NCLEX coming up

Graduatenurse14 · Jul 13, 2014

Your scores are excellent! Much better than mine and now my Qbank ones are going down the more I study and more questions I do! I am very, very nervous!! I get serious serious, serious tachycardia! I think you'll great!!

vanessaem, BSN, RN · Jul 14, 2014

I've yet to see anyone scoring in the 40s and 50s making threads like this. You have dream scores so I'm not sure what's your worry. I got mostly in the 50s on the Qbanks, could count on one hand how many 60s I got, two scores in the high 40s, my overall average was a 57, there were particular areas where I used to get 30% and I still passed Nclex on the first try. Am I proud of my poor showings in some of the Kaplan exams? No but it is what it is. Funny enough the area where I was the most weak, "Reduction of Risk Potential", there were a cluster of questions on this subject toward the end of my exam which I apparently got right because the test shut off and of course I passed. So you never know. Just concentrate on your more weak areas and you should be fine.

The general idea as told by my Kaplan instructors was if you score above 60 on QT6 and especially QT7, there's an extremely high possibility you will pass Nclex. I tend to believe this since that was the case for me.

Don't let Nclex or your fear of this exam take over. Know that you are smart enough to conqueror it. Best of luck to you. :)

akulahawkRN, ADN, RN, EMT-P · Jul 14, 2014

As far as your Kaplan scores are concerned, I'll leave it to others that are familiar with them to comment on how well you're doing. I never used them to study for the NCLEX. I used Sauders and NCLEX 4000.

Here's the thing: the day before you take the NCLEX, relax. You might want to do a small number of NCLEX questions to keep your mind primed for answering those kinds of questions, but I really do mean small numbers of questions. Like 25 or something very low. Otherwise, do NOT study. You will NOT be able to cram more info in there and retain it in any meaningful way.

On the day of the exam, make sure you get there about 30 minutes early. Have a small snack and a small amount of something to drink. You just don't want to feel hungry or thirsty during the exam. Choose something that won't spike your blood sugar as that will result in mental lethargy mid-exam and that's no good. Once you're sitting at your computer, you need to consciously relax. You have 6 hours to crush this, so don't rush it. With each question you get, breathe slowly and deeply (like you're using the IS yourself). Read the question and answer it in your head. Then read the answers and see if they match up with what you think the answer was. If so, then you're probably on the right track as to what the question is asking for. Then re-read the question and make sure you're looking for key words and phrases. Then re-read all the answers, and disregard any that are obviously wrong. Then choose the most correct answer and move on to the next question.

Once you've moved on, forget the question. It's in the past and you can't change it. Don't worry about the next question because it hasn't been chosen yet. The only question that matters is the one that's right in front of you right now.

With the other types of questions, the basic idea still applies. Slow down, breathe, read the question, figure out what you really are being asked to do, do it, then move on.

Don't expect for the computer to shut off at 75. Expect to go the full 265 and the full 6 hours. You could have been randomly chosen to go 265 regardless of actual pass/fail performance. If it does shut off at 75, well you have a pretty definitive answer of pass/fail. If you go 76 or more, you're in the game still because you haven't been conclusively determined to have passed or failed, so just keep on doing one question at a time until the computer shuts off. If you get close to the end of time, just forget the clock and go at your speed because if you rush, you'll likely choose wrong answers and that could cause you to fail. Just make sure that you're >75 questions before the clock runs out or you will fail.

This exam will be hard and it will ask you some questions you don't know the answers to. It's designed to do that to find the limits of your ability. Doesn't matter if you get a question you have no "effing" clue about what the answer is... you have to answer it, so do the steps above, think through the question about what it's actually asking you, and do it. When the computer shuts off, breathe. You can't change the past, so let it be. Go do something else for a while. I went to get some coffee and checked the PVT then...

And remember that while the PVT is pretty darned accurate, your exam has to be scored twice before it's final. Only the very marginal pass/fail results will be the exams that change the PVT status after that 2nd scoring is done. That's likely why the PVT isn't 100% accurate right after the exam and it's also why if you get the CC page, don't pay for a new exam quite yet. Don't really celebrate or feel too crushed until you either get your Quick Results or you get your OFFICIAL results (your license shows up) or the CPR shows up in the mail.

buspar · Jul 14, 2014

ur scores are pretty good. I have no doubt that you will pass :)

jennirnbsn · Jul 18, 2014

Thank you so much everyone for your advice, especially you, akulahawnRN. Hoping to return here soon as an RN, BSN.

laKrugRN · Jul 19, 2014

You'll be just fine. My scores were much worse than those and I passed in 95 questions. You sound like you are studying enough. Good luck! :) Let us know!

nktxo · Jul 19, 2014

Hi, I recently made a post on July 18, 2014 titled "Took Kaplan and passed NCLEX with 75 questions". My scores were:

Diagnostic Exam: 57%

Readiness Test: 57%

QT1: 61.33%

QT2: 51%

QT3: 52%

QT4: 54%

QT5: 93%

QT6: 80%

QT7: 50%

QT7 retake after reviewing rationales a week later: 98%

Sample Test 1: 52%

Sample Test 2: 56%

Sample Test 3 All Priority: 83%

Sample Test 4 All Alternative: 40%

Qbank completed: 100%

Qbank average range: 76-84%

Qbank scores range: 46-98%

I feel like your scores are pretty good. Kaplan recommends 60% on those exams because it's their standards but I know 50%+ is ok. What helped me is actually going back and reviewing the rationales because I understood more about why certain answers are wrong and why certain answers are right. The rationales also helped me retain content information since I don't retain anything by studying prep books. I just watched the content videos and made sure I understood what was being presented. Good luck!