Alrighty, grab a snack and take a seat, fellow nurses and nurses-to-be, lemme tell you a somewhat-lengthy story from my very recent life.
First off, some background information from me: I studied with ATI during school (it's what my school used during the nursing program), and Kaplan. Also, I'm a huge procrastinator (you're probably thinking, "what does that have to do with anything?"). And I passed the NCLEX with 158 questions - just got the official letter yesterday~
So, continuing on -
I took the Kaplan review during the last week of May, and didn't sign up for a testing date til a few weeks later. During my Kaplan review, I slacked, and didn't take the QT 1-3 like they said, cos it was both simultaneously "I don't know when my test date is, so I'll save it til then" and "I don't want to take these, I'll do them later". When I did sign up and had an official testing date of 7/22, I only really started to study around 3 weeks before my exam, taking 78% of the QB with an average score of 61%, and all of the QT tests, for the following scores:
Diagnostic: 61%
QT1: 49% (okay, I admit, I did rush through this one)
QT2: 55%
QT3: 52%
QT4: 57%
QT5: 61%
QT6: 55%
QT7: 54%
Readiness: 51%
During those 3 weeks, I used my ATI review books, and watched content videos in the areas I knew I was weak in.
Around 5 days before my exam, when I took QT7 and got my 54%, I started to get really anxious about my exam. I started to feel the burnout from studying and started to freak out that I wasn't feeling ready. About 7 times, I seriously contemplated between "I NEED TO RESCHEDULE I AM NOWHERE NEAR READY" and "Man, I should just get it over with". After feeling conflicted, I set my mind on, "I'm taking it on 7/22 and nothing is stopping me."
I didn't study 3 days prior to the testing date, seeing that I felt it was useless to try and cram anything in those last three days. I followed what Kaplan said, and just treated myself - I slept over at my college friends' apartments, had dinner with them, marathoned TV shows, doing normal summer-esque things, and just enjoying myself before judgement day, haha.
On the day of my NCLEX exam, I woke up early, took a shower, got there at 7:20AM. I had been praying to God several times during the previous week, and prayed all the way to the exam check-in room. Once I got seated in from of the daunting computer, I took a deep breath, and dove right in.
The questions and formatting were highly similar to Kaplan's, even having the calculator on the upper left-hand corner, and the questions were definitely high level-of-thinking. And lemme tell you, it is very difficult to keep that calm demeanor. You will second guess yourself over and over, and you will definitely feel restless, wondering where the test will cut you off.
Around 2 hours in, I got cut off at the 158 mark. And, wow, the sense of "I failed, I definitely failed" filled my entire being like no other at that point. I felt restless for the next 2 days, waiting for Quick Results to be ready. I didn't want to talk about the test with anyone but my other friends who took it.
About 2 days after, I contemplated seeing the quick results, but being a recent college graduate and not wanting to spend any kind of money above $5, I attempted to do the infamous PearsonVue Popup Trick. And I got no pop-up. It seemed like I could sign up again.
And that's when the grandest feeling of "Oh my gosh, I am the ultimate failure" sank into my mind. But I quickly thought, "Just hold up, it's called a trick for a good reason. I shouldn't believe in lowly stuff like that." So, I went to the PearsonVue website, saw that Quick Results were ready, paid the 7-whatever-how-much-dollars, clicked through, and...and there it was.
Right there, on the glaring screen, in 4 letters: "Pass"
And you couldn't believe how quickly my mind shot into the stars.
It took a while to absorb this information in, but once it did, I quickly ran around my house, yelled in excitement, called my parents, and flipped out for the rest of the day! And the following day, I got the official letter, saying the same great 4-lettered word of "Pass", and relived the running and the yelling! My parents treated me out to my favorite restaurant that night, even got some Rumchatta as well, haha~
So, moral of the story: Don't believe in that stupid Pearson Vue pop-up trick! It guarantees NOTHING. Just wait for, at the very least, quick results, and that letter. And, really, just believe in yourself! Sounds very cliche, but seriously, don't let assumptions get to you, and believe in yourself, cos you have this under control.
