How long did you study before taking NCLEX?

Hi-are you doing Kaplan? If so, they will develop a study plan for you based on the tests you take throughout the week's course. Any content you score below a 60% in are the weak areas that you need to focus on & my Kaplan instructor advised me to do a 100/day till I test, which is in 3 weeks.

Not trying to boast, but I did not study just took the test 3 days after pinning. I just wanted to take it asap while the info was fresh and completed 3 days of ATI live review, also used ATI throughout the nursing school! Good luck!!

I'm not sure which company is doing the review. The school is paying for whoever comes to our class and does the review for us. Other than the dates and times, they have not given us any info.

To me, the review was extremely helpful.

All I did was take the Kaplan course and do all the test bank questions. Averaged about 60% and passed NCLEX on 75 questions in about 45 minutes.

I didn't "study" anything. There's nothing on the test that you haven't seen or heard if you were paying attention in school.

It's a MINIMUM competency exam.

You have to do what is best for you. How do you like to study? Personally, I like to do it in a short amount of time and do the test. I work better that way. I have nine days with practically every awake hour consumed with Hurst review and the PDA book. That worked for me, and I passed NCLEX with 75 questions on the first try. I think it's what works best for you!

I personally just studied for as long as I needed to. You should know how many reviews you need; I think the book gives a general guideline. I was doing review questions in school; I got pinned (December 16) and reviewed from that time till January 26 (NCLEX date). It all depends on your need to review your weaker areas and your NCLEX date. And you will never feel "ready." I told another poster that if you are waiting for that feeling, you will be waiting forever.

Good luck.

I didn't study at all. I did for a whole year. That's enough. I didn't buy any books for the semesters either. I just took notes in the lecture. I think that the quicker you take it, the better. Don't give money to study corporations. I took the NCLEX a couple of days after grad and passed at 75. You can do it just like the final in school.

I used ATI throughout nursing school and then did about 200 questions per day for a couple of weeks before testing. Honestly, I don't think that the prep was necessary, though that may depend on how well you did in school and what level of anxiety you have when taking tests. Just make sure you have a system for approaching each question: immediate needs, Maslow's hierarchy, nursing process, safety. Eliminate two answers right away and have a clear rationale for why you are selecting whichever answer you select. Good luck!

Anoetos said:

All I did was take the Kaplan course and do all the test bank questions. Averaged about 60% and passed NCLEX on 75 questions in about 45 minutes.

I didn't "study" anything. There's nothing on the test that you haven't seen or heard if you were paying attention in school.

It's a MINIMUM competency exam.

This. This this this. I don't understand the draw of studying for months. What's on the test that you didn't already learn in nursing school? In my opinion, pick ONE review book/class, take some practice tests, and take the real exam ASAP. My degree was stamped on May 30th, and I tested on June 14th. I read the Saunders book on the beach for two or three days, took a few practice tests on the included CD, and felt comfortable. I feel like if you're studying for weeks and months, you're just getting farther away from when you actually learned the material and are more likely to do poorly. Obviously, your mileage may vary.

I love all of these comments. I haven't taken NCLEX yet and have only gone through a few chapters in the PDA book (which is really probably about 100 questions so far), yet I feel like I will pass the NCLEX fairly easily. I did well in nursing school and don't suffer from test anxiety. I'm dying to take the NCLEX and get it over with so I can actually call myself a nurse and increase my chances of landing an interview. I hope I'm not being naive about the difficulty of the NCLEX.

I have to disagree with the poster who said there is nothing on the NCLEX you haven't seen or heard of. I had tons of procedures and meds I had never heard of before the NCLEX. I know my pharm extremely well and even made a 100% on the ATI pharm exit exam in nursing school. I was a strong nursing student as well, but I made sure to do a review (Hurst for me) and know it backward and forwards before taking NCLEX. Personally, the NCLEX was not like any other test I had ever encountered. I don't have test anxiety, but it was definitely scary sitting down knowing your future job depended on this test! My best advice for all new grads about to take the NCLEX is to pick a review, go with it, and review your heart out for the week or so leading up to the test date. No, you are not going to know every procedure and every drug, but if you have a good hold on your core content and major diseases, you should be able to critically think your way through those questions that you have no idea about. I would never take the NCLEX as an "easy" test. It's different, and it's what gives us our license to practice! So go in knowing you did everything you could possibly do to pass and have no regrets when that computer shuts off at 75 or keeps going to 265!