Kaplan or Saunders?

Nursing Students NCLEX

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For those who have taken NCLEX and did Kaplan/Saunders study questions, could someone please tell me if the NCLEX questions are more similar to the ones from Kaplan or Saunders?

I'm focusing on Kaplan, but kinda peek in Saunders.

Are the Kaplan Qs a good predictor for NCLEX? The Kaplan staff said when u get 65% or above, you're ready. I'm not doing very well.... quite far away from 65%....I will repeat the tests and quizzes, but just feeling depressed. My scores doesn't improve at all, and I'm almost done with all the Q bank and Q trainers :crying2:

Any strategies for studying/test-taking/getting ready for the test would be very helpful as well.

THANKS A LOT EVERYONE :D

I used the Saunder's CD for questions, but the big book overwhelmed me as far as review is concerned. I enrolled in the NCSBN 5-week course for content review and practice questions. I think between Saunder's and NCSBN, I took a total of 3,000 practice questions. I read rationales for every single one (right or wrong). Also, our school required us to do ATI exams every quarter. I read the Leadership ATI book from cover to cover, which helped me to know how to prioritize and delegate. I'm glad I didn't spend the $$ on Kaplan (although some of my friends took it and still passed NCLEX, I think my other review materials were sufficient - and cheaper!!) I passed my ATI exam with 75 questions.

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Specializes in hospice, pediatrics, substance abuse.

I had both books and can say that although I preferred Saunders for reviewing what I knew & what my weak areas were, I don't feel that either one REALLY prepared me for the real thing (which I took today & I am still reeling from it)!

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Kaplan is harder and trickier than NCLEX while Saunders is wayyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy easier than NCLEX. So if you're gonna practice questions, never use Saunders. For practicing questions, use Kaplan because it is harder or use Exam Cram because it is very similar to NCLEX. For reviewing the content, it's good to use Saunders but I don't think it's the best because there are too many information that you don't need. You don't have to know all, you just have to know what's important.

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Specializes in L & D, Med-Surge, Dialysis.

Both are good review book

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Im primarily using Saunders and NCSBN for supplemental. I think questions wise, I would go with Saunders because of the good rationales and extent they go into explaining. Kaplan? I heard alot and just didnt have the money for it. A lot of my peers are using it and seems to work. We'll see.

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