I graduated nursing program from an US accredited school in June 2015. In June I bought the Kaplan live review ($499) and did that for 4 days. After that, I practiced on the Kaplan q bank and the question trainers, and also watched some of the videos that Kaplan offers. I can't remember my exact scores, but I was in the mid to high 50's, sometimes (rarely 60's).
1. I took Nclex in July and I failed at 265 questions. That time, I studied Kaplan live online ($499). I did all the qbank and all the question trainers. Kaplan is okay if you have a strong nursing content, but I needed a refresher. Their rationales are not good, it is just because you will see this patient first, it wouldn't explain why. I got a refund (they guarantee that if you don't pass they will give you the money back). I was depressed and didn't know what to do different for next time.
During the test, after 75 questions, I couldn't focus on the questions anymore, I was anxious, didn't took breaks, worried that I would ran out of time, and just clicking away to "getting over with it". Sure enough it was over at 265q, and 2 days later I found out that I failed.
2. For the second time, I decided that I needed to study more content. Thank you everybody on this website for the motivation and inspiration.
I started Saunders (I had 5th ed) and took notes on the content that I felt I had forgotten to review it later (I did endocrine - Very important!, pediatrics: disease, OB: meds, newborn assessments, psych). At the end I had like 150 flashcards. I wanted to see everything typed by me, because I would remember better. When I finished a chapter in Saunders, I would do the questions at the end of the chapter. After 4 weeks I finished Saunders, and went on to do Lacharity PDA book. I did all the chapters (yes, that includes the case studies) and make sure you understand the rationales. From this book, I took notes at what a new RN or a float RN, a LPN and a CNA can do. This is very important for Nclex.
When I finished the Lacharity I decided it was time to buy the Uworld question bank. I decided to buy the 90 days package so that I have time to finish it, and in case I don't pass, I knew that I would do Uworld again. From Uworld, I would do about 1 test a day (75 questions), and then I spent 4-6 hours reviewing the rationales - very important, and taking notes on the topics that I wanted to review later; and all the SATA questions. I am a visual learner, so after like 6 tests, I would take my notebook and review the notes and highlight the important things. I finished the UWorld qbank with 55%, and I was discouraged as they recommend 60%, so I started to do the questions I got wrong, and almost finished it (had around 200 questions left) and brought my score up to 58%. I also studied the notes that HeyRona posted them on Youtube, the 35 page document that it's here on all nurses (I updated the infection control according to CDC, and googled for mnemonics or made my own mnemonics for things I could not remember).
Important things that helped me pass the Nclex-RN:
A. I prayed to God to help me pass, and had friends and family pray for me.
B. Study, study - the notes I took (and also videos on youtube for certain procedures or diseases, there are a lot available)
C. Second time taking the Nclex I said to myself that this is just answering questions on Uworld.
D. I didn't stress about the time; I read the question, the answers, and I would pick 2 answers, then I read the question again and decided on one answer.
English is not my first language, so excuse me if there are some errors in this post.
You will pass this test, never lose hope, and think that one day you will be a great nurse.
Feel free to ask me any question regarding this.
Good luck!
this is my plan for new year to pass the nclex in London 
congrats again xxx
Bubbles1121
78 Posts
Congratulations