Fortis College in Columbus — Local services in Blendon Township

Okay. Let me first start by saying I am in my final term of the LPN program. I have a 3.6 GPA, so my opinion of this school is not based on the possibility/impossibility of success in the VERY accelerated program. It is more so based on the way myself & my classmates have been treated as students, and the quality of instructors. The program I'm in is being phased out, so I'm not sure what changes will be made to the curriculum but that won't change the way this place operates. The first term was intense with 6 classes.. but these are pretty much General Education classes such as Bio, English, Psychology & Nutrition. It was rough but it's definitely doable. Starting in 2nd term I was taking Fundamentals of Nursing, another Psychology class & Pharmacology. Ohhhhh Pharmacology.. As a nurse you need to have a good knowledge base of drugs, side effects, dosing, etc. So tell me why in our most challenging class so far we were given an instructor who had never taught this class before. She was a very experienced nurse and we could have learned a lot from her in another class, but I don't think it was fair to the instructor or the students to just throw someone in to teach a class of such importance! After half of the class dropped she changed her teaching tactics but it was kind of too little too late. This class started out with 30+ students and at the end of the term only 8 remained & 6 of us passed. Now onto 3rd term... up until this point I've been hearing from other students as well as friends of mine who are nurses that Med Surg is the class that will kick you in your butt. And again we were given an instructor who had never taught this class before. She used another instructors PowerPoints to lecture from & seemed to form test questions based on her years of nursing knowledge, rather than our less than a year of nursing knowledge. This class started with 18 students and only 7 passed.. that's less than half. But this is fine with Fortis b/c when you retake a class they get more $$$$. I'm now in 4th term and going to school 6 days a week... it's exhausting & I feel like they are asking a lot of us but I keep telling myself I'm almost finished!! Now lets talk about some of this schools ridiculous rules. If you have to use the restroom during class you may, but you may not reenter until the next scheduled break, & you get a tardy (3 tardys = 1 absence, 3 absences = failing the class). Last time I checked I was an adult and feel I should be treated as such, not like a child. I understand that some students can abuse privileges and that is where the instructor should step in and make the call. Up until the beginning of my 4th term we were not allowed to print off PowerPoints in the schools library, instructors were also told not to provide them for us, yet 90% of lecture is done by PowerPoint. Finally after enough student complaining this policy changed and we are now allowed to print 50 pages/day in the library. Fortis College was the ONLY college to remain open during this weeks subzero temperatures. Honestly , I am not happy with my overall experience here & feel like I have been cheated in some ways. I wish I would have at least checked out Hondros, the nursing school across the street, so that is my suggestion for you!! Explore your options, your admissions rep will sell you a dream but it is far...

At first glance you would think that this school is very professional and well put together. I had visited this school in 2010 when it was Bohecker and did not follow through because they were not accreditied. A few years later I started getting calls about Fortis college. When I attended the place looked oddly familar. My admissions rep assured me that they never lost there accrediation and that they changed there name so that all of there colleges could be recognized as one. If you are confused or unsure about how this whole "college thing" works DONT trust financial aid to walk you through it. Remember this is a business to them and its all about getting your money in the first place. Also oddly enough my admissions rep just quit unexpectedly and I was reassigned to someone else with absolutly no explanation. The staff in the Admissions// and financial aid office are very rude and unprofessional. Whenever I was down there I felt on edge, and the majority of the staff came off argumentative. Almost every teacher there uses a different site to post grades so when checking your accuracy in classes you will have to go to five or six different places. The lack of communication is absurd! The teachers get there, they teach and leave there is no flow and they know about as much as the students do. When taking my nursing class the teacher makes a point to tell you how important doing all homework, papers, study guides, and projects are because this is a "point system" but in the end you have to pass with your exam scores averaging 78.9% or higher- a very high C- only after you pass with exams alone will your homework be averaged in. I fell slightly short of this on exams alone so my nearly 100% in homework grades would not count. I was a little irritated knowing if had they been figured in I would have passed the class, when I checked my grades again a week later my final grade of a C was lowered to a F. Why you might ask...? Well since my homework couldn't count towards my final grade or else I would pass the class instead of leaving it alone at a C my teacher went back through and marked all my homework grades as zeros. YUP zeros allllllllllllllllll the way through then figured the average in as if I had never done any of my work. Not to mention they are not accredited through the NLN. Be prepared to travel when it comes to clinicals. I am now transferring to a more LEGIT college. I no longer have the money, patients, or time to put up with this catastrophe excuse...

I happily give Fortis College-Westerville a 5/5! I recently graduated in December 2016 and took the NCLEX yesterday and passed with 75 questions. I have heard and seen many negative reviews, but I am a clear example to what Fortis has to offer! They prepared me mentally not only to pass my class, but also to pass my NCLEX, first try with ONLY 75 questions. That being said, like any school you could attend, Fortis has areas in which they could improve such as communication and planning. But, that alone for me does not outweigh the education I received through Fortis. One of my favorite things about Fortis is the class size and knowing my teachers and clinical instructors knew me by name and would check on me if my performance was less than par. I felt important which is not always the case at other schools! Lastly, just because I gave a 5/5 does not mean that there wasn't a significant amount of effort on MY end. Fortis' instructors give you the information and material needed to be successful but YOU have to put the time and effort in or you will not be successful. My family is my witness that I studied day and night for every test and nonstop for all of my HESIs and NCLEX. I missed family events, birthdays, anniversaries, holidays, weddings and more the last 2 years, but today it all became worth it! I put the effort in and used the materials given to me from Fortis and I was successful. As with anything in life, you get out of it what you put in. Good luck to anyone reading this and remember if you are willing to bust your butt for the next 2 years you too can achieve the dream of becoming a Registered Nurse! Oh and PS I already have a job starting in 2 weeks for Ohio Health, so getting a job is...