Uggghhh!!! Hurst vs Kaplan

Students NCLEX

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Ok. I have a dilemma. I was at a job fair for my college and I graduate in May. Earlier in the semester we had Hurst representative come in who seemed really good and signed up for it. I have 150 $ left to pay and Its in may. It was scheduled at a hospital in May but they rescheduled it a week before at a place called Shriner's. Never heard of it and it irritated me a bit. Its 350

At the job fair Kaplan was there and the guy seemed desperate to get us to register. He wants to beat Hurst out here and started discounting it from 350 to 299 with a refundable 50 dollar deposit. I was confused which one to do. Kaplan has a huge test bank and other students were telling me Kaplan was better. But i heard from others Hurst is.

I have three choices. Cancel Kaplan and keep Hurst. Cancel Hurst and Keep Kaplan. Or do both of them.

I have no idea which is better. What do your recommend?:no:

mshessle

92 Posts

Specializes in NICU, Public Health.

Just stick with Hurst. They are both good reviews. After taking the nclex, I kind of regret wasting the money for a review. I don't think there is any way beyond nursing school to prepare for it. You'll be fine either way.

RNtobeinSoCal

61 Posts

Hurst & Kaplan have very different techniques and approaches. I took Hurst & it gave a MUCH better understanding of core content - I should've taken this during nursing school! The advantage here is that no matter what the question is, if you know the core content, you'll be OK. They also do give tips & techniques for studying. My HESI exit score was great- well above class & national average. Kaplan has their test taking techniques. Some of my classmates love it, some hated it. Kaplan is a HUGE company and is owned by The Washington Post, which is why they can discount it. But the prices are in the same neighborhood. Personally, a larger Qbank doesn't do it for me - don't we all have thousands of Qs from all our NCLEX study guides? Best of luck to you!

diana2520

539 Posts

Hurst & Kaplan have very different techniques and approaches. I took Hurst & it gave a MUCH better understanding of core content - I should've taken this during nursing school! The advantage here is that no matter what the question is, if you know the core content, you'll be OK. They also do give tips & techniques for studying. My HESI exit score was great- well above class & national average. Kaplan has their test taking techniques. Some of my classmates love it, some hated it. Kaplan is a HUGE company and is owned by The Washington Post, which is why they can discount it. But the prices are in the same neighborhood. Personally, a larger Qbank doesn't do it for me - don't we all have thousands of Qs from all our NCLEX study guides? Best of luck to you!

i agree they are both good review course but Hurst is great with core content. and yes all these books we own :) have a lot of questions to review, most important is understanding the content and reading rationals....

nursetaminator

145 Posts

Hurst & Kaplan have very different techniques and approaches. I took Hurst & it gave a MUCH better understanding of core content - I should've taken this during nursing school! The advantage here is that no matter what the question is, if you know the core content, you'll be OK. They also do give tips & techniques for studying. My HESI exit score was great- well above class & national average. Kaplan has their test taking techniques. Some of my classmates love it, some hated it. Kaplan is a HUGE company and is owned by The Washington Post, which is why they can discount it. But the prices are in the same neighborhood. Personally, a larger Qbank doesn't do it for me - don't we all have thousands of Qs from all our NCLEX study guides? Best of luck to you!

I'd have to second this. I did Hurst bc I needed the review of core content. Both of them seem to be good review companies.

NewGoalRN

602 Posts

I did Kaplan and I'm doing Hurst.

Differences

Kaplan

Good test taking strategies,

Huge Test Bank

videos for Core content- but boring

Hurst

Videos/Audio for core content

Book that accompanies this

Each video/audio has a part in the bbok that you fill out blanks as you watch or listen to the review

Some questions but not alot

I loved the video/audio part of Hurst. I am a good student but I needed to be motivated. Graduated last Dec and still hadn't taken the NCLEX. I needed the review because my mind wonders as I read and I couldn't see myself reading lots of content.

Filling in the book reinforces as you either watch or listen to the video/audio

The information is presented in an easy/simple bite size manner so it made it easier to understand than going back to my Potter or Lewis Med surge book

If I had to choose one, I'd probably say Hurst for the content review because if you don'tknow content, it handicaps you for answering questions. Kaplan does have a video review but it's very cut and dry and boring. Didn't hold my interest.

Kaplan I attened was a 4day seminar. my mistake was registering so close to the seminar so I didn't have time to really study the book and do several tests in advance. You take a pre test 165 or 180 questions before the seminar and a post test , same # of questions after the seminar. They also have 7 test banks ranging from 75-200 questions then a 1300 test bank.

I have to say going over questions each day of the seminar and looking at strategies helped. If you don't need a core reveiw, go with Kaplan, if you need core review and aren't motivated to study content, do Hurst then do questions from a NCLEX book.

Both are good just different approaches.

p.s Hurst presenters have a souther twang that does get annoying, lol I got tired ofhearing ' y'all' for about themillionet time.

NewGoalRN

602 Posts

Meant to say I didn't attend Hurst, I got it from a friend but they went to the 3 day seminar at Hurst. If you have a budy, you can share Hurst. i believe they provide for an extension of the online content if you pay.

I really really like their online content review. It's too the point, lively and presented in a way that is simple to understand.

Even something like Fluid Volume Excess/Devicit, Fluid and Electrolytes, Cardiac are usually hard topics for students to grasp. Hurst realy made it easy for me to understand and REMEMBER

Specializes in Hospice Care, Med/Surg.
Ok. I have a dilemma. I was at a job fair for my college and I graduate in May. Earlier in the semester we had Hurst representative come in who seemed really good and signed up for it. I have 150 $ left to pay and Its in may. It was scheduled at a hospital in May but they rescheduled it a week before at a place called Shriner's. Never heard of it and it irritated me a bit. Its 350 At the job fair Kaplan was there and the guy seemed desperate to get us to register. He wants to beat Hurst out here and started discounting it from 350 to 299 with a refundable 50 dollar deposit. I was confused which one to do. Kaplan has a huge test bank and other students were telling me Kaplan was better. But i heard from others Hurst is. I have three choices. Cancel Kaplan and keep Hurst. Cancel Hurst and Keep Kaplan. Or do both of them. I have no idea which is better. What do your recommend?:no:
I used Sylvia Raffield and Associates. She is AWESOME! Her Pharmacology Made Insanely Easy and Nursing Made Insanely Easy is GREAT! She has an online feed along with the live review. You guys should check her out! She has a 99 % pass rate!

MacIntoshMOM

3 Posts

When I was getting close to finishing nursing school it hit me… I have a HUGE test to take and I am not prepared. I decided to ask for Hurst and Kaplan for Christmas presents to help me be prepared. Here are my scores for Kaplan and Hurst. I found the combination perfect! Hurst was a great content review and Kaplan was good for strategy. Is it worth the money? Yes... I think you can never be too prepared for a test. We spent valuable time and effort in nursing school, I did everything in my power to prevent wasting more time!!

Kaplan

Diagnostic 58

Readiness 69

Qt1 63

Qt2 63

Qt3 59

Qt4 69

Qt5 67

Qt6 67

Qt7 66

Q bank average 57 , 100% completed

Hurst

#1 87/125

#2 98/125

#3 90/125

#4 84/125

#5 95/125

#6 79/125 (tired and distracted)

I know that my scores are not perfect, but I’m confident that I will help someone out there like me that worries about their scores. I passed. Computer shut off after 75 questions and the pearson vue trick gave me the good pop up… my name was on the BRN after 2 days.

sjsch

16 Posts

Specializes in tele,cviu.

PLEASE- ANYONE READING THIS- DO NOT 'Share with your buddy' your Hurst - or Kaplan - or ATI - or any of the review companies' online access!!!!

That is stealing! You click an agreement when you register any of these review courses that offer online access stating you agree not to share. DO NOT be the one that gets prosecuted for such an offense!!! The material they provide for a fee has a copyright for intellectual property. DO NOT give your license away before you even get it! Think about it people! You are hoping to go into a profession where ethics are everything. Don't do it!

sjsch

16 Posts

Specializes in tele,cviu.
Feb 16, '12 by [COLOR=#003366]NewGoalRN Meant to say I didn't attend Hurst, I got it from a friend but they went to the 3 day seminar at Hurst. If you have a budy, you can share Hurst. i believe they provide for an extension of the online content if you pay.

PLEASE- ANYONE READING THIS- DO NOT 'Share with your buddy' your Hurst - or Kaplan - or ATI - or any of the review companies' online access!!!!

That is stealing! You click an agreement when you register any of these review courses that offer online access stating you agree not to share. DO NOT be the one that gets prosecuted for such an offense!!! The material they provide for a fee has a copyright for intellectual property. DO NOT give your license away before you even get it! Think about it people! You are hoping to go into a profession where ethics are everything. Don't do it!

pfaceliz

41 Posts

Specializes in Psych and urology.

Hurst is awesome ...

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