English 101
Running head: THE REASON WHY EXCELSIOR 1
THE REASON WHY EXCELSIOR COLLEGE IS MY CHOICE 3
March 2, 2019
The Reason Why Excelsior College is my Choice
Am I too old to go back to college? This is a question I have posed to myself and my family for almost a year while I researched colleges to attend. I knew I wanted to go back to school so that I could get an associate’s degree in nursing. I already went the vocational school route in order to gain my licensed practical nursing diploma and took my state boards to obtain my license so I need the associate’s degree in order to take the NYS Boards to obtain my registered nursing license. I have to have both hands-on nursing classes as well as regular classes such as English and Science along with a few others. I knew I really did not want to go to a regular school if it could be helped because I like the ability to be similar to your peers in an online environment as you really don’t know the ages of your classmates. It does not matter if they are young or old; they just want to do the same thing as you: learn.
The search was on to either find an online school that had both types of classes I would need or to take my regular classes in an online setting and then transfer to a brick and mortar school to take my hands on classes. Well I narrowed my choice to Excelsior College because they had a nursing degree program but I was still not sure if I wanted to fully take all of my courses here. After researching further, I realized that I would not be able to obtain financial aid for my nursing degree if I took it solely through Excelsior. I did find a local school around me that would allow me to take just my hands-on classes through them. I would just need to make sure to take all the necessary regular classes first here at Excelsior.
Well, I had made my decision on how I would proceed so I filled out the online application and paid my non-refundable application fee. I waited with baited breath to find out if I would be accepted or not because this is going to determine my immediate future and the future of my family. I breathed such a sigh of relief when I received the welcome email. After speaking with my admissions counselor and the registers office in great lengths, I realized I would have to matriculate into the liberal arts program in order to gain financial aid. I got a list of the courses I needed to take to be able to transfer into the local school and waited to hear back from my academic advisor who was still being assigned to me.
After a telephone call with my academic advisor, it was determined that I was only allowed to take 9 credits for the Spring semester so I ended up taking this fifteen week English course, PSY 101, and PSY 235 in the Spring II section because I did not have any prior degree credits. The ability to learn quickly and have constant support from my family, my fellow classmates, and the staff here at Excelsior has made it abundantly clear that I made the right decision. My academic advisor has been so helpful and understanding as to why I only want certain classes and I have already gotten my financial aid all lined up for the summer semester as well as the course approvals for both the summer and fall semester which is all thanks to an amazing staff. I will be done with my courses here at Excelsior and be able to transfer into my local school for the hands on portion of my degree by the end of October but my time here at Excelsior will never be forgotten. For any adult who is interested into going back to school, the answer is no that it is never too late to get your degree and I recommend you do it here at Excelsior College.