Dissappointed with Kaplan

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Specializes in Critical Care.

Just want to give students a heads up on my experience. I am a new graduate nurse who is currently enrolled in a Kaplan in person prep course. I have used many resources up until this point to prepare for NCLEX- Saunders, LaCharity, Uworld, and different study guides.

While Kaplan offers a NCLEX guarantee, you must be aware that certain criteria must be met, for example, you have to attend 100% of the classes either online or in person. Also, you must complete all question trainers and complete over 90% of their Q bank which consists of 1300 questions.

Keep in mind, the price tag for the Kaplan course comes in just shy of $500. They offer ZERO in class content review. While in class, you just go over question after question, averaging about 100 or so questions a day. They do offer an E-book as review which comes as part of your $500 course. I do realize many students LOVE Kaplan, and there were many students in my class who really enjoyed it and felt it was worth the investment. I am not one of them.

On a positive note, I really liked and enjoyed the Kaplan instructor. He was great. However, the Kaplan course setup and real lack of customer service is what has me down on Kaplan. They leave any and all content review completely up to the student, a fact I did not realize until after I made my investment. The emphasis is less on the rationale and more on the approach to the question.

I left my Kaplan course feeling like a very slightly better test taker but my content knowledge increased minimally. I do truly believe I will pass NCLEX here in a few weeks. However, I feel Kaplan will have no influence on the result.

Good luck to everyone who is in my shoes- and choose your NCLEX preparations wisely.

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Goodluck to you friend. I went with the Hurst Review. I really liked it and think it will help. I'll be taking my nclex in a few weeks. Here's to hoping we both pass! :)

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Specializes in Nursing Management.

I did Kaplan and just took my nclex this past Saturday. The nclex was not difficult at all. You review content by reading the rationales to the questions you have answered. I studied maybe an hour every other day and passed. It's not as hard as people make it out to be.

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Kaplan is known to be a strong program for those who need strategizing help, prioritization, application of knowledge ('outside the box' critical thinking). It has NEVER been known as a strong content review. Their claim to fame is not as a review of an individual's nursing curriculum, but rather as a study process to help hone the application skills one needs in order to pass the NCLEX. They approach it as though you already learned the content in school, so focus on what to do with that education when facing the test.

For those who want content-based, knowledge-based programs, Hurst is highly approved; for those who seek what I referenced in the first paragraph, it's Kaplan.

They actually did for you exactly what they are known/praised for: application of knowledge already understood. Unfortunately you didn't know that at the time you bought the program. Maybe your post will help by warning others who are weak in content to choose something other than Kaplan.

Good luck to you!

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I felt the same about Kaplan, and additionally felt that the rationales for the questions were sometimes to vague and lacking in detail. I found that to be frustrating.

But when I sat for the NCLEX I felt it was easier than some of the Kaplan tests, and many of the questions were similar. There were even a couple that were almost the same question I had seen in Kaplan. I passed in 75 questions on my first attempt. :-)

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Oh, and I took the online course. Cheaper, more flexible and I could fast forward through the most tedious sections. ;-)

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Specializes in CNA, RNA , CHHA.

I had 2 free live reviews, strategies?every book has it before you read it, 500$ it is too much

and all I did i bought a Kaplan Qbank ,just for more questions,nclex mastrery , Lippincott , La Charity,nscbn just questions,and couple free apps,Saunders I did tons of Qbanks .

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I didn't like my Kaplan review course either. We took it three months before graduation which meant it helped even less for me haha. I completed everything at that time and did not use it again after I passed my Kaplan exit exam the month before graduation. I used Lacharity and Hurst to study for the NCLEX-RN and passed on the first try with 75 questions. I thought Kaplan was MUCH harder than the NCLEX. I am just thankful to be done with the NCLEX and Kaplan forever :laugh:

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