Anyone Pass Nclex-RN studying 3 wks or less?

JoniL&DRN · Jan 1, 2008

Well on my instructors suggestion I am taking the test without studying at all. She told me prior to graduation (after looking at my ATI etc.) that her best advice to me, and she hoped I would take it, would be this... (and I quote) " Don't study for boards. Just make your appt. and test ASAP. Looking at your scores there is no way you are going to fail". I wasn't going to take her advice because lets face it that's ridiculous and was planning to study for the month of January and test on the 23rd but after considering I thought that she might have a point. So I rescheduled and tomorrow it is. At this point I don't know if my school has sent in transcripts though so I might be waiting for results here in CA where we don't do quick results.

I am terrified. :uhoh21:

labcat01, BSN, RN · Jan 1, 2008

That is pretty much what my instructors told me given my HESI score. I'm taking it in 10 days and i'm terrified!!! I'm having a baby in a month so if I don't pass this first time it is going to be an uphill battle until I get my license.

Good luck!!

Nazarite · Jan 1, 2008

Well, I was a very average student in nursing school...always barely passing, and flunked one semester after hurricane katrina hit...anyway, i graduated may '07, took 6 months off, scheduled my test for nov. 12th, did some questions out of one book during my free time about a month prior, (very informal, not really studying, more like reading trivial pursuit questions, an REA flashcards in a book), then five days prior to my test I took the saunder's exam on the cd of only the content laid out in detailed test plan, ie client needs, health promotion, etc.....identified each subject that i scored 70% or less in, and then only studied those subjects, where my deficits were, paying particular attention to ALL rationales, even the one's i got right....after covering those deficits a day or two prior to the test, i retook the exam on saunders and had improved my deficits to at least an 80% passing rate.......

i took one day to get back up to par on my dosage cal. and a part of a day to memorize the basic lab values identified in the detailed test plan.....did not study the night before my test, but did kind of skim the subjects of my deficits enroute to the test....i passed my nclex....first try...i'm not a genius, i don't have superior test taking skills, i guess the one thing i am good at is the ability to critically think...and i think that is a part of what made the difference...to me the questions on nclex were much harder than those during school, that test apparently has the ability to very quickly identify your deficits and seems to zoom in on them and i literally felt like i had to pick each question apart as far as what it was asking and what each option was....i got a ton of sata, about 3 or 4 dos. cal.....my test stopped somewhere around 127.....afterwards i felt like i had been hit by a mack truck...lol..very draining....

this forum is a GREAT resource to just read and get moral support from others who are going through the same thing....

the way i studied i do not recommend to anyone...it was a gamble on my part, but i guess my thought was, A) i am not going review all of nursing school, that is just too much and a ridiculous unachievable goal, and B) post-nclex after i found out i passed i realized what i learned in school, i really LEARNED it, i didn't just memorize it, although at the time I thought I did just memorize it...and i believe that is a testament to the teaching skills of the excellent instructors i had, (yes, even the B&%$ches.....i learned from them too!!) and please keep in mind, I was in my last semester when hurricane katrina hit in '05...i lost everything i owned, i flunked that semester literally by 2 questions on the final, I took a year off, came back spring 07, graduated, took another 6 months off...so i literally had Years between semesters 1, 2, 3 and when I finally took the Nclex......I guess now I'm bragging, but I am proud nonetheless my school has a 99 percent Nclex pass rate, so it truly is a testament to the instruction given.....

sighs...should do a commercial for them, haha....

anyway, i'm being long winded...it is 'possible'....but yet it is a gamble...but then life is a gamble...and so anyway that is my 2 cents on this subject.... Nazarite, RN(and still in disbelief;))

Megsd, BSN, RN · Jan 1, 2008

I graduated on Nov. 17th, and had my whole family to entertain the whole weekend. The Monday after graduation, I got a puppy, which consumed a good chunk of my time. Then we had Thanksgiving and more out of town relatives, and then we went to California for a week. So to make a long story short there, I had a good 3 weeks I "could" have studied, but didn't.

I got my ATT by email on December 5th, while I was in California, and I scheduled my exam online for December 26th. I got back to town on the 8th, so I had about 2.5 weeks to study. I bought Saunders Comprehensive Review and basically did the first step in Suzanne's plan (I budgeted 5 chapters per day to finish the whole book 2 days before testing), I did practice questions every day, and I passed with 75 questions.

So yes, it's possible to pass by studying for less than 3 weeks. I got over 1000 on the HESI and I was a good student (only 1 B the whole time), and I'm glad I didn't wait any longer to take the exam. I think the waiting would have killed me. :) Good luck!

Leilah75_RN · Jan 1, 2008

I waited 1 year before I have taken my 3rd nclex. I have not studied well within that year (half an hour 2-3 times aweek or 2-3 times in a month) plus all the chaos that 2007 has brought in my family. I studied full time only 4-5 days before the actual nclex test. I guess, I was lucky to pass the test. And gave me that lucky shot before 2007 ended and it was the greatest christmas gift i have received so far apart from having a wonderful husband and kids.

NoWaNrN, ASN, RN · Jan 1, 2008

I graduated on the 13th and tested on the 17 and passed.

Diary/Dairy, RN · Jan 1, 2008

I studied the day before and that was it. I passed with 75 questions.

rmfrier · Jan 2, 2008

I graduated December 13th with a HESI score of 1031, took Kaplan the week before Christmas, took NCLEX December 26th and found out that I passed on December 27th. I stopped around 103 and I too got a lot of select all that apply. Those are just nasty things. I felt horrible when I came out of there, was literally sick the rest of the day. This site is a great source for support. Just remember that 85% of the people that take NCLEX pass so that is a pretty good number if you are into statistics. I did about 2500 NCLEX questions before and learned the material that I was weak in that way. Good luck and keep us posted!

Achoo!, LPN · Jan 2, 2008

I took off for the holidays, and scheduled for Jan 8th. I'll only be studying for a week or so. As others have said, I scored high on ATI so was told I'd have no problems passing. I am doing about 200 practice questions a day. Guess we'll see how I do next week!

Born2bRN · Jan 2, 2008

Well, before I took NCLEX the first time, I worked with a male Nurse. He was a lawyer for some years and decided to switch to Nursing. He told me that he never touched a reveiw book. Once he scheduled his test, he went on vacation, came back, and just tested. That just amazed me.

I did have a company come to my school and test us, but it wasn't ATI or Hesi like everyone else described. I did well on that. I just think critical thinking is key to success on the nclex. You can study 3500 questions, but if you don't know the strategies or critical thinking, it won't help one bit.

~K~

JoniL&DRN · Jan 3, 2008

Took my NCLEX today (graduated 12/16). Did not study at all.

I'll let you know :uhoh3:

(75 questions.. in and out under an hour)