Im not doing well on Kaplan test prep and Im terrified

Nursing Students NCLEX

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This will be my second time taking the NCLEX and I'm not doing well on Kaplan's question trainers or question bank.

My average is about a 55%.

I take it in two weeks and Im terrified. I dont want to have to take it a third time. :(

Specializes in LTC- Tx Dept. of aging and disabilities.

you know, i am having the exact same problem!!! when i take the trainer tests, i am averaging 60%. my highest was a 64% and it is making me nervous lol... but i do go back over the wrong rationales and make notes on stuff that i dont understand. but i feel like :banghead: after every test because i want at least 70% or better lol. good luck on studying!!

ps

i take nclex on friday... if i don't feel confident by wednesday afternoon, i am going to reschedule!!

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Hey FroggyFreak,

I suggest going over the correct rationales too. If you know why you got the correct ones right, you may have better luck getting others correct. Obviously you already have some idea of why it is correct, because that is why you chose it, but when I read the rationales of the ones that I got correct, I still learned additional info, that I was definiately able to apply to other questions. Good luck Friday!

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When I go over my tests, I realize that if I get it wrong, it was usually one of the two I narrowed it down to in the beginning. I just chose the wrong answer. Its so frustrating. I do google words I dont know or things that arent familiar to me.

I dont think its really content. I think its usually the quotation questions where I struggle most.

Ive got just about every NCLEX prep book out there. I was banking on Kaplan to help me through. Now Im not so sure.

2 weeks left.

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dont worry i find kaplan so much hard than nclex, kaplan prepared you a lot,

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Just got another 50%

Out of 11 tests Ive only had 2 at or above 60%

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Specializes in "Wound care - geriatric care.

Here's my take of Kaplan QT: You will find some questions that are identical to the ones in the trainers and by being good with the tree you will be able to handle them. However there will be a large number of questions in which the tree will not apply. So I think Kaplan prepare you well for those type questions at the top (the passing questions) that is all well and good. But remember that in order to get to the good questions you must master the mid level questions...which by the way (they don't tell you that) are not easy to say the least. So...if you are good (and I mean really good) in the content area, you are probably OK to handle the rest with 55% on the QB-QT.

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Yeah I find myself realizing that when I do answer content questions, Im like "how did I remember such a SMALL detail?"

I talked to a Kaplan lady today and she gave me some ideas. She also said being in the 50's is not uncommon. Im starting to think that being in the 50's is actually what you will encounter, they just want you in the 60's to make sure you have it mastered and will pass.

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When I go over my tests, I realize that if I get it wrong, it was usually one of the two I narrowed it down to in the beginning. I just chose the wrong answer. Its so frustrating. I do google words I dont know or things that arent familiar to me.

I dont think its really content. I think its usually the quotation questions where I struggle most.

Ive got just about every NCLEX prep book out there. I was banking on Kaplan to help me through. Now Im not so sure.

2 weeks left.

You sound very frustrated and I think that if you were to push your date back it might be not a bad idea. Not because your scores are low on Kaplan, rather because you come across completely insecure and I think that this plays more a factor on Nclex then anything else. You have got to feel ready for this test to a certain extend. I took Kaplan and I found it very very very useful. I was not frustrated if I saw a low score rather I read through all the answers and tried to understand what they were trying to teach me...as to why my answer was wrong. I did not so much apply the decision tree, however, I learned to think safe and to figure out what kind of question they were asking. For example: Is this safety , teaching, patho...etc question and then I choose my answers based on this and I flew through nclex like a charm and found it actually not difficult at all. I was an average student and english is my second language but Kaplan prepared me well for Nclex If you are not happy with Kaplan, substitute it with another source and see how your scores compare there to what most others make. For example I made on Kaplan on my qbanks 60%. On my last three tests ...forgot what they called them, those looong tests were you were supposed to make 60% on I made between 68-72%. I found that this is what I made on Saunders as well about 68-72% by not choosing the areas that I am already great at, rather doing areas I am very weak in. You can do this, but first you have to study without frustration or you are blocking yourself from taking in important information. Hope this helped. You need to get yourself into a different frame of mind and approach this with a "can do" attitude.

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