by cecipun

Updated Jul 04, 2009 at 05:05 AM by cecipun

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

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

THANKS A LOT EVERYONE

Re: Kaplan or Saunders?

Saunders too much information,,,hard to remember all but its good
Kaplan good for strategies,,,,like which pt nurse will see first,,,u can answer easily after reading kaplan and much more....kaplan has only 160 pages to read u can finish in 3 to 4 days easily
Exam cram also one of the best

I will recommeded these 3 books......

Re: Kaplan or Saunders?

I'm doing Saunders myself haha. I've heard mixed reviews. A good number of people say that the NCLEX is like Kaplan, some say Saunders prepared them just fine, and others say that the NCLEX was on a whole new level of a dark place. I really think it's up to the person. I'm doing the Saunders Comprehensive review, and the Kaplan strategy book(highly recommended by people here...plus it comes with practice questions and 2 practice tests and only cost $25 at Borders). I think some people said that Lippincott was similar to the NCLEX too, but I'd like to hear some more from others as well

Re: Kaplan or Saunders?

The nclex is nothing like Saunders questions. Saunders in my opinion, is good for contents. You can do the questions to reinforce what you know and review each rationale. I guess it cannot hurt. But if you want to prepare for the real nclex questions, I would get another book too as a way to be familiar with the nclex style questions. Kaplan is good for strategies and also for the type of questions you may see on the nclex. Kaplan questions are more application and analysis, which you need to know in order to pass the nclex. Knowledge based and comprehension will not help you pass the board.

Re: Kaplan or Saunders?

I noticed that the format ( priority questions, drug reactions, etc.) of the NCLEX questions were closer to Kaplan. I used both Saunders and Kaplan. I obtained more detailed information from Saunders. For me, Saunders' rationales were clearer. Saunders allowed me to grasp the concept of various topics (especially in my weak areas). Kaplan is all about stratagy! Hope this helps.

Re: Kaplan or Saunders?

Many are successful using the Saunders book. However, you can be successful using any resource as long as you put forth a good effort and learn the material. If you understand the concepts, then you should be able to answer questions no matter how they are worded. Continue to answer questions and study the rationales. You also might want to consider looking at the Prioritization book by Linda LaCharity. Good luck.

Re: Kaplan or Saunders?

Kaplen per everyone at my school.

Re: Kaplan or Saunders?

Both are good. I passed on Kaplan and my friend passed on Saunders. I think the key is to study...make a plan. Know your weaknesses so that you can focus on them.

Re: Kaplan or Saunders?

I think the NCLEX exam is more on decision making and critical thinking and for sure you wont have one unless you have the knowldege...I used kaplan,saunders,ncsbn, and exam cram on prepairing for the exam...among the four, id say id prefere exam cram coz as the title implies its good for cramming and with this comes a simplified review of the content...saunders - a bit easy but it will promote confidence which you will need on the test...kaplan - challenging,id suggest that youd take not of the rationales and write them down specially those which you think may appear on the exam...ncsbn - more like kaplan ...how you see things and which ones are working for you...to sum up id suggest that you begin with saunders since its easy and exam cram just to have the general feel on the questions...and when you are comfortable with the questions...try advancing to kaplan and ncsbn...you see i think the problem with others who are prepairing is that they go to kaplan first without brushing up on their knowledge which i think can be overwhelming and somehow daunting to those who dont have a lot, i think thats suicide...with this exam you need to plan things and the best way to deal with it is by starting with the basics,the more simple and easier task...this is what i think may help you go through with NCLEX...

Re: Kaplan or Saunders?

I studied with both Kaplan and Saunders. However, I focused more on Kaplan. For my weak areas (like Endocrine), I used Saunders to review. I would answer questions in Saunders on one area only, then go back to Kaplan. Once I finished every question in Kaplan, I moved on to Medspub and Lippincott and I applied the Kaplan methods.

I passed NCLEX with 75 questions, first try. And I will say I thought Kaplan was actually harder than NCLEX. And Kaplan was the closest to NCLEX as far as format goes.