Kaplan, Hurst. or kaplan qbank

Praying I Passed · Mar 13, 2008

I did the class review and found it helpful. When I missed ANY question during my Kaplan review I would write it down in a notebook. Then review those questions and the content you missed in the Kaplan book every night. That is what I did, plus I did about 500 q-bank questions and most of the question trainer tests. Good luck! KNOW YOUR LAB VALUES for sure and your math calculations. Medications were on there ALOT.

racing-mom4, BSN, RN · Mar 13, 2008

My thought is those review classes are very expensive. I believe if you did OK to good in school and have a few good Nclex books/disks to study from and you have self discipline then save your money and study at home for free.

I really debated taking Hurst review. But then my school utilized ATI and we were given a predictor test, my score showed that I had a greater than 99.9% chance of passing my boards if I took them today.

So that was the deciding factor for me. I was religious in carving time out of my day to do practice questions. I know I did a couple of thousand in a 3 week span. I mainly used Davis, with a dash of Saunders/Mosbys and ATI. I also read the Kaplans book and did the practice test in there.

If money was not an issue, I may have taken Hurst. But I graduated in December and wanted to take boards in Jan, with Christmas and all I didnt have the extra cash.

Good luck to you.

FYI I passed with 75 questions

nyema11 RN · Mar 14, 2008

My thought is those review classes are very expensive. I believe if you did OK to good in school and have a few good Nclex books/disks to study from and you have self discipline then save your money and study at home for free.
I really debated taking Hurst review. But then my school utilized ATI and we were given a predictor test, my score showed that I had a greater than 99.9% chance of passing my boards if I took them today.
So that was the deciding factor for me. I was religious in carving time out of my day to do practice questions. I know I did a couple of thousand in a 3 week span. I mainly used Davis, with a dash of Saunders/Mosbys and ATI. I also read the Kaplans book and did the practice test in there.
If money was not an issue, I may have taken Hurst. But I graduated in December and wanted to take boards in Jan, with Christmas and all I didnt have the extra cash.
Good luck to you.
FYI I passed with 75 questions

Congrads on passing your boards. I dont graduate until may. I am just trying to plan ahead. :)

Mytonezucs · Mar 14, 2008

I took Hurst and failed. I found nothing that helped me with NCLEX. These review courses are very expensive and prey on the fears of graduates.

It makes more sense to take NCLEX once close to graduation. If you pass you're done. If you fail then worry about Hurst or Kaplan.

Sounds crazy but you haven't seen NCLEX.

nyema11 RN · Mar 14, 2008

I took Hurst and failed. I found nothing that helped me with NCLEX. These review courses are very expensive and prey on the fears of graduates.
It makes more sense to take NCLEX once close to graduation. If you pass you're done. If you fail then worry about Hurst or Kaplan.
Sounds crazy but you haven't seen NCLEX.

Sorry to hear that. What are you going to do different? Thanks for your advice. So what do you think the best way to study is by doing questions from nclex books?

charmed_one · Mar 14, 2008

definitely kaplan qbank!!!

same formats, same thoughts..

im so thankful for kaplan! i only had 75 questions for 2 hrs..

1st take!

you should definitely take it..

christiangirl · Mar 18, 2008

30 min 75 question peice of cake -- kapplan class!

Mytonezucs · Mar 18, 2008

nyema11, this time I'm studying the Saunders review book along with the questions book. Not because it's that much like NCLEX but because the two complement each other.

Nothing I've seen is like NCLEX so I went with a combination of review material and practice questions.

Closer to graduation or first try I would suggest more practice questions than content and to take it quick. You'll never have a greater knowledge base than just comming out of school.

Fail it(God forbid) then worry about the review courses. Already signed up? No problem. Anything that adds to the knowledge base is good. I just think too much emphasis(fear) is put on review courses for newly graduated students.

I'm not knocking the review courses but just trying to put them into perspective. Four days or more of recap vs two or more years of school. Not much of a comparison.

Can afford the recap? Fine. I just disagree to the extent these courses affect the pass rates of students just out of school.

This of course is my own experience and opinion.

learninglessons12, BSN, RN · Mar 19, 2008

i took kaplan complete and it was the best investment that i could have made. i did all the q-bank questions, the question trainers and watched all the content review videos. i also went to the classroom sessions. i passed with 75 questions. i think you should do everything you can to be successful the first time. if you choose to participate in a review course, think of it as an investment. just think, if you take a job as a gn and fail the boards, you have to get demoted. everyone is entitled to their opinions but do you really think these programs could stay in business if there wasn’t something to it. just my thoughts. good luck in whatever you decide.

onyx77 · Mar 20, 2008

I highly reccommend taking the Hurst Review! I graduated with honors in December and still found that the Hurst Review simplified things and made them so easy to understand. Even electrolytes!!! In order for it to work for you, you need to study the RIGHT way! You should be able to lecture on the 'core content'. I found that the questions and the review of the quetions was most helpful! They have a dvd that goes over all the questions and WHY each answer was either right or wrong.

Hurst Review IS definatley worth the money!!!

sheiladurant · Mar 27, 2008

I tried Vipra Med recently and noticed that they are much more closer to the real exam than Kaplan or Hurst. I guess they have students who have recently taken the NCLEX help them develop the questions... hehe.

Sheila