Here are some tips for selecting schools, based on an analysis comparing each school to all others across dozens of factors:
Schools Concentrating On Licensed Practical And Licensed Vocational Nurses
- Focus: For schools with a focus on this career area, look at Ivy Tech Central Indiana, Ivy Tech Northeast, Ivy Tech East Central, and Ivy Tech Northwest.
Fastest Response From Schools
- Request Info: For the fastest information for prospective students, look at the Spotlight schools on this page.
Student Body
- Diverse: For a diverse student body, consider Vincennes University, Ivy Tech Northwest, and Ivy Tech Central Indiana.
- Adult Learners: For lots of adult learners, consider Ivy Tech Whitewater, Ivy Tech Kokomo, Ivy Tech Northcentral, and Ivy Tech Northwest.
School Setting
- Out of State: For geographic diversity, take note of Ivy Tech South Central, Vincennes University, Ivy Tech Whitewater, and Ivy Tech Wabash Valley.
- Dorms: For a residential campus environment, take note of Vincennes University.
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Spotlight Indiana Schools Related to This Career
- Locations: Fort Wayne, Indianapolis, South Bend
- Programs: One relevant program; click the school name for details.
- Degrees: Certificate, Diploma
- Locations: Indianapolis
- Programs: 2 relevant programs; click the school name for details.
- Degrees: Diploma
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Student/Alumnus Reviews of Schools for This Career and State
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Purdue Northwest • Westville, IN
Studying Nursing (completion in 2010)
• 8/22/2011
"I feel I got a world class education for a fair price. The amount of work was somewhat over the top, though, and I think they lost a lot of great potential nurses because of it (those who did not complete the program)."
Ratings are on a 1-10 scale
| Characteristic | Rating | Comment |
|---|---|---|
| Would Recommend? | maybe | Since I know how hard it was, I do not feel that I could honestly suggest someone else going through that. Instead, I would have them do a lot of research about all schools in the area and make their own choice. |
| Program Reputation | 8 | We have been told that the feedback from employers has been very positive concerning our graduates. The impression is that if you go to Purdue you will get hired more quickly and for more money. |
| Program Quality | 7 | My education was very comprehensive, almost to the extreme. I am confident in my knowledge but also feel the teachers wanted to teach us things that only doctors need to know and we are unlikely to ever encounter as nurses. |
| Instruction | 8 | Again, it was comprehensive teaching by nurses with 20 to 30 years of experience. However, some of their information was questionable as technology had advanced and some of them no longer work as nurses. |
| How Difficult | 10 | It was the biggest challenge of my life. I had weeks of 40 hours in class and clinicals (at hospitals), not including the time at home spent studying. Every semester the fail rate of my fellow students was about 40%. |
| Hands-On vs. Bookish | In the clinical setting you are 90% hands on with patients. We learn the basics from books but have to eventually act out those tasks on real people. | |
| Schedule Flexibility | 2 | Our schedules were just assigned to us without them asking what fits in with our lives. It was very hard to work around class and clinical time. Some people had to get hotel rooms just to be able to get to clinicals at 6 am because they lived so far away. |
| Academic Facilities | 9 | It is a very nice, clean, newer building. We had robot patients to work with and full mock hospital wings. In that respect, it was great. |
| Social Life | 8 | People under stress tend to band together, so I made some amazing friends. We studied together and worked together at clinicals, so my social experience turned out to be wonderful. |
| Placement Services | 5 | They have job fairs on campus but I have not attended one. I know hospitals and other companies do court graduates for jobs, though. |
| Alumni Network | 7 | The dean of my school was a very supportive and nice person. She listened to any problems one may have and worked to fix them. She really encourages the education of future nurses. |
Brown Mackie College • South Bend, IN
Studying Nursing (completion in 2010)
• 9/30/2011
"Well, I felt like I spent way more money than it was worth. When I started my new job I felt lost and didn't feel like I had been taught everything I needed to know."
Ratings are on a 1-10 scale
| Characteristic | Rating | Comment |
|---|---|---|
| Would Recommend? | no | Because I felt like I paid a lot of money and didn't get my money's worth. It seemed more like an independent study program than a college course. I felt like I didn't get enough attention or experience. Honestly, I wish I would have gone to a bigger school. |
| Program Reputation | 4 | Most people have heard bad things about Brown Mackie. Most people who have gone there have had bad experiences with the school. |
| Program Quality | 5 | The teachers were not always present and sometimes they just weren't helpful. Also, the classes were just too big to receive any specialized help if you needed it. |
| Instruction | 6 | More or less, I had to teach myself a majority of the class. Not to mention I felt that the books were more expensive than the quality of info that they provided. |
| How Difficult | 4 | Well, I took my finals at the end of each month instead of at the end of each semester, so it helped me remember things better. Not to mention that I had 10 years previous experience as a CNA and Home Health Aide. |
| Hands-On vs. Bookish | There wasn't a whole lot of hands on learning. Of course there were a couple of things, but the vast majority of everything we did involved reading from a book and taking tests. | |
| Schedule Flexibility | 2 | They had a set schedule a week before. Basically you had to go when they had classes available. It was an all or nothing - if you missed too many, you failed. There was only one time per day for each class. |
| Academic Facilities | 7 | Half of the time I had the privilege of using brand new computer labs and equipment. Everything was really nice and helped me learn more. The other half I had to use their older stuff, but it was efficient. |
| Social Life | 2 | There were no events that I can remember. There were no sports teams for the school at all. The only social experiences I had were with friends that I had made on my own. |
| Placement Services | 2 | They didn't help me find anything. They had me fill out a resume that I didn't even need to use. Basically I found my own job without any involvement from Brown Mackie. |
| Alumni Network | 5 | They weren't always present and there were a lot of substitutions. It seemed like they only wanted my tuition money. Whenever I called them, I almost never got an answer. |
Brown Mackie • South Bend, IN
Studying Nursing (completion in 2010)
• 12/14/2011
"I am happy with the months of studying; however, I feel I may have gotten a better education elsewhere."
Ratings are on a 1-10 scale
| Characteristic | Rating | Comment |
|---|---|---|
| Would Recommend? | maybe | I guess I would recommend it to someone who is able to study and keep themselves motivated. If not, you would most likely fail. |
| Program Reputation | 5 | They have a lot of people graduate, but a lot of people complain that they do not teach enough of what is needed or that the teachers just don't do their jobs. So they have a reputation and are constantly trying to prove it wrong. |
| Program Quality | 5 | My school was okay, but I have to say that I sometimes felt that I was training myself from books and not the teachers teaching me. Clinicals sites were way too far for me, as I was already living far from the school. It became very expensive toward the end of school. |
| Instruction | 5 | Teachers were not as interested or were burned out from their jobs. The books were okay. They gave information in an interesting, keep-you-alert way, but sometimes, they could be confusing. Overall, it was an okay school with okay teachers and textbooks. The teachers' plans were enough to give me the information I needed to know. I learned the rest on my jobsite. |
| How Difficult | 5 | At times, I found that it was very hard. Other times, I found that I was able to understand without trying too hard. I rated it average, because I would say that half the time was a struggle and the other half was okay. |
| Hands-On vs. Bookish | My school was more book than hands on. I would have liked to have had more hands on, as well as smaller classes. | |
| Schedule Flexibility | 4 | You have to take the schedule they give you or drop the class. I did not know what the schedule would be until two weeks before the class actually started, which makes it difficult for someone with a family. |
| Academic Facilities | 5 | Halfway through, I was in the old campus, which was small and just average; nothing to be surprised by. The other half, there was a new campus, which was nice. However, with a new campus comes complications, with schedules of other classes, new classrooms to find, and teachers not showing up in time, due to being unaware of where the class was at first. It was very confusing. |
| Social Life | 10 | Everyone I met was nice, and I met some lifetime friends. I miss them all and that is honestly the best part about school, other than having a successful career. |
| Placement Services | 4 | I am sorry to say they did not help me with this matter. I did my own resume and I found my own job without the help of anyone from the school. |
| Alumni Network | 5 | There were times I asked questions and they did not know an answer or did not get back to me. I also was very confused about what was needed to know on my test at the end or what exactly my job description would be. I really only found out towards the end of my schooling. |
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