Passed the NCLEX-RN in 75 Q's on my 4th attempt (Long version!)

Hello everyone!

I told myself when I passed the NCLEX that I would come back to this website and share what I did on each of my attempts that led me to be successful. I took the NCLEX April 10, 2017 for the state of Illinois. 48 hours later, I found out I passed the exam in 75 questions on my 4th attempt. Here's how I did it, what was on my test, and my overall experience!

First attempt: I graduated in May 2015 and took the summer off to work and make money. I didn't even think about nursing all summer. I took the NCLEX August 2015 and failed in 75 questions. Go figures because I barely did any studying for it. I literally did one or two practice tests on my Kaplan Integrated Program account from my nursing school. I did pretty well in school, so I figured I already knew everything I needed to know... guess not!

Second attempt: I decided to give my Kaplan account another go and make more use of it. I barely went over content, as Kaplan believes more in strategies than reviewing content. Sure enough, I failed again but this time, in 265 questions. Let me tell you... Kaplan does NOT work! It only teaches you testing strategies and not how to be a safe, practicing nurse in the future.

Third attempt: I purchased the Hurst online review course. I went through each lecture twice and really made sure I knew the content. Hurst only provides you with a couple hundred questions, so I purchased the UWorld question bank. I didn't utilize it as much as I should have. I took the test a 3rd time and failed again in 265. At this point I was so done and felt like giving up. I took a couple months off of studying for the NCLEX and thought about what in the world I needed to do to pass this test. Here's what led me to pass the NCLEX...

Fourth attempt: I knew that I couldn't tackle this NCLEX exam head on alone. I started googling NCLEX tutors and it brought me to a website where I found my NCLEX tutor, called Wyzant. I met with my tutor twice a week for about 6 months. We used every book under the sun, Saunders content review, Lippincott Q&A, Lacharity PDA, Saunders comp review, literally every NCLEX book under the sun. She had me read the content on my own, then we would go over it together, then she would give me tons of questions for home work related to that material. If I did well on the exams, then she knew I understood the material. If not, then we would remediate. There was a point when she told me I was ready to take the exam. I registered for the test and we did comprehensive review for 2 weeks. And sure enough a couple weeks later I passed the NCLEX in 75 questions!

I understand not everyone has the means to hire a tutor, but it's possible! I worked hard to make money while I was studying for my tutor so I could pay for it. Also, do your research! There are plenty of NCLEX tutors out there, you just have to look. It is so worth it and so rewarding looking back on the experience.

As far as the actual exam goes, I took my sweet time on each question. They give you a little white board to use and I wrote out each question and all of its answers, and from there really thought about what the answer could be. I had an exhibit question, a drag and drop about blood transfusions, no math, no EKG, about 20 SATA (I'm surprised I didn't have more), and a lot of priority questions. A lot of people say they walk out of the exam feeling like they failed, but I actually felt really confident about it. That scared me a little bit, but turns out I just really knew my stuff. And it was seriously all thanks to my tutor.

Like I said earlier, I did decent in nursing school, but my tutor taught me things I NEVER learned in nursing school. If I can pass this darn test, then anyone out there can! Best of luck to all you future NCLEX test takers! :)