Hello AN,
I found out that I passed my NCLEX this week, I got 75 questions. I used this site (like most of us) to get clues, confidence, past experiences, and what not on how to tackle and pass NCLEX. I am so thankful for all those who posted who they passed and what worked for them because this guided me in my studies.
I mainly used Kaplan to study, I did all the question trainers and about 700 of the Qbank questions, I wanted to do more but ran out of time. After every test, I reviewed the rationales and wrote notes on things that were new or things that i got right but for the wrong reason, although I read every single rationale. I didn't like Kaplan's content as much so I watched the Hurst videos (one time) and I obtained most of my content from that. I also used Saunders 5th ed (yellow book) to read on some things and I actually ended up using this a lot as well, especially to write notes regarding my rationales.
When I took NCLEX, I was nervous but I felt good throughout the test. I remember what XNavyCorpsMan (I hope that's right, sorry) said about NCLEX not being a difficult test, you just have to think about the answers. And he was right, I really did not think that NCLEX was super hard, especially after doing so many questions from Kaplan which were super hard to me. I also used LaCharity and Lippincott alternate format questions. I got a lot of priority questions and LaCharity book was awesome for that, and their rationales were good. I left the testing center feeling confident, but then felt guilty about feeling confident (weird huh?) and started thinking that I must have done horrible to fail at 75.
The wait for quick results was the worst part, especially because my results were on hold so the PVT wasn't telling me anything. It was torture, I had to wait four days to get QR (as I tested on a Friday afternoon) but I surely passed.
My advice to everyone getting ready to take NCLEX is to do practice questions, read the rationales because this is reviewing content, and be confident that you will pass. I also prayed a lot, and I prayed for almost every single question on my test. And I do believe that God helped me. Also, don't rush through the test, you want to finish and only take the test once. There is no point in rushing. I was always a fast test taker, but I was not playing around with this test
Lastly, thank you for reading and thank you to all of those who posted their stories too, which in a way helped me pass!!!!!!!!!!!!!