Review courses/Kaplan, etc.

U.S.A. Florida

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To all NCLEX test takers, please believe in yourself and don't give up. You can pass the NCLEX! Do what it takes to prepare yourself for this challenging exam. If you believe a review course will increase your confidence, do it! BUT BEWARE! I've heard great things about Hurst Review, Feuer (somewhere in New York), Telva Miller Review in Orlando, and Sylvia Rayfield (somewhere in Pensacola, Florida).

Kaplan's live test-taking classes are only OK if the instructor understands what they are teaching. If you get a lousy Kaplan instructor, you're screwed! Their online material is good and the Qbank questions are good. However, be careful with Kaplan. I do not see on their website what their pass rate is, whereas others like Hurst and Rayfield will boast of a 98% pass rate for first-time test takers. IMHO, be careful with Kaplan. They are very slow about returning phone calls once they have your money, and they are overpriced compared with other companies with better pass rates. You have to follow their plan exactly if you want a refund if you are unsuccessful (i.e., if you access online materials after your NCLEX test date, you are unable to get a refund). Be careful! Do your homework and speak with others to get the truth about all these different review courses. Some are definitely better than others. What I have learned with Kaplan is that they feel test-taking strategies are more important than a comprehensive content review. The way I see it, no amount of test-testing tips will help you if you don't have a strong foundation of basic nursing knowledge and pathophysiology. You will not get a live content review with Kaplan, except to use their online resource videos, which are good. The instructors in the online lectures are really good at explaining things, which is to be expected since they are the authors of the Kaplan test book. However, the instructor we had in Daytona Beach was mispronouncing words and reading the rationales as if this were a foreign language and she seemed confused herself about Kaplan's strategies and did not explain them well. Watch out if you are in Central Florida! Ensure that you know who the instructor will be and what their credentials and educational background are. So far, I think I'll stick with the test-taking tips I learned in the front of my Saunders book and Test-Taking Techniques for Nursing Students book (by Patricia Nugent). Kaplan's $20 NCLEX book is really good, though. Save some money and check it out from the library, but make sure you continually review content in a good book like Saunders. IMO, a satisfactory nursing foundation and knowledge base is imperative in order to critically think. You can't critically think if you don't understand the basics to begin with.

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I took the Kaplan 4 years ago after I finished school!

I passed the NCLEX-RN!

The computer screen turned blue and 7 days later...I received my license! I only answered 75 questions!!

But I worked hard, Kaplan gave me all the info I needed and I treated the materials and the NCLEX-RN liked questions very seriously. At least 2.5 hours solving the questions and 5.5 hours reading the materials they provided.

I managed my time effectively!

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I agree that you must manage your time well. In addition to what I posted above, I would say that Kaplan does give you everything you need to successfully pass the NCLEX. However, I have met those who have failed the exam once and twice with Kaplan. Whose fault is that? These students acknowledged that they didn't study as they should. My advice is this: You must follow their formula exactly to pass. If you get the complete package, you have everything you need, online lectures of nursing content, video reviews of test-taking strategies, training library with additional resources for weak subject areas, and hundreds and hundreds of questions. Apparently, you were successful because you followed the program as it was intended and, as you mentioned, managed your time effectively, a key point. I would recommend Kaplan, but I would also say that you must be motivated and disciplined to really study and use every facet of their program to learn as much as you can. It is a good program with resources at every angle for reinforcement of nursing topics.

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I took the Kaplan 4 years ago after I finished school!

I passed the NCLEX-RN!

The computer screen turned blue and 7 days later...I received my license! I only answered 75 questions!!

But I worked hard, Kaplan gave me all the info I needed and I treated the materials and the NCLEX-RN liked questions very seriously. At least 2.5 hours solving the questions and 5.5 hours reading the materials they provided.

I managed my time effectively!

Something is missing in the last statement!

I was trying to say that I spent 8 hours a day to study. Two and half hrs for problem solving and 5.5 hrs for reading the materials Kaplan provided. I did that for 43 days before the NCLEX-RN Exam!

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I agree with what you say in regards to test prep companies.... when it comes down to it, it's really what you make them out to be-- if you do everything that they say and follow their study planners.

Personally, I liked kaplan---and in no way I am advertising for them--- because understanding their strategies really helped me answer those difficult questions.

and why pay for a prep course that will teach you content? you have the content you need when you went to nursing school for 2 years! you have to have at least one nclex review book that you bought during nursing school that you can read the same thing that some nclex review companies lecture on.

so I decided to do kaplan, and since I know that I did not know content so well, I saw the videos, read the books-- re-watched & re-read again, did questions gallore until I had non wrong, and because I am a worry wart, I also listened to helen feuer audio on content--that honestly, I cannot remember anything but the jokes & little stories they said on the audios.

To pass nclex-rn, I recomend studying-- and spend your time doing questions, reading, and if you don't understand something, go to your old school lecture books and understand the material.

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