Failed NCLEX with Kaplan..bummed

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I was so confident going into this test today! I scored a 66 on readiness, my scores were all in the upper 50's to mid 60's and I felt ready. I walked in with a positive attitude and read to go...but that's not how it went. I got question after question of meds I have never seen before and had no idea what class they were in, a crap load of questions that i had no clue where to even go with them, and it seemed like the kaplan strategy didn't apply to any of them! I tried the decision tree, comma comma and, outcomes, do one thing and go home, and none of it helped!! I didn't get any questions that were similar to kaplan until i was shocked at a basic assessment question which triggered my knowledge of "oh my god..i have got to be sucking for them to ask me this!" I got all 265 ?'s and it took me 5.45 hours because i tried so hard to apply kaplans strategy. I loved Kaplan when I was studying it, I got the concepts and mastered the decision tree and felt really good about it. This was my second attempt and the same number of questions. Does anyone else have any good study tips that won't cost me $418, because I really can't afford to throw more money away :(

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Hey there,

Do not lose hope.I think this test is all about the right time beside hard work.

On 23rd of jan it was my 4th attempt.

1st attempt-75 questions(all below passing level)

2nd attempt-75 questions(all below passing level)

3rd attempt-75 questions( 5 section near passing level)

4th attempt-110 questions( still waiting for my official result)

I am so broke right now that i cannot even think of buyin NCSBN question bank.

So this time i am using

Kaplan- content

NCLEX 3500,4000- questions

Lacharity-questions

Hurst-content(if i do not understand anything from kaplan)

Please,please do not take too long to test again.There was 1 year

gap in my every attempt.

This time around i am planning to test within 45 days.

Feel free to PM meh

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wow are you sure you failed? did you try the PVT? maan you got me nervous now. I'm testing next friday and i did Kaplan too...

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Well I hope you pass!! I have to wait the 45 days but I do want to test soon! The first time I test was back in August and then I waited until now because I thought if I had plenty of time to study I would do better, that didn't work out so well. I have not heard of Hurst or Lacharity, are they similar to kaplan? It was very disheartening to see all these people have similar kaplan scores as me and pass NCLEX with 75 ?'s although good for them, I felt stupid. I'm taking a few days off to relax and then I'm going to try everything I can. I so badly wanted to just walk out of the testing center today because I knew what was gonna happen to me, and I did want to quit all together but it was only my second attempt..and you have done far more than me! So if you didn't lose hope then I shouldn't either. Thank you for your inspiration and help! I would PM you but apparently I don't have enough posts or something..go figure! lol

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I know I failed, I did PVT 5 hours after my test and got CC page. And from what I hear PVT is pretty accurate. There are more people passing with Kaplan than failing so don't give up!!! I'm pretty sure the computer said "I don't like you, so I'm going to give you everything you don't know" or atleast that was what it felt like. GOOD LUCK!!!

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I walked in after being out of school for 7mths.... Took nclex for the first time todasy, after buying kaplan and using it for the last month. I had 265 questions in 3 hours... AND I GOT THE GOOD POP UP 5 TIMES! I knew I passed even after taking all the questions, but was nervous because ... I took all the questions.. So if pvt works, then I passed! Ill know for sure 24-48hrs DO NOT DOUBT!!

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do you what you did wrong? or where you were lacking in terms of Kaplan? Cuz your scores are really good if your scoring that high in Kaplan.

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I really honestly think I let the test beat me, I went in feeling confident and tried using kaplan but I think I let my emotions get to me too much and panicked. I had questions that I couldn't figure out with kaplan and spent 2 hours on the first 75, my strategy was to take my time through the first 75 using kaplan so i got more right and it would have been a shorter test but that came back to haunt me when I noticed my time was running low and I still had god knows how many questions to do. At 135 ?'s I was sitting at 31/2 hours so i had to pick up the pace so i tried what I could to pull out of the gutter but that didn't work.

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aww man I was thinking of using that approach as well. Focus mainly on the first 75 questions. But yeah I guess that's a bad idea. I'm a slow test taker too. Oh man I need to answer correctly with using as little time as possible. Thank you. I feel your pain, I felt the first time too and this would be my 2nd attempt. :/

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Wow your day sounds a lot like mine except I had 75 ?'s... I got a basic symptom of a disease, I read it and said to myself WOW I am doing so bad I got this question! ha I also did Kaplan, had med questions I didn't know and I kept getting the same type of question I didn't get with Kaplan much, strategies didn't work and I also had SATA :/ I am now trying to figure where to go from here as this was my second time.

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Find your local big chain bookstore. They should have most of the newer nclex books. Sit in the bookstore and study for free. It's a bonus if they have a coffee shop.

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hey lucy,

You sound like me and my previous two attempts....first time went up all the way to 265 in 5.5 hrs and failed, second time i went up to 200 qs and ran out of time and failed again.....I've come to learn about this test that now i know that if the computer doesn't shut off at a certain number it's bc you were average and in order to pass you have to had the last qs (265) right in order for the computer to pass you. Ever since i graduated I thought i would pass bc one male friend of mine had passed with 265 qs and always struggled in exams more than I did. I passed all my adult health II in the upper 90's. The second time i took it....i was better prepared bc i started getting a ton of sata qs...but im still bad at those.

I'll tell you what can help:

Nclex 4000 (practice at least 200 qs/day n read the rationales for all the qs)

PDA by Lacharity(it's a book that will help you w application qs on the test n will help you id key info needed to answer the priority qs that left you clueless...Read all the Rationales b-4 the test)

Go to the kaplan website and sign up to the free events they have for your area. Each is only an hour. (this is how you learn about how the test works)

Random facts It's a long document with very good information on it....

I'm still waiting to take the test. Don't feel discouraged....classmates of mine passed....and i think some of them were lucky bc they got to answer qs that they were familiar with...oh AND YES, you get drugs that you never heard off so i recommend buing a book solely on meds and RN teaching points....There's a book i ordered but still haven't gotten it yet...when i do...i will tell you...

Wish u best on ur third try!!!!

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