National Council? prep course?

FarmgrrlRN · Jun 6, 2005

Hi Margaret,

I signed up for the 3 week course last week. I've found this course more challenging (the questions are) than those I've seen with Saunders (Silvestri's Questions) and Mosby's...

I'm satisfied with the course so far. I've found the rationales for the test answers too short (i.e. not telling me why my answer is wrong, only telling me why the correct answer is correct) and many typos (just unprofessional IMO). On the other side of the coin, there are many practice quizzes concentrating on all areas of NCLEX on top of the tests you take at the end of each module (10 modules).

jlp2778 · Jun 19, 2005

Hi Margaret,
I signed up for the 3 week course last week. I've found this course more challenging (the questions are) than those I've seen with Saunders (Silvestri's Questions) and Mosby's...
I'm satisfied with the course so far. I've found the rationales for the test answers too short (i.e. not telling me why my answer is wrong, only telling me why the correct answer is correct) and many typos (just unprofessional IMO). On the other side of the coin, there are many practice quizzes concentrating on all areas of NCLEX on top of the tests you take at the end of each module (10 modules).

I just finished the NCSBN review and found it challenging---scored mostly 65-75% on the tests----a fellow classmate just took the NCLEX and all she did was the NCSBN review and she passed with 75 questions. She was scoring 45% on a lot of the practice tests. SHe said the NCLEX questions aren't as hard as those on the NCSBN review. Hope this helps. jess

Miltonrn · Jun 19, 2005

Has anyone done the ncsbn (National Council of State Boards of Nursing) on-line prep course at http://www.learningext.com/
One of our instructors told us that these are the people who actually write the questions for the NCLEX. I don't know if that's true or not.
So, does anyone have any experience with this? Any results? Thoughts? Pros or Cons?
thanks,
Margaret (NCLEX on June 29th)

Hey Margaret,

I used the on-line prep course that you mentioned and found it very,very beneficial and was a reasonable cost. I signed up for the 7 week class and studied 2 hours a day for 6 out of the seven weeks. I bounced back and forth from Lippencot, Saunders, Davis, and the web site for study material. I found the pretest, random test questions to be very beneficial on the web. I practiced the review questions as if it was the actual NCLEX and played particular attention to the rational behind each question when I reviewed the test. I read most of the content but there was a lot to look at. I scored 111 on the pretest and scheduled my NCLEX when I had accuracy of 80% on all other areas or higher. It worked for me. Passed at 75 questions, all of which were had.

Hope this isn't Too Much Information (TMI) and that it is helpful.

E-mail if you have any other questions.

Lisa RN

jlp2778 · Jun 19, 2005

Hey Margaret,
I used the on-line prep course that you mentioned and found it very,very beneficial and was a reasonable cost. I signed up for the 7 week class and studied 2 hours a day for 6 out of the seven weeks. I bounced back and forth from Lippencot, Saunders, Davis, and the web site for study material. I found the pretest, random test questions to be very beneficial on the web. I practiced the review questions as if it was the actual NCLEX and played particular attention to the rational behind each question when I reviewed the test. I read most of the content but there was a lot to look at. I scored 111 on the pretest and scheduled my NCLEX when I had accuracy of 80% on all other areas or higher. It worked for me. Passed at 75 questions, all of which were had.
Hope this isn't Too Much Information (TMI) and that it is helpful.
E-mail if you have any other questions.
Lisa RN

WOW!! Did you say 111 on the pretest? You must know your stuff. Most people I know are scoring between 65-80% on all areas. Good job. Did you find the NCLEX questions similar--I heard that they aren't as hard? Again...congrats. jess:balloons:

Miltonrn · Jun 20, 2005

WOW!! Did you say 111 on the pretest? You must know your stuff. Most people I know are scoring between 65-80% on all areas. Good job. Did you find the NCLEX questions similar--I heard that they aren't as hard? Again...congrats. jess:balloons:

The way learningext.com starts is with a 150 pretest of which I had 111 correct (74%). I can see how my original post could have been misleading - thanks for the heads up:p. I found the NCLEX questions similar in style; however, I thought the difficulty was challenging. If I would have read the NCLEX canidate bullitin page 15 before taking the NCLEX I would have been more at ease. It states"The candidate's ability estimate is based upon both the percentage of items answered correctly (approximetely 50% in most cases) and the difficulty of the items that were administered." I felt confident during the test until, about question 46, then the difficulty seemed to double for me. Had I known about the 50% answered correctly I wouldn't have been so anxious as I was researching the "questionable" selections I had made and awaiting my results. Thanks for the congrats. Best of luck to you. If ya want any more info just let me know.

Lis RN

Christi321 · Jun 20, 2005

I have not taken my boards yet, I take them in two days:uhoh21: . But my teacher strongly recommended to use the learningext.com prep course. Most of my class also used it and so far everyone that used it in my class has passed easily. The questions are very very difficult and I have heard more difficult than the boards. The reason this course works so well is it gets you to use your critical thinking (which is the most important thing when taking the boards). From everyone who took the boards they all said the same thing, its not about what you know as much as it is about how you can think. Like eliminating the answers that are incorrect and narrowing it down and ultimately being able to pick the right answer. If you can study intensely I would suggest doing the three week course bc I paid for the seven week one, but really only used it the last three weeks and got through it fine. Also my teacher told us not to spend our time on the lecture information, unless it is a section that you need help in. Do the questions because you will get more out of using them for practice than trying to cram your brain right before boards.

Sorry this is sooo long:rolleyes:

I'll let you know how I ultimately feel about the course after I take the boards..and pray for me!

Christi

p.s. Don't feel stupid if you score anywhere from 50-80%, most of the people that passed the boards scored that way:)

shyne · Jun 20, 2005

I've been studying with Saunder's/Kaplan review books and is scheduled for the nclex next thursday. Do you guys think that it would be too late to sign up for this course at the last minute?

ManyRN2B · Jun 21, 2005

Christi,

Thanks for all your advice. I had planned on taking the course from NCSBN but hearing what you have to say makes me feel even better about my decision.

Thanks and good luck at the boards!!!! Sounds like you will do fine!

CaseyNJ · Jun 21, 2005

i do 200-300 ?s every day but i think maybe i should do a class like this too.

you would recommend this over the hurst review?

ManyRN2B · Jun 21, 2005

Casey,

I took the hurst review and loved it! It was excellent and well worth the money. I'm going to do the NCSBN once I receive my ATT to practice more challenging questions. I think it's up to you. Hurst really helps with content knowledge. If you think you need more content review, I would do Hurst.

Christi321 · Jun 24, 2005

I wrote earlier and said that I liked the learningext.com review but couldn't say for sure till I took the test. Well I took the test on 6/21 and found out today I passed! But having taken the test I would reccomend it. It helps you use your critical thinking skills. So this paired with something with content review (like saunders) I think works very well. Two days before the test a friend told me to look at Kaplan RN success for ways to think through questions. I know this is cheap, but since it was only two days before I took the test I went to Borders and read threw the ways to think through a question. I found this helpfull and made me feel more confident because it emphasizes that its not about what you know (bc you can't know everything) it's more about whether you can think through a question. I didn't practice the questions..so I would recommend doing what I did (it's cheaper). But if you use those ways during the nclex review I think it would help a lot.

Good luck to all of you!

Christi