low scores with Kaplan, passed with 75 on first try NCLEX!

Students NCLEX

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  1. KAPLAN or UWORLD

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To any future RNs out thereeee, this is a (LONG) thread to remain hopeful/have faith when preparing for the NCLEX!

First, I was an average B student with 3.4 GPA in nursing school, usually procrastinate until the last minute to study for an exam..

anyway I scheduled my NCLEX on 8/15 and I studied straight for about 3-4 weeks.

I graduated in May and I originally planned to study in June so that I can give myself 2 months to study, but that did not work out well since I got distracted by going out/enjoying summer vacation time.:roflmao:

I began studying in mid-July. I studied about 5-6 days a week ranging anywhere from 5 to 8 hours per day.

My plan was to read through the ENTIRE book of Saunders and LaCharity...DON'T DO IT.

Insteaddd, do AS MUCH KAPLAN/UWORLD (whichever one you use) PROBLEMS AS YOU CANN. Use Saunders as a reference to any topic you're not familiar with..and as for LaCharity..if you practice lots of questions, you'll begin to see a pattern in how the answer choices usually have 3 "potential" issues and 1 "ACTUAL" issues...and after process of elimination, that is usually the correct answer.

After learning the Kaplan test taking strategies through countless practices, you'll get a hold of the testing style and eliminate all the wrong choices.

As a result I only ended up doing one chapter of LaCharity. I also bought a 300 flashcard for medications but never got pass the first 100..

General rule: LIMIT/REMAIN FOCUSED ON 1-2 RESOURCES!

I mainly used Kaplan because the questions are very challenging, as well as intimidating since I only scored 45 to low 60s on my QBanks. Don't be discouraged! Just do the questions & ignore how much you score, read each and every rationale even if you got it right, write down notes, and review them everyday!

UWORLD is a great resource to review content since it provides detailed explanation for each questions; the multiple choice is not as challenging as Kaplan but the SATAs are very helpful.

My scores for the trainers&readiness tests are as followss:

1: 48% - done in June..totally not in the game yet.:madface:

2: 46.7% - done in beginning of July (as a pitiful attempt to actually begin studying and refrain from going out..:unsure:)

3: 54% - when I actually started studying everyday mid-July LOL:cheeky:

4: 58.7%

5: 58%

6: 47.5%

7: 58.5%

Practice Test: 60%

Readiness: 66.1% - taken 8/9, 1 week before my actual exam.

&for my 2 practice/readiness test in UWorld, I only scored a high 50s....

THE DAY BEFORE THE EXAM

DO NOT STUDY OR TOUCH ANYTHING RELATED TO THE NCLEX!!!!!

annnnnd that's exactly what I did not do.. I was super nervous and jumpy and I studied for 4 hours, going over all the notes I wrote in my notebook

DAY OF EXAM

I scheduled my test at 1PM. I did 5 questions on Kaplan website to get myself started in thinking in "NCLEX" mode.

Throughout the entire test I had a feeling of impending doom:cry:

75 questions took me 2.5 hours to complete since I kept getting torn between answer choices and getting stuck on SATAs.

when the computer stopped at 75..I thought I failed miserably because it felt like I was not sure about even one single question. I even had couple "basic" recall questions and I panicked because I thought these "easy" questions means I am below the passing line....

I had about 10 SATA, 1 put in order, 1 hot spot, and probably 5-6 recall questions.

& I felt like most of them had nothing related to what I studied about for the past month.

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After the exam, I went home and stayed in my room while trying to compose myself in front of my family so I don't breakdown in front of them (I almost did when my mom asked why I only had 75 questions:arghh:)

I was about to try the Pearson vue trick everyone was talking about but I didn't since it could be wrong and give me the wrong message/hope.

I waited for the looonnngestttt 48 hours to check my result on Breeze & found my license number when i typed in my name to search!!!!!

I actually checked it multiple times throughout the day just to make sure the Board of Nursing did not make a mistake because it felt like suchhh a miracle that I passed!!

Turns out that the NCLEX is actually doable even for a not-very-bright-student like me!:)

Final Tips:

- BREATHE during the NCLEX..it is not the end of the world, focus on the "here and now" *hint hint*

- DO NOT STUDY ON THE DAY BEFORE YOUR EXAM..I REPEAT DO NOT.

- Balance your study time with friends and family. I am lucky to have such supportive friends and family who tolerated me throughout this stressful times. During the 48 hours waiting for my result, I realized how important it is to look at the bigger picture and told myself that if it is meant to be for me to become a nurse, it will be okay. Worse comes to worse, I will just take another break and get back in the game.

Thanks for reading through the long post, hope this helped you all in calming the nervessss. BEST OF LUCK TO EVERYONE!:cat:

Specializes in Progressive Care, Sub-Acute, Hospice, Geriatrics.

Congrats!!

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