Hello all! First off, I want to thank this specific forum "NCLEX Exam & Programs" because without it I would have never even known about UWorld. Scary thought.
Before I tell you about my experience with studying for NCLEX and passing, here are some little things about me to make this post more relatable: I was enrolled in a bachelors program in the US. I was not a straight A nursing student. I got mostly B's, a couple A's and one C (definitely could have received a B, possibly even an A in this one particular class, but I slacked off like a fool). Even though I wasn't a straight A student, I was far from being a student who was constantly drowning and barely passing- so I was just the average Jane, really. I took NCLEX studying pretty seriously, which lead me to pushing back my date 10 days from the original date I had scheduled, and stalking this site to see what helped people the most- which lead me to none other than UWorld.
I purchased a one month UWorld subscription on May 20th and took my test yesterday on June 15th. I completed 1,525 questions out of the 1,896 questions available from UWorld. I answered 62% of the questions correctly which placed me in the 85th percentile. I did a MINIMUM of 40 questions per day, and a max of 100 questions per day (I know 40 doesn't sound like a lot, but 40 questions for me was equivalent to two hours of studying because I read the rationales very carefully). There were two days when I was busy all day and didn't do any questions. I say I used UWorld "almost" exclusively because my school had us take Hurst review mandatorily; however we had the review in the beginning of April and I only glanced through the book a couple times after the review. Hurst is a good content review, but as far as content goes, UWorld's rationales were much more pertinent to the actual NCLEX exam than Hurst content- plus UWorld is a fraction of the cost. There were numerous questions I answered on NCLEX that I wouldn't have known the answer to if I hadn't used UWorld. I will also say that UWorld's SATA questions were very similar to NCLEX's, if not harder. And UWorld's priority questions were WAY harder than NCLEX's... On NCLEX, a lot of my priority questions seemed to have three distinct wrong answers and one that was obviously right. On UWorld I was always stuck between two and wanted to throw my laptop at a wall when I got it wrong. Can't stress enough how helpful UWorld was to me.
As for my NCLEX experience- it wasn't ENTIRELY awful. The employees at the Pearson center were very friendly and super encouraging- I got there an hour before my test and they let me take it right away instead of waiting. I had around 25 SATA- at one point I had SIX in a row O_O. Lots of priority questions, a few pharm questions (which none of my friends seemed to have)- no audio, math, or put in order. As for telling you the content I had to answer, it would be pointless because NCLEX is SOdifferent for everyone. I talked with some friends who took it before me and the content we answered couldn't have been any more different. If you're scared of SATA- you need UWorld. So many SATA questions on UWorld. I actually became quite comfortable with them and they didn't faze me on NCLEX. For the first 20 questions I was freaking out because the questions seemed too easy and I had noise canceling headphones on- which made me able to hear my own severe palpitations- but after I got 6 high level SATA questions in a row around question 40, I started to feel a little bit more relaxed. My test shut off at 75 questions and the last question I answered was also a SATA. There are plenty of naysayers who will tell you that the type of questions you get mean nothing, but I have yet to talk to anyone who's been bombarded with SATA and priority questions and failed at 75 ¯\_(ツ)_/¯. I left the testing center in higher spirits than I anticipated. Obviously, it's near impossible to walk out of NCLEX with complete confidence, but I at least wasn't shaking in fear like I expected I would be! Definitely keep yourself as busy as possible afterward... I went out last night with my boyfriend and some friends, but today he has been at work and I have had nothing to do! Slowest day of my life, but worth the wait! Oh. And I should mention I live in Illinois- took my test at 12:45 PM, left the testing center at 2:00 PM on the dot, and had my results posted on continentaltesting.net at 3:28 PM today.
I hope someone was able to find this post helpful and goes on to pass NCLEX like a champ.
I am also a B student. I take my NCLEX next week and bought the 6 month subscription.
However, looking back, I would have purchased the one-month instead because for the past couple of weeks, I've been using Uworld as a "mock NCLEX" exam by doing two 75-item exams per day (the program limits the tester to 75 items at a time) to help get me into a test-taking groove.
That's just me though, and take my words with a grain of salt because I am still an NCLEX virgin. I will say though, Uworld has been more helpful than Saunder and Lippincott (the other two resources I have used to supplement my studies) because the questions are harder and the rationale have virtually eliminated the need for me to consult my nursing textbooks. There are lots of posts here on Allnurses attesting to Uworld's excellent prep and correlation with NCLEX success. I am determined to write one of those posts soon enough!
Do you guys think it would be helpful to buy a 6month subscription to Uworld and do 50-100 questions daily? I'm not an A student, more of a B student.
Everyone learns differently, so I cannot really say how you should and shouldn't go about preparing for NCLEX! Keep in mind, UWorld only offers 1,896 questions- if you did 50 questions per day, you'd be done with all the questions in 38 days. And lets say you answer 50% of the questions correctly and decide to redo the other 50% of the questions, you're only looking at another 19 days of use. I was not an A student either. I was also not someone who could study a week in advance- I usually studied two nights before a test and scored above average on 90% of my tests (sadly, above average was still not nearly an A at my school- not even close half the time)... That all being said, I would not be adequately prepared if I had stretched NCLEX studying out for 6 months. My brain starts to get wonky when I look at the same concepts over and over again. For me, a full 4-6 weeks would have been my threshold.
In summary, my personal advice for you would be to really hit hard on content for the next 3-4 months and then start diving into questions for another 2-3 months. Just remember, UWorld will only take you about 6-8 weeks at the very most to adequately complete, which would include redoing all the questions you may get wrong.
Thank you for the reply. I also did a live review for hurst and will plan to attend to another live review after my last semester. I'm still figuring out the best way to study content, I don't have a routine down to how to study.
I hope you do well tomorrow! You are exceptionally prepared and I am sure you will excel through the exam. Let us know about your experience! :)
Thank you so much for the encouragement! Took today off completely, visited the site where I am testing, and just had an amazing dinner with my friend. Just trying to stay positive and hopeful. Let you know how it goes... taking it at 8!!! Ahhhh!!
I'm glad everyone is liking Uworld and saying it's a good tool. I did the hurst review and now I'm just doing questions and taking notes on stuff I got wrong. I'm pretty terrified since I'll be taking my NCLEX on the 24th (in two days). I feel like I'm doing terribly on Uworld, I've done about 420 questions and I'm at 70% correct. Though I guess looking at this it's probably about average. I'm trying to remind myself this isn't a nursing school HESI so I should stop expecting a 99.99% on my exams and I don't need an "A" on NCLEX.
To anyone who hasnt gotten uworld or is on the fence DO IT. It has amzing rationales, tons of SATA questions and shows you how you are stacking up to the national average (which I like seeing).
Hi everyone, I didnt know how to start my own post so I am asking in here. I take the NCLEX July 6, 2016 and graduated BSN May 21, 2016. I took the classroom Kaplan course and I am doing all the online stuff. My Diagnostic Exam was a 65%, Q Banks 59.2% with 1350 questions total complete there. I only have around 500 unsused questions left. My q4-q7 trainer average was a 62.75%. I also use U-World because their rationales rock. I have done around 800 questions in there and my average is a 62%. I know I have to still do the Kaplan Readiness Exam and the other 4 tests. MY question is. HOW AM I LOOKING? Thanks in advance please be honest.
Hi everyone, I didnt know how to start my own post so I am asking in here. I take the NCLEX July 6, 2016 and graduated BSN May 21, 2016. I took the classroom Kaplan course and I am doing all the online stuff. My Diagnostic Exam was a 65%, Q Banks 59.2% with 1350 questions total complete there. I only have around 500 unsused questions left. My q4-q7 trainer average was a 62.75%. I also use U-World because their rationales rock. I have done around 800 questions in there and my average is a 62%. I know I have to still do the Kaplan Readiness Exam and the other 4 tests. MY question is. HOW AM I LOOKING? Thanks in advance please be honest.
I can't speak for anything Kaplan related, but my UWorld average was 62% and here I am, a registered nurse! :) Please keep doing UWorld questions! And remember to stop and take a break if you start to notice yourself making little mistakes that lead you to get a practice question wrong.
Thank you for sharing! I've been using UWorld mostly and was a little discouraged when I saw everyone else reading entire books on content. But I've been doing very well on UWorld and it's given me a little more confidence than I had before. This post has also given me much more encouragement.
Thank you for sharing! I've been using UWorld mostly and was a little discouraged when I saw everyone else reading entire books on content. But I've been doing very well on UWorld and it's given me a little more confidence than I had before. This post has also given me much more encouragement.
Thanks again and congratulations!
I personally cannot just sit down and read books of content. Doing that would have not helped me at all! Keep doing UWorld. I hope you get to take your test soon and get it over with! UWorld makes NCLEX a much better experience.
I just did Hurst and Uworld (only did about 700 questions) and I took about 25 min with 75 questions and got my pass too
Dang speed racer! Only 25 minutes?! I don't doubt you! There was a girl in my class at school who was always done with 50 question tests in 15-20 minutes and she almost always got A's. My brain doesn't allow me to decide that quickly lol.
ravenpuff, BSN, RN
44 Posts
I am also a B student. I take my NCLEX next week and bought the 6 month subscription.
However, looking back, I would have purchased the one-month instead because for the past couple of weeks, I've been using Uworld as a "mock NCLEX" exam by doing two 75-item exams per day (the program limits the tester to 75 items at a time) to help get me into a test-taking groove.
That's just me though, and take my words with a grain of salt because I am still an NCLEX virgin. I will say though, Uworld has been more helpful than Saunder and Lippincott (the other two resources I have used to supplement my studies) because the questions are harder and the rationale have virtually eliminated the need for me to consult my nursing textbooks. There are lots of posts here on Allnurses attesting to Uworld's excellent prep and correlation with NCLEX success. I am determined to write one of those posts soon enough!