Low-ish Kaplan scores; Passed NCLEX-RN in 75 questions

Hi all, so I recently sat for my NCLEX-RN (January 31st) and always told myself I'd come back to this site to share my prep story once I passed, mostly because this site always made me feel better when I was feeling a bit stressed from studying. So a little about me first, I graduated from a very good nursing program (95% pass rate for 1st try and higher for last 5 consecutive years), so needless to say I at least knew I was prepared well. However my school also used the kaplan nursing prep all throughout the program and for the nclex. Since I already had access to the kaplan information I continued using this for my studying for NCLEX. I did complete the kaplan program to 100% in case I didn't pass, I wanted to take advantage of their money back offer. I completed all question trainers and qbanks in the month leading up to my exam, as well as remediating EVERY QUESTION, RIGHT AND WRONG. I also kept a notebook with all my written rationales, as well as used my NCLEX content review book provided by kaplan to take notes while watching their content review videos. So if anyone is stressing currently, I wanted to give you some hope. I passed my NCLEX in 75 questions, I was never an above average student in school, and I studied very, very hard. My kaplan scores were also not the best but I wanted to share them with you to hopefully give you some encouragement.

Diagnostic: 55.6 (completed in final semester of nursing school)

Readiness: 67 (completed 1 week before my test)

Question trainers 1-7:

1: 44

2: 58.7

3: 53

4: 53.3

5: 65.3

6: 58

7: 63 (completed 1.5 weeks before my test; 265 questions)

Qbank 100% overall score: 58

Qbank sample tests 1-4:

1: 62

2: 64

3: 80 (all priority questions)

4: 30 (all alternate format questions)

Total questions completed in month leading up to nclex: 2,045

As you can see I never made amazing scores with kaplan, but I maintained an average around 58-62ish, especially towards the end of my studying and week before my test. Kaplan tells you to aim for 60 and above on most of their tests, and I truly believe this to be true now that I have set for nclex and passed. However if you don't hit that 60 average, do not panic, I promise good things are still possible, Ive known plenty of people to pass with scores in the 50s the majority of the time (aka me). After taking nclex, I now realize kaplan is much harder than the actual test. The biggest advice I have is to practice as many questions as you can and really focus on the rationales, that is what will truly help you understand the questions and why your answer is right or wrong. Lastly, just remember you can do this and you will prevail!! Hoping this gives a struggling nursing graduate some confidence, just as this site did for me.

Nicole BSN, RN