How many NCLEX questions did you do?!

Nursing Students NCLEX

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How many NCLEX questions did you do prior to sitting for the boards? Did you pass/fail? Did you take a review course?

Specializes in Telemetry, Med-Surg.

To OP, I think you sound well prepared. I took Kaplan, used Saunders and Kaplan for content, did questions from Lacharity and Alternate Item Format from Saunders, and passed the test with 75 questions. I did not do all of Kaplans questions nor did I read the books from cover to cover. I only looked up areas I needed to review or meds I didn't know. I think answering lots of questions helps, but really the best thing is to read the rationales from those questions and understand why a certain answer is best. Good luck!

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To OP, I think you sound well prepared. I took Kaplan, used Saunders and Kaplan for content, did questions from Lacharity and Alternate Item Format from Saunders, and passed the test with 75 questions. I did not do all of Kaplans questions nor did I read the books from cover to cover. I only looked up areas I needed to review or meds I didn't know. I think answering lots of questions helps, but really the best thing is to read the rationales from those questions and understand why a certain answer is best. Good luck!

Thanks! I cant help but feel under prepared, but I think those feelings are, generally, what most people feel...

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Specializes in Rehab, Geriatrics & School Nurse.

So how long did it take you guys to do the questions?

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Specializes in L&D/Maternity nursing.
So how long did it take you guys to do the questions?

I did about 300-400/day 5/days a week for about 3 weeks. I after I did the questions I would read every single rationale. As time went on and as I answered more and more correctly, I would only read the rationales of those that I got wrong.

I read a couple chapters a night before bed out of my review book and Saunders. On the weekends, I would only read briefly, and do about 100-200 questions.

I was really surprised that I had over 6k questions done at the end when I went back and totaled them. It really didnt feel like that many and I am sure I could have done more.

The tools I used was Saunders 4ed. NCLEX 4000 and ATI.

I hope that helps!

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Specializes in Tele, OB, public health.

I think the biggest trick is if you know why you scored the way you did. For me, my scores went up and down quite a bit- I did 95% of Kaplan qbank and my overall average was 61%- however some of those scores were really high (80's) some were much lower (40s!)- on an average day I would say I was 65.

The point is, on the days I did poorly, I KNEW it was because I was really tired that day, or distracted, or rushed through the test. This is one of the main functions of the qbank- to show you not only content you need to brush up on, but your testing weaknesses.

Also, if you are down to two answers on qbank, always pick one and then change it to the other- They will show you if you tend to change from incorrect to correct or vice versa. I personally found that really helpful- I found out that I tend to change from right to wrong, or in other words I should disregard my first impulsive choice

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I think the biggest trick is if you know why you scored the way you did. For me, my scores went up and down quite a bit- I did 95% of Kaplan qbank and my overall average was 61%- however some of those scores were really high (80's) some were much lower (40s!)- on an average day I would say I was 65.

The point is, on the days I did poorly, I KNEW it was because I was really tired that day, or distracted, or rushed through the test. This is one of the main functions of the qbank- to show you not only content you need to brush up on, but your testing weaknesses.

Also, if you are down to two answers on qbank, always pick one and then change it to the other- They will show you if you tend to change from incorrect to correct or vice versa. I personally found that really helpful- I found out that I tend to change from right to wrong, or in other words I should disregard my first impulsive choice

Thanks for the reply. I did the Kaplan 2010 book, I didnt take the course. But I disagree with the "changing your answer" tactic. I think that would be detrimental if someone like myself did that, as I find that most of the questions where I had changed answers, it was right the first time. Just my opinion.

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Specializes in Tele, OB, public health.

no, that's good if you already know that about yourself- for me, I thought that I was often picking the correct one the first time, but turns out I wasn't- this tactic only applies to Kaplan online q bank, not the test itself.

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not sure around 99 or 109

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why 6000

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Specializes in L&D/Maternity nursing.
why 6000

It wasnt a goal of mine. Its just the number I ended up doing before I got sick of doing them and time ran out (i.e. my NCLEX date came up). Well that and at that point I was getting repeat questions thrown at me, so it was silly to keep going.

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This study method wasn't around when I tested in the Dark Ages, that I remember. I studied the content.

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This study method wasn't around when I tested in the Dark Ages, that I remember. I studied the content.

Lol...no pratice questions, no review courses? It seems as though the NCLEX is a big money maker. Tons of desperate, just graduated students (like myself) to prey on with review books and courses!

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