How Many Practice Questions Did You Do?

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I've heard people and, even teachers, say that if you do 3,000 practice questions you're in pretty good shape for the NCLEX-RN. What do you think? How many questions did you do?

:typing

Specializes in Neuro Surgery,telemetry.

i think it doesnt matter how many question you will do or answer. it is a matter of how well you understand how nclex questions works, how you deal with it, how to answer correctly, strategies, and the nursing knowledge that you have. practice makes perfect. the more you answer questions, read its rationale, the more you learn thus increasing your chance of passing the nclex.

good luck to yah

Specializes in ICU, PACU, Cath Lab.

We are told 3000 for the LPN boards and 6000 for the RN boards!!!

Specializes in PICU.

my school says 5000 for RN.

i think it doesnt matter how many question you will do or answer. it is a matter of how well you understand how nclex questions works, how you deal with it, how to answer correctly, strategies, and the nursing knowledge that you have. practice makes perfect. the more you answer questions, read its rationale, the more you learn thus increasing your chance of passing the nclex.

good luck to yah

I totally agree with you. I was told that if you were in OK to poor standing for testing, to do about 5000-7500 questions before the NCLEX. The first time I took the NCLEX, I probably did around 4000 questions and I failed at 75. The second time I took the NCLEX I did about 5000 questions and I failed at 137. The third time I followed Suzanne's plan, learned how to understand the question whether I got it right or wrong, learned how to choose the best answer even if I don't fully know all that is asking. I probably did around 3000-4000 questions and I passed at 75! The number of questions is not as important and FULLY understanding what is being asked and KNOWING what to do as the nurse.

Good luck!

Specializes in L&D.

Liz, I remember Starlie reciting this factoid...I'm not sure I believe it though. Someone could do 3000 practice questions and still not understand the rationales and decision making that go into selecting the right answer.

Are you doing the Kaplan course at St Mary?

~Nikki

Specializes in PCU, Home Health.

I did 75 questions a day from the time I graduated til I took boards about a month later. I took them fairly quickly and then came back and made sure I understood each rationale whether I got it right or not. I personally think doing this many at a time sort of trained me for the long test taking process so I would not get mentally tired through all of those questions. It worked for me- and I am glad I practiced so many at a time because that test was the devil- I broke out in a cold sweat when I sat down in that room! GOOD LUCK!

Liz, I remember Starlie reciting this factoid...I'm not sure I believe it though. Someone could do 3000 practice questions and still not understand the rationales and decision making that go into selecting the right answer.

Are you doing the Kaplan course at St Mary?

~Nikki

No, but I bought all of their stuff and, I must say, it does seem to be very helpful. From what I'm hearing from people who are taking the course, it's pretty much the same as the material I'm going through. Apparently the Kaplan people also said to do 3,000 questions.

:typing

The number of questions is not as important and FULLY understanding what is being asked and KNOWING what to do as the nurse.

I understand there are no guarantees but ... I was just looking for some general guidelines here.

:typing

I did about 3500 questions/read rationales and read/understood the Kaplan strategies book. I passed with 75.

I never really kept track but I know I did a little over 3000. At my school, they recommended us to do 3000-5000 questions before NCLEX.

Specializes in med/surg.

I lost count but it must have been well into the 3,000+ mark.

However, I agree with the poster who said you must learn to understand the rationales or it won't matter how many you do. You need to work out how to reach the correct answers & that's where the combination of Kaplan & Saunders is unbeatable (IMHO).

If you learn your strategies well it gives you the chance of getting the right answer even if you don't understand the question fully & that's why it's important to do so many questions with books that explain the strategies of the questions well.

I passed at 75, 1st time of trying, some 14 years after graduating nursing school in the UK. So my % chance of passing was half yours is but I did it & it wasn't soooo bad (though that was with hindsite - of course I was in the same state as most people are when I actually took the exam!)

So good luck & keep up the practice! XX

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