on social media. What do you gravitate towards. If it's always music, and you play an instrument, getting a humanities degree is not totally impossible (but it does require a capstone now at most of the Big 3). There might not be a lot of jobs out there for people with Humanities Degrees, but heck after a few CLEP's and a year in school, you will have earned a lot of credits toward a different 4 year degree anyway.

The choice is totally up to you. If you really want to be a nurse...go for it! Just understand it's quite a lot of work, and the courses at Excelsior are pretty easy, but the CPNE (which is mandatory) is seriously costly and stressful. If I had known what I knew after taking that exam, I might have just stuck it out in my 2 year county college program. For me, speed of earning that RN was my motivation. I had been an LPN for years, and it was hard to find a job in anything other than nursing homes, LTC facilities, or home care. I graduated #2 in my class, and was encouraged by my instructor to continue on. I am really glad I went into nursing because it opened so many doors and there are many options once you are done with school. Not everyone is cut out for it though. We nurses get yelled at, blamed, and disrespected quite often. The move it toward 12 hour shifts 3-4 days a week. Many times there are mandatory weekends and holiday shifts to be covered. Healthcare is ALWAYS on the clock as long as people get sick. There are not a lot of jobs at the LPN level where you get your weekends, evenings and holidays off. That's the biggest downfall of any healthcare career IMHO.

I suspect that law enforcement is somewhat the same. Nurses and cops serve the public and the public can commit a crime or get sick at any time of the day, 365 days a year. Yes, there are desk jobs, but most folks that go into public service want to roll up their sleeves and do something important for man kind.

Best of luck to you Aubs. Ask people you trust from different aspects of your life what they think after you find a few career options. If you are hearing/seeing the same things come up, go for what makes sense to YOU!

Okay, hope that helps,
T

Holy cheezits, these are fantastic responses! Thank you so much!!

ejcompere - I also liked the illustration/animation option but the schools that I liked were all too expensive. My parents want me to get a more "useful" degree anyway. I still hold out hope that one day I can get a degree in illustration or find a program that I really like and pay for it myself.

UptonSinclair - I considered that too! I love working with animals (except for euthanasia, puts me in tears) but I can't find any local programs for them and the ones I do find put me into debt up to my eyeballs.

Getiton1 - Holy moses, your answers have been an incredibly huge help. There's a local community college that has an LPN program which is what I was looking at. I had no idea that Excelsior wouldn't take me if I didn't have it. :/
I'm keeping the nursing option as a back up plan. Apart from artistic fields, I don't have any other interests. I have no idea what I'm good at and the only thing my mom says she could see me doing is working at a convalescent home because she thinks I work well with older people (to be honest, I'm worried about upsetting them so I tread lightly). My dad wants me to come work with him at his airport job that he doesn't like anymore.

After reading through this thread about people getting degrees based on what they see on TV.....I can understand it. It's the only thing you "know" about a certain profession. You've, supposedly, seen it in action, it's your one point of reference in the abyss that is figuring out what degree for what job in the unpredictable future.
I have spent years researching jobs but articles and statistics...they don't cover the emotional aspect of the jobs, the heart of the work, sometimes they don't even cover the REAL work! They'll give you a brief, happy synopsis of a positive sounding job and you're hooked because it sounds so easy.
That's what's frustrated for so much over the past few weeks: how can you know what job you want to do when you haven't actually done it? How can you know that nursing is what you want to pursue for two, four, etc. years when you haven't cared for a single patient and you CAN'T care for a single patient until you have that degree under your belt? It's all skewed around to make no sense.

Anyway, thank you, thank you, THANK YOU soooooo much!

[clep3705]

The Meyers-Briggs test is useless for determining suitability for nursing. There's a place in nursing for every personality type.