RN Format and got 205 questions - What's Up with That?

No one is predetermined to take a certain number of questions. The NCLEX shuts off when it determines you are competent or not.

I had to take all 265. Some people are predetermined to have to take the full 265, and according to one of my instructors I talked to afterwards said that I was one of those lucky few that do and that it had nothing to do with if I was boderline or not. Thank goodness, I know that it can be nerve racking but stick in there im sure you did fine!

That's a myth.

Everybody gets as many questions as the computer needs to determine pass/fail.

May I ask how you know it's a myth?

https://www.ncsbn.org/1223.htm

The number of questions you answered is an indication of how close you were to the passing standard. Only those candidates whose performance was close to the passing standard had to answer the maximum number of questions (265 for NCLEX-RN; 205 for NCLEX-PN). For candidates whose performance was further away from the passing standard, fewer items were required before a confident pass or fail decision could be made.

https://www.ncsbn.org/1216.htm

It's the basis of CAT. You get questions purely based on performance.

When your ability is very close to the passing standard, the computer continues to give you items until the maximum number of items is reached. At this point, the computer disregards the 95% confidence rule and decides whether you pass or fail by your final ability estimate.

• If your final ability estimate is above the passing standard, you pass.
  
• If your final ability is at or below the passing standard, you fail.
  

Strange then why our Dean of Nursing who writes questions for the NCLEX and is the President for the State Board of Nursing would tell us such things.

There's nothing wrong with going to 265 questions. It's just that the basis on which CAT was developed doesn't allow for certain people to be predetermined for certain numbers of questions. The next question is selected purely on the basis of how you answer the question before it.

Maybe you misunderstood what she was saying. A good friend of mine took the max # of questions and he is an excellent nurse. At the end of the day, the # of questions you got on the NCLEX is meaningless.

Good luck i hope you would be able to try the PVT soon..Keep us posted:)

Maybe you misunderstood what she was saying. A good friend of mine took the max # of questions and he is an excellent nurse. At the end of the day, the # of questions you got on the NCLEX is meaningless.

Nope, she told us this multiple times throughout nursing school.

I graduated in 2006 and my instructors said the samething that your dean told you. They said it was random and that some people would take the entire test. I REALLY don't know how true it is and of course the website wouldn't publish such a thing. I did have some classmates who took the whole 265. I had 77 so I wasn't worried. Check your state board website under verify license and you might be able to see your lic. number. Good Luck

The test is random. You have no idea what you will be tested on. Some have a lot of math, some have no math. You may have pictures or not. Some people get a lot of SATA others don't. You can have 75 questions or 265 questions or anywhere in between. However, that number is only determined based on how well you do, not a predetermined number.