so, my friends thought i was nuts when i was one of very few not to sign up for the kaplan review course (so expensive).
now that my "quiz" is less than two days away...i'm starting to agree!!! all this time i've been hoping that my performance and studies throughout nsg school would be enough to pass (luckily i'm a good test taker and was able to get all a's). and the more i hear about how much prep other people have done, the worse i feel!
i have done about 600 saunder practice q&a on the computer (wanna simulate the real deal!). that's it....no reading strategy books, just trial and error. i feel like there's too much stuff to be learning everything now!
:no:am i doomed????????
has anyone else passed with a similar story?
(i understand if people have no time to deal with my situational low self-esteem since they're good doobies studying for the nclex!!)
Good luck to all of you waiting for your results. I took the Kaplan course through school, it was required for graduation. At the end of the four day class I scored a 63% on the readiness test which I thought was pretty good considering I hadn't really started my studying.
I then completed Kaplan 100%. I took all Q-bank questions with a cummulative score of 59% and they recommend 60% on all the q-bank. I did all seven Question Trainers and on QT6 got a 66% and on QT7 got a 61%. So by all their indications I was "ready" to take the test.
I tested this past Tuesday, had 75 questions and....failed. I cannot explain the feeling especially failing with the minimum number of questions. I don't think any one study review is necessarily better than the others. Perhaps studying from a wide array of review books is the way to go rather than sticking to one. I am going to approach my 2nd attempt either giving Suzanne's plan a try (although I don't like the face of using just one source) or use many different books and cd's and thousands of questions paying close attention to the rationales.
I feel very inadequate at the moment. All my friends that graduated in December all passed with 75 questions and the two other classmates that took it in the past week or so, one passed with 75Q and the other passed with 265.
I already have re-registered with my BON by sending in the retest paperwork and the $15.00 check and re-registered with Pearson Vue and hoping that I will receive my ATT in the next week latest so I can figure out my time table to test again. I will say one word of advice...if your gut tells you that you are not feeling ready, change your date! I felt this way and did not change my date because all my nursing school instructors drilled into our heads to take the test as soon as possible! I don't believe that to be true. I wish I had studied at minimum 60 full days before testing, better yet possibly 3 months. So...if you feel that you may not be ready change your date.
Again, good luck to everyone who has tested and is waiting or is scheduled to test soon! I'm sure you'll all do great! :redpinkhe
Non-Kaplanite here. I took the NCLEX-PN w/85 questions and passed!
I'm a Saunders girl. I didn't do a whole lot of studying/questions during my time from graduation until taking the nclex. I would pop in the CD and do 85 question tests, (did well) and would read every single rationale for the correct answers, even the questions I got correct, I'd read WHY they were correct.
I have to add that although I didn't do a whole lot of questions each day in prep for the NCLEX after graduation, I did use Saunders as a study guide during my schooling. I'd do questions from the section of Saunders that was just lectured on and the test would be on. I did very well in school using that stragedy.
I did try a couple of other NCLEX test prep books w/CD's but I much preferred the Saunders :) Just my
I passed last month and didn't take Kaplan. Honestly I really didn't review too much at all. I did *some* questions, maybe 200 or so over the weekend before I tested. I used the Saunders review book for the questions I did.
This was my experience as well. I passed with 75Q's, found out yesterday. Did maybe 200 questions a few days before the test, took the test, KNEW that I failed it (like everyone else, apparently), had lots of SATA and med questions. But I passed. No Kaplan for me, I did take the Sylvia Rayfield course and it was ok.... Did a little bit from Saunders.... But after taking the NCLEX I really dont know what else I could have done to prepare more. It was just HARD.
Specializes in Family Medicine, Outpatient Pediatrics, IBCLC.
there is hope, i passed!!!!!! sorry, i fell of the allnurses planet for a bit. hehe 75q's, in about an hr. i actually felt pretty good about it. i was almost excited getting hard questions that i knew.
my words of wisdom: don't let people scare you. i had so many people tell me i made a mistake not doing a review course. i had people tell me i wasn't doing enough questions. my friend took it the day before me, and she called saying how awful it was. i had people getting me so freaked out about the exam!!!!!! i walked out going: that wasn't bad at all. i told a girl walking in that it's not as tough as everyone says it is. no, you're not going to get an a (you're really not supposed to) but it's really not that bad!!!
i think the best prep for the nclex is working hard through nsg school, gettign as many clinical experiences as possible, and just knowing some basic nclex test taking strategies. my world didn't stop when the nclex came around. i didn't devote an enormous amount of time to studying. but i did feel confident in my new "nursing brain."
have confidence and good luck!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
there is hope, i passed!!!!!! sorry, i fell of the allnurses planet for a bit. hehe 75q's, in about an hr. i actually felt pretty good about it. i was almost excited getting hard questions that i knew.
my words of wisdom: don't let people scare you. i had so many people tell me i made a mistake not doing a review course. i had people tell me i wasn't doing enough questions. my friend took it the day before me, and she called saying how awful it was. i had people getting me so freaked out about the exam!!!!!! i walked out going: that wasn't bad at all. i told a girl walking in that it's not as tough as everyone says it is. no, you're not going to get an a (you're really not supposed to) but it's really not that bad!!!
i think the best prep for the nclex is working hard through nsg school, gettign as many clinical experiences as possible, and just knowing some basic nclex test taking strategies. my world didn't stop when the nclex came around. i didn't devote an enormous amount of time to studying. but i did feel confident in my new "nursing brain."
have confidence and good luck!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
thank you so much for that. you have no idea how scare i am (i test on wednesday). yours words are exactly what i needed. i will continue to read saunders and re-read rationales.
Congrats LittleWing21. I didn't use Kaplan either. I just looked through the Saunders book and did some questions on the CD. I finished the NCLEX in 45 minutes and felt good about it. Later I thought I must have failed because the test seemed too easy. But I passed, and I must admit that I revel in the fact that I passed without taking Kaplan because it saved me hundreds of dollars.
I didn't use Kaplan either and I passed with 75 questions. I mostly used Saunders book and other study tools such as the NCSBN online course review, Lippincott book and the 3500 Nclex review software.
For all of you who are not using Kaplan don't feel like you are doomed to fail. Facts show that many people pass using Saunders and not Kaplan. It's all about confidence, study habit and perseverance.
Good luck to all of you who are testing soon and are not using Kaplan!!!
But to those who are wondering. I think I covered about every angle possible. Kaplan, Saunders, Mosbys, ATI and NCSBN. What helped while I was takng the test?? Saunders was great for content but I thought the practice questions were easy. Kaplan was harder but it trained me to answer and break down questions that I didn't know the answer to. My average on Kaplan was 71%. NCSBN was only $60, it was concise and the questions were almost as hard as Kaplan.
But the NCLEX was intense!! When it comes down to it... content knowledge and critical thinking skills is what you need.
Did I pass??...According to Suzanne I should know in 10-30 days because I'm in Cali...ahhh! Anticipation!!
when i was one of very few 
PennyNickelDime_RN
275 Posts
Good luck to all of you waiting for your results. I took the Kaplan course through school, it was required for graduation. At the end of the four day class I scored a 63% on the readiness test which I thought was pretty good considering I hadn't really started my studying.
I then completed Kaplan 100%. I took all Q-bank questions with a cummulative score of 59% and they recommend 60% on all the q-bank. I did all seven Question Trainers and on QT6 got a 66% and on QT7 got a 61%. So by all their indications I was "ready" to take the test.
I tested this past Tuesday, had 75 questions and....failed. I cannot explain the feeling especially failing with the minimum number of questions. I don't think any one study review is necessarily better than the others. Perhaps studying from a wide array of review books is the way to go rather than sticking to one. I am going to approach my 2nd attempt either giving Suzanne's plan a try (although I don't like the face of using just one source) or use many different books and cd's and thousands of questions paying close attention to the rationales.
I feel very inadequate at the moment. All my friends that graduated in December all passed with 75 questions and the two other classmates that took it in the past week or so, one passed with 75Q and the other passed with 265.
I already have re-registered with my BON by sending in the retest paperwork and the $15.00 check and re-registered with Pearson Vue and hoping that I will receive my ATT in the next week latest so I can figure out my time table to test again. I will say one word of advice...if your gut tells you that you are not feeling ready, change your date! I felt this way and did not change my date because all my nursing school instructors drilled into our heads to take the test as soon as possible! I don't believe that to be true. I wish I had studied at minimum 60 full days before testing, better yet possibly 3 months. So...if you feel that you may not be ready change your date.
Again, good luck to everyone who has tested and is waiting or is scheduled to test soon! I'm sure you'll all do great! :redpinkhe