Kaplan Experience

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So I needed to vent because I am very close to writing a letter to the Kaplan team and letting them know that the people who teach their classes are wrong...wrong...wrong!

I took my Kaplan course a few weeks back. During the course it was evident to all of us in the class that we were weak in content. We explained this to our instructor and she told us not to worry, that we only need to know how to answer these questions. Using the decision tree, we should be able to answer all NCLEX questions.

So I went home and finished about 80% of the qbanks...only making 45-60% on each in the beginning. So now with 20% left of the qbanks and qtrainers 4-7 left until right before my test date..I have finished reading my content and I must say my Kaplan scores have improved dramatically! 70-75%! However, I am worried that my mind has just memorized the correct answers...Lol.

Moral of the story: you need content before you start these qbanks. The decision tree does not work on 50% of their questions! I am a bit peeved... I have wasted about 80% of these questions, trying to answer them blindly and getting horrible scores. Now that I know more I feel much better... I guess I will just keep the 20% thats left until the final end.

I hope Kaplan was worth it, I really do! I guess we'll see after my test. Good thing is they offer a 100% money back guarantee but I am seriously hoping I won't have to use that!!

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I took the Kaplan course the first time I had to take the exam and I failed... I hate Kaplan!!! you need content to answer questions no matter what they say!

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I agree with you. You need to know content in order to answer the higher level questions. I also took Kaplan and failed. If I knew from the beginning all we were going to do was questions, I would not of taken that Review course. I did have a great instructor who told me I need to know the content but I know that I am still weak in one area where I failed on the exam. I am now studying content and doing questions that are not Kaplan. I have the Kaplan Strategy Book, so I will do thoses questions when I finish studying my content.

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Ijustwish - Did you look at content before taking the kaplan questions? Also, did you go over their content online? I'm wondering since our instructor told us not to do anything but answer questions and continue doing so until you understand the decision tree...

What you are both saying is so scary! I started doing the questions then stopped and looked over content... Now going back to the questions I am doing soo much better because really, I had no concrete facts behind my answers.

I am praying I do well the first time around. Most of my classmates have done real well with 75+ questions...they got the blue screen right after that! So i'm just keeping my fingers crossed. I had a friend who recommended Kaplan and swore by it. But she went over content as well...she also said the questions' rationales provide content so she recommended it.

I wish you both the best of luck!!

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I read the book and went over the videos on line. I think part of the reason I failed was that I had test anxiety and I got tired after about 180 questions. I also know that my instructor stressed content for the exam. I knew that I did not know everything and I should of taken my exam about one month before I took it. I waited too long and this time I am going to take it in seven weeks after I failed. I am studying the content and doing questions and I still correspond with my instructor and she told me I need to know my content better. I also asked if I used other questions than kaplan what my score should be and recommendation on what questions from where I should be using. She told me NCLEX 4000 and should score at least 65% on all areas to be ready for the exam and Priorization, Delegatgion and Assignment by LaCharity for the Management of Care section of the NCLEX exam. The questions are hard, but this time if I use the book, I know that I will pass. My scores overall for the Qbanks was 60%. My qtrainers was from 51 % to 83%. My last two trainers were 59% and 54%. It seemed I did better in analysis than application.

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My school provided the Kaplan course for us and 3months of online resources. Our instructor told us to do practice questions and review contents on the questions that we get wrong. I started answering questions w/o reviewing contents and my scores were horrible (40-50%). The decision tree did not apply to any of the questions. I started reading their book and after that, my scores improved alot. So that proves that you need to review contents.

I personally did not like Kaplan and wouldn't recommend it to anyone who's going to take NCLEX. Their rationales were confusing and not helpful. I just took my test yesterday and I really think I would've done alot better using just the Saunders book over Kaplan.

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I had the same thing, bbie!! Let us know how you did, i'm sure with Saunders you did great!!

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nooo!!! Just stumbled upon this post, and it sure scared me.. I'm about to enroll on Kaplan's review for the NCLEX and IELTS, they say it would take about 3 months of review. by the way, the Kaplan I'm talking about is the situated in Makati. Any comments? As I've read your comments here got me thinking twice...

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When Kaplan came to our school to "sell" their course, they failed to mention that it was just hour after hour of going through NCLEX style questions. I signed up and paid that day, because an instructor told me people who do Kaplan do well and there was always the money back guarantee!

I was so frustrated the first day. The instructor was not interested in communicating with the class. When we all got one of the questions wrong and asked her about it, she told us we were supposed to read the relevant section in the book prior to class. I pointed out I had done that and still had a question! She did not take the time to elaborate on the material we were all questioning. I was so disappointed, I had expected from the sales pitch a healthy mix of questions and review!

I called Kaplan that day, told them I had been sold a course... and this was not what I was getting. They offered me a partial refund! I stated that would not be good enough because I felt they had misled me and because I had waited four weeks for the start of this course, I had wasted that time NOT looking into other courses.

I got a full refund but only after a lot of work on my part. I would never recommend Kaplan. I am reviewing on my own for the NCLEX... taking it Thursday! So, I will let you know using Saunders and NCLEX 3500 as well as the illustrated study guide worked.

But pass or fail I am glad I didn't waste my money of Kaplan... the decision tree doesn't work with half the questions and the Q-bank, is fine but honestly for half the money I bought a couple books with just as many questions.

Guess we will see on Thursday!

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We must have been in the same class!! I remember my instructor just reading through the rationales...she herself did not understand the content well enough to explain to us why it was the right answer!!

I continued with the qbank though...and the questions are not bad once you get the content. However, I am going today to get the Kaplan strategy book. I read a segment of this last night and feel that it is even better than the 300+ dollar course itself! It has all the information, just in a nutshell.

So now I am feeling like I need to review content...again! So i'm using Saunders and have one more week...I am hoping I can atleast eliminate two answers then sit through the next two and make sure I get it right! I definitely dont want to study nor take this test again...

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I am experiencing the same issue with Kaplan. On the Qbank questions I am only getting 40-60%. I feel as if I am definelty lacking in content. For those of you who have reviewed content and then improved on your Qbank and Question Trainer scores, what did you use to review? I have the Saunders book as well as the Kaplan coursebook...did you use either of those to improve your scores???

Thanks!

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Hope it goes well for you.

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