Does Kaplan make you read into the answer on the NCLEX?

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I found out i failed my NCLEX RN this week and I am heartbroken. I am thinking about enrolling in the kaplan review (kaplan complete) which is 450 dollars. I was initially using saunders, but as most say, it was very easy and i did not find the nclex to be that easy. Therefore; now i want to do kaplan review. I heard that kaplan is harder than the nclex, and some ppl say that they actually failed even after the kaplan course, because they found themsevles reading into the question. I want to know from the ones who used kaplan and passed, .. is this myth true? Did you find yourself reading into the questions on the NCLEX exam after doing the kaplan review? I really dont want to read into the answer. Please help.

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Specializes in Psych ICU, addictions.
I waited until after my class was completely over, then tackled the Qbank and did all 1100 questions, ranging in 56-74% average, and an overall average of 56%. Kaplan wants you to get atleast a 60% on your Question Trainers 1-7 which are totally different than the Q bank. So, in reality, I've done close to 2000 questions, including the Question trainers and I have two more Question Trainers to go before my test date. Not to mention, my questions I've done in Medspub and Saunders.

I did Kaplan online--I followed the outline they had in the book. I watched all of the lectures while doing QTs 1-3, then the readiness test. Then since I was testing about 2-3 week after the end of "class", I did a QT every 3 days and 100-150 QBank questions on the other days. They tell you not to do more than 150 questions, but I do throw in some Saunders (not too many though, I keep the daily total under 200). I just put QT7 to bed (almost, I'm reviewing the answers right now) so it's just 6 more days of QBank questions to go.

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Specializes in Psych ICU, addictions.
i really liked how you gave the asthma example. That had me laught at some of the choices i used to pick as my answers, which obviously is reading into the answer. You are very right. I regret not doing kaplan the first time, i will definetly purchase kaplan, i need to sit down in a classroom where i can learn test taking strategies. Thank you for your advice.

That's one thing I learned pretty fast from Kaplan: just because a patient has a disease/problem/illness/etc., don't automatically assume their current condition is unstable.

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The Kaplan course I took was held over 2 weekends. Eight hour days on Saturday and Sunday for two weekends in a row. It helped me ALOT with test taking skills. I SUCKED at taking tests because I read too much in the question, and Kaplan teaches you not to do that. Also, you can take the Q bank questions at home on your own. I waited until after my class was completely over, then tackled the Qbank and did all 1100 questions, ranging in 56-74% average, and an overall average of 56%. Kaplan wants you to get atleast a 60% on your Question Trainers 1-7 which are totally different than the Q bank. So, in reality, I've done close to 2000 questions, including the Question trainers and I have two more Question Trainers to go before my test date. Not to mention, my questions I've done in Medspub and Saunders.

Everyone that I know from my class who took Kaplan has PASSED. There was one girl who failed Adult I class in nursing school, took Kaplan, and PASSED on the first try. It can be done!

my class isnt going to finish till august 2nd, and my exam is set for august 10th, therefore i think that i should start the questions before i finish with the class. the class starts in july 12, therefore; im thinking of purchasing kaplan by the 1st of july so i can access the qbank before class starts... i just hope that since i will not learn the decision tree until class has started, that i am able to answer qbank questions correctly..

i dont know if starting qbank before class is a good decision or not?

do the questions disappear once you do them? or can u do them over and over?

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my class isnt going to finish till august 2nd, and my exam is set for august 10th, therefore i think that i should start the questions before i finish with the class. the class starts in july 12, therefore; im thinking of purchasing kaplan by the 1st of july so i can access the qbank before class starts... i just hope that since i will not learn the decision tree until class has started, that i am able to answer qbank questions correctly..

i dont know if starting qbank before class is a good decision or not?

do the questions disappear once you do them? or can u do them over and over?

You can start using the Q bank questions before your class start. They wanted us to go over content before our actual class started. I just focused on the questions once I got out of class because you will spend 8 hours in class going over nothing but questions. The instructor will break each question down using the decision tree, Maslow's, expected vs unexpected outcomes, and the ABC's. Once I learned this concept, I went back to the Q bank and did nothing but questions using these methods.

Also, you can use the questions over and over again.

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You can start using the Q bank questions before your class start. They wanted us to go over content before our actual class started. I just focused on the questions once I got out of class because you will spend 8 hours in class going over nothing but questions. The instructor will break each question down using the decision tree, Maslow's, expected vs unexpected outcomes, and the ABC's. Once I learned this concept, I went back to the Q bank and did nothing but questions using these methods.

Also, you can use the questions over and over again.

thank you for your advice. i will brush up on content and then start the class. hope to pass this time around :)

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Specializes in Psych ICU, addictions.
my class isnt going to finish till august 2nd, and my exam is set for august 10th, therefore i think that i should start the questions before i finish with the class. the class starts in july 12, therefore; im thinking of purchasing kaplan by the 1st of july so i can access the qbank before class starts... i just hope that since i will not learn the decision tree until class has started, that i am able to answer qbank questions correctly..

i dont know if starting qbank before class is a good decision or not?

do the questions disappear once you do them? or can u do them over and over?

My understanding was that if you signed up for the classroom class, you could access the online content up to 28 days in advance of the class. So you should be able to go review the decision tree video before class begins.

You can do that QBank q's over and over.

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My understanding was that if you signed up for the classroom class, you could access the online content up to 28 days in advance of the class. So you should be able to go review the decision tree video before class begins.

You can do that QBank q's over and over.

very helpful to know, thank you .. im going to sign up today.

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Our Kaplan teacher yelled at us in class. After telling us to read the question, take it at face value and answer it. After the 100th question, someone blurted out "what if...." and she said "where does that say that in the question?, it doesn't... you are reading in to it" I did that when I took the nclex. Then the other mistake was I was using what I knew from work. Nclex is what the book would say, not real world. I liked the class it helped me.

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Specializes in Psych ICU, addictions.

Another helpful thing learned: don't automatically stop reading the answers when you come upon (what you think is) the right one. Read all the answers because there may be a better one behind the red herring.

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Another helpful thing learned: don't automatically stop reading the answers when you come upon (what you think is) the right one. Read all the answers because there may be a better one behind the red herring.

yes, very true indeed, thanks :)

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