is the kaplan review course worth it?

[crazylilkelly]

So, I'm trying to save $$$ & am afraid to waste it on the kaplan course they're offering @ my college. Can I still do decent if i study w/o spending all that $$$. I'm a decent test-taker but i'm the type that crams the night before an exam & forgets all the material after the exam!

We have to do these evolve-elsevier practice nclex & I'm about a 58% on them-----& i'm not really trying at all....i just answer them in 2 secs.......

what you guys think????? thanks & good luck everyone!

[ronarnsomeday]

where u can buy the kaplan book with cd? pls reply and thanks

[clairebearrn]

You can get it at kaplannursing.com

[Melony, RN]

I didnt take a live face to face review. I think it is all in how you study and how you learn. What type of learner are you? DO you learn by reading, hearing it in front of you, applying it with programs? I had the Kaplan review book, I read some of their strategies and tips, did the 180 practice test CD that came with the book. I used Saunders for repetition and for content. If there was an area that I forgot, I would read the rationales. It was a good refresher. I passed with 75 questions. I dont think anyone can take that test and feel 100% prepared. You never know what kind of questions it is gonna throw at you. Sometimes you have to make an educated guess. If you can get it down to 2 choices then you have a 50-50 chance of getting it right. So, all in all, I would say that if you learn by hearing ppl lecture then do the live review, if you daze off and your mind wanders look into something else. Do what worked well for you in school.

[pinklady0294]

I failed the NCLEX exam the first time, having to retake it again. I was thinking about trying the Kaplan review course but unsure if it's worth the $$ . Do you have any suggestions or recommendations for a 2nd time test taker ?

[xonlyindreamsxRN]

I honestly think Kaplan works for those that aren't the strongest test takers, many of my friends did kaplan and they all said it mainly teaches strategies. Now you can find tips and strategies in many nclex prep books. Its hard because kaplan is pretty expensive and most dont have the money right after nursing school to afford it. Also i have several friends that probably didnt need to take kaplan but they did becasue they said "i dont want to fail and then wish i had taken kaplan"....which is a lame reason honestly. If you did well in nursing school I would just focus on good review books and do lots of questions...i did about 3,000 before i took NCLEX. But if you really feel like you want something extra try www.learningext.com. This is a great website for nclex prep. It is similar to kaplan except it is all online and you chose either a 3,5, 8, or 15 week subscription, non of them cost more than 200 dollars. I did the 5 week for 79$ and I thought it was totally worth it. It has around 1200 questions and also has a review for everytopic. Good luck to you i'm sure you will pass :)

[Marie.C]

Pinklady, did you think about suzanne's plan?

[josecaribe]

I passed the nclex-rn last year, and honest to God. I used the kaplan strategies thru the entire 75Q test, except for my 4 all that apply & math.

then everything else were educated guesses that I made using kaplan.

If you don't want to spend the money, on the class. you can use this book:

and it is everything that they teach in the class. Like as if you had the class in the book. It does not come with the 2K questions, so If I were you, I would just buy this book, and get a question book, like the saunders or the book by Alice stein (both are very similar)

anyways. fortunately I had the money to pay for kaplan, but I did buy this book too because this explains it in more detail than the book they give you in the live lecture class.

ok i got the book the the stratretegies in the book are different than the the tree they taught us in the live class.

which strategies did u use?i failed the nclex bad with 75 questions tried but could not use it in must of the question.

[UjonesRN]

I believe you can't use the tree if getting lower level questions....

[KAYBDT6, BSN, RN]

It might worth it for people that love review course. :typing

[Mariposa2009, BSN, RN]

I myself could not afford Kaplan, but I found a website that posted all 7 of the Kaplan q trainers for free. I also bought Kaplan's 2010 Strategies book. I found the questions to be invaluable!!!! So, I guess if I had the money, I would just buy the q bank, but not the review.