Kaplan Review

Turd Ferguson · Jun 4, 2011

I've used Kaplan and I feel it does a good job teaching you strategies to answer questions. I take NCLEX tomorrow... I'll let you know how Kaplan compares afterwards.

Don't get down about your SATA questions... I averaged ~65% on all of my QTrainers (1-7), and I've averaged ~70% on Diagnostic, Readiness, and QBank cumulative (85% complete). I'd say out of all the SATA and Drag/Drop questions, I've averaged about 10%. They're just really freakin hard.

uaefan · Jun 4, 2011

Hi sensei,

HATED KAPLAN!! ABSOLUTELY HATED IT!! Worst $400 I ever spent! Failed twice with it...1st time @ 265, 2nd time @ 135. Scored low 50s to low 70s on all question trainers & qbanks. According to those scores and the diagnostic test I should have passed.

Went my own way with Davis 2010 Q&A, PDA, & the infection control mnemonic and passed @ 75 the 3rd time. The strategies in Kaplan are great, but it's nothing you can't find in other NCLEX study material. I ditched the decision tree, too. They say that Kaplan questions are most like NCLEX, but I wholeheartedly disagree. In my opinion, Davis 2010 is most like NCLEX...they are quite challenging and they require you to think through the answers...much like NCLEX.

Bottom line: I would NEVER recommend Kaplan to anyone. Most people love it, but not me. I'm in the minority that had to take a different approach. You have to find what works for you, but please don't get too wrapped up in test scores. Only YOU will know when you're ready. All the best!

Sirius14 · Jun 4, 2011

My school paid for the Kaplan review and I would never recommend it to anyone. We had an instructor from Kaplan teach us. Kaplan pretty much just teaches you how to guess at the answers. I found that you don't gain too much knowledge from it, and the rationals aren't that great.

The instructor would tell us the rational behind the guessing but it didn't work all the time. That was my experience with it and my classmates felt the same way! :-(

caliotter3 · Jun 4, 2011

Have read where people who took the live review did not recommend it. They essentially said that the instructor just went over questions with them and would not/could not, answer the participants' questions.

Turd Ferguson · Jun 4, 2011

Have read where people who took the live review did not recommend it. They essentially said that the instructor just went over questions with them and would not/could not, answer the participants' questions.

Same thing for the online review...

Like I said, I'll let you know tomorrow...

senseiRN · Jun 5, 2011

Same thing for the online review...
Like I said, I'll let you know tomorrow...

Thanks! I would really appreciate that!

BrittersRN · Jul 1, 2011

I think everyones experiences with Kaplan are different. I used Kaplan and HURST, but mainly focused on Kaplan...I averaged late 50s on all the question trainers. I took my NCLEX on June 15, 2011 and got 265 questions and passed. Kaplans questions are what NCLEX questions are like, so by taking the tests, I was getting myself in that mode to answer application type questions. I only did certain sections on the HURST part because I was running out of time...(I had to hurry up and take my test before I started my job). But from what I hear and my own experience, I think HURST is a great tool, as well. I jus wouldnt rely on that 5th day question stuff in the packet.

tmartin83 · Jul 1, 2011

I felt that the Kaplan review course was great. Our instructor for it was on point, and she helped us to narrow it down and analyze why one answer was not "the best answer", and so on.

When it comes to the review courses, I feel as if it depends on the instructor. She taught us little tricks that helped. The online part of the review did not have many SATAs, but I saw a great deal of those on the actual NCLEX, so that was kind of a bummer. However, Kaplan did help me with the priority ?s (the "who do you see first" ?s).

If I were you, and I had to do it all over again, I would definitely find a resource/book (any book) that has a bunch of practice SATA ?s for you to do. Good luck!