NCLEX RN and Kaplan

Nursing Students NCLEX

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First off, I'm writing this because when I was studying for NCLEX I searched and searched for positive threads to make me believe there was HOPE to pass on the first try! I did find some, and I told myself if I did end up passing on the first try I would come on here and write about it. SO... Here I am :)

I ended up using Kaplan's in class review to help prepare me for NCLEX. I took Kaplan a week after graduation and spent a good two and a half weeks secluded in my room with NO social life doing question after question. I was so burnt out and felt doomed. It was brutal and honestly felt like there was NO hope in the beginning of me passing on my first try. My scores were awful and I was crying after each exam, but I kept pushing myself to keep going (not like I really had a choice). A couple of days before I tested I was at my breaking point and I gave it all to God to determine my outcome. I ended up testing today and found out later this afternoon that I had passed in 75 questions. Never in a million years did I EVER believe I could walk in to take the NCLEX and pass in 75 questions. I walked out of the testing center assured that I had absolutely and miserably failed. (Which apparently is... normal?)

The main point of this whole post was meant to tell all who are searching for it... DON'T GIVE UP! You CAN do this! You have the knowledge, tools and capability of walking into that testing center and ROCKING it! Yes you will have to put in the time, but it will be so worth it once you can put those two letters "RN" behind your name. I mean c'mon, we didn't survive nursing school for nothing! All you ladies and gents out there... KEEP PUSHING FORWARD!!! You CAN do it!

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Specializes in Medical and general practice now LTC.

Moved to the NCLEX forum

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Thank you so much for your positive post! I take the exam the 25th and your post sounds very relatable to my experience so far. I took a Kaplan course for a week after graduation and have been nonstop studying for over a month. If you don't mind me asking, what were your QT and Qbank scores like? I know Kaplan recommends over 60% and I am in that ballpark. I was just curious! Thanks

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Thank you so much for your positive post! I take the exam the 25th and your post sounds very relatable to my experience so far. I took a Kaplan course for a week after graduation and have been nonstop studying for over a month. If you don't mind me asking, what were your QT and Qbank scores like? I know Kaplan recommends over 60% and I am in that ballpark. I was just curious! Thanks

No not at all! I started off pretty low on my Qbanks and my trainers. I didn't really see any REAL improvement until the 6th and 7th trainer. I ended with a 61% cumulative on my Qbanks. They ranged anywhere from low 50's to high 70's. Have you had a chance to take all your trainers yet? I don't know if you have the same problem as me, but I am TERRIBLE at select all that apply so I devoted some time to really figuring out how to conquer those (sample 4 and the alternate quiz they offer). You are going to do AMAZING! I felt like Kaplan prepared me SO well!

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I have taken all QTrainer's except 6 & 7! I did pretty poorly on the first 3 question trainers, as it was all content review. After doing content review (especially pharm) I noticed increasing scores, especially on my Qbank's. However, I feel like I spent too much time on content review and not enough on spending time on the Qbank, which is starting to scare me.

My QT 4 was a 55% and my QT 4 was a 59%. I feel like I'm so close to feeling comfortable to take the exam, but not quite there yet. All of my Qbank scores have been a 57% or above, for some reason I am doing a lot better on those!

I am not good at SATA's either so that is great advice!

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I have taken all QTrainer's except 6 & 7! I did pretty poorly on the first 3 question trainers, as it was all content review. After doing content review (especially pharm) I noticed increasing scores, especially on my Qbank's. However, I feel like I spent too much time on content review and not enough on spending time on the Qbank, which is starting to scare me.

My QT 4 was a 55% and my QT 4 was a 59%. I feel like I'm so close to feeling comfortable to take the exam, but not quite there yet. All of my Qbank scores have been a 57% or above, for some reason I am doing a lot better on those!

I am not good at SATA's either so that is great advice!

On 4 I got a 56 and on 5 I got a 60 so you are right where I was sitting! I felt nervous doing content review too, but I was so glad when I spent the time to really look over pharm and my other weak areas. I chose my really weak topics and tried to enhance on them as best as I could. I wrote out the drug classifications and tried to remember that way. I feel like you are right where you should be! I would say practice the select all that apply questions before trainer 6 & 7 because I felt like there were quite a few on there and it might help you better determine where you're really at!

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That is great advice, thank you so much for being so helpful! I am glad to hear that I am on track to where I should be prior to taking this. Congrats on passing your NCLEX, I hope that I will be able to say the same thing in just over a week!

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You can DO it!! It'll feel so good!! Come back and comment so I can hear the good news! :)

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