ATI Virtual Review

Thank you! I am determined to get this done! ^_^

I just graduated from my nursing program on Friday who also provides us with the virtual ATI NCLEX prep. After starting in the virtual classroom and getting used to the system, there are some definite things you should be made aware of before you begin. For one thing, I don't see how it would take somebody only 2-3 hours a day to get through the MASSIVE amount of content that is on the website. I don't think that ATI funnels there material very well, or at least to my taste. Secondly, the material and the videos are fairly dry and sometimes difficult to read, so be prepared to spend a little extra time on that as well. Third, so far I have found several inconsistencies between the content featured in the learning activities and the assessments. Be aware that some of the lab values and electrolyte ranges may not match the standards the NCLEX uses (though most of these types of numbers vary everywhere you go, from facility to facility). The ATI also does not offer a day-by-day schedule of what you should be studying. They simply state on their study plans that you should prepare each week using the learning activities and DVDs for particular sections.

Anyways, all of that said, you're going to have to study something in order to prepare. The ATI is free to you, so it may be a little bit more attractive of a system than paying $300-$500 for courses like Hurst or Kaplan. If I had the money, I would go with one of those systems honestly. Do whatever it takes to pass and be diligent, I just wanted to add perspective to this thread from someone who is currently struggling through this material.

Best of luck to you!

I used Virtual ATI and I passed NCLEX. I can tell you that I was signed up for the 6 week program and I took my NCLEX before the 6 weeks was up. That being said, I devoted more than 2-3 hours a day, so sometimes I was doing a new test every day (when my instructor would send me the codes....)

I did more than just ATI for studying as well.

And fyi, my school used ATI, too, but Virtual ATI is NOT free... It's $250.

VATI is included in our school tuition cost...ya its $250. My coach gave me the same assessment codes over and over again. I studied for NCLEX and only did VATI assessment, PowerPoints and vids and failed. I studied 2-3 hours and did bunch of assessments.

2nd time around, I'm doing saundars and exam cram alone without VATI coach. I told her I didn't pass and she has not gave me any code or any schedule or emailed me anything. VATI recd my money!

I agree with VATI was not good for me, maybe others like it.

Mattman70000, I agree with you.

If anyone finds this board I guess it's important to report the other side of the discussion as well. That being said I took a 75 question board exam in 60 minutes and passed. During the course of my ADN program I paid almost $1K to ATI because it was required and did assessments for the duration of the program. I was lucky enough to receive VATI free of charge via a lottery done by my school when we graduated.

My Tutor set me up on a 5 week schedule and I tested almost exactly 5 weeks after I graduated. My Tutor provided by assessment codes and offered individual assignments based on my assessment scores. She also tailored the difficulty of my assessments based on my performance. This was great because I had some tough quesetions on my board and thanks to VATI I didn't lose my mind when those questions popped up. I did not use the videos or Powerpoints in the classroom. The assessments were most important to me and the best way for me to prepare.

To the comment on conflicting data: we also did a Live ATI review a week after our Final exams ($50). That ATI Instructor commented on the conflicting ATI questions and said that ATI utilizes a number of "question writers" and that is what causes the variation most of the time. If something was way off, I notified my VATI tutor so that she could report it as necessary.

If I had to pay $250 to ATI for VATI I wouldn't have done it because, well nursing school pretty much broke the bank, but it was free. Had I had the $250 to spend, the assessments in VATI were WELL worth the money.

I have no experience with Hurst, Saunders, or Kaplan so I can't compare. The Hogan Reviews and Rationales was a textbook in our program and I found those questions exceedingly easy, especially compared to what my board was like.

If you devote more time to it you can finish in about 3 weeks

VATI is a joke. The content is not funneled in a concise manner and you have to go to numerous sites to do VATI then go back to ATI for testing. You cannot take test questions daily and study like Kaplan or hurst. It is now $300 and extra if you want to go to a live review. The codes are only given to you once for each section to test and then that's it. I asked for a refund after finding that it did not match what was conveyed in class to us and what we received. They completely ignored that and kept stressing their pass rates and trying to say how amazing they are. I am still fighting with them but spoke in length with hurst and Kaplan and felt better about them than VATI. Don't go with VATI they are a rip off.

Only Use ATI if it's free. The support is terrible. Coaches often do not reply the same day, are off and weekends and do not want you to go forward with remediation (they give you remediation despite your score, usually just 4 questions if you score well). In some cases rude or uncaring (you will have to redo study modules if it has been over three weeks since you have done them). Bottom line- terrible program and purchase another for a back up. Colleges are leaving this company for good reason. One of the other College instructors recommended Kaplan. I hope this helps!

Agreed... It's a waste of time, just choose another program.