Nclex experience 2014

[smileyface123]

Hello,

I've been reading testimonials and discussions on this site for quite some time now. I must say that everyone here is very helpful and supportive. So, I hope that my experience would also help future nclex takers.

Well, I recently graduated May 2014 and schedule my exam second week of September. However, I only started studying rigorously around first week of August. Here are the resources that I used :

1. Kaplan - expensive but worth it. Good for strategy.Did all the Qbank questions and averaged

around 61%,

Qtrainers

q1 53.3 %

q2 66.7 %

q3 52 %

q4 57.3 %

q5 55.3 %

q6 63 %

q7 60%

I did qtrainer 2 weeks before my exam. Be sure to give your best on q6 and q7 because

those are higher level questions and do all their rationales regardless of whether you

got it right or wrong

2. Hurst - good for content.

3. Review Center - If you need to refresh your content material. ( btw, if you live around MD I

suggest you go to this review center at greenbelt )

Tip: I stopped studying a week before my test to reduce my anxiety. Also, I stay away from caffeine to decrease my nervouseness. I just scan through my notes and did like 10 questions a day just to keep my brain working.

Exam day: Had enough sleep for like 6hrs, ate breakfast and lunch, then went to the test center for my 2pm exam. The test center was not really what I pictured in mind, it's very quiet and had around 10 test cubicles. The moment I started the test, my brain just went blank! the whole time I was taking the test I couldnt remeber anything. I just used the elimination method and made used of kaplan's decision tree to answer the questions. I had lots of SATA, prioritization and infection control. Most of my questions, i was like "what the heck is this" or "how should i know". I was given a break at question 70, then after coming back, I sat down and did few more questions, that time I was praying that it wouldnt shut off at 75 cuz I know I wasnt doing well on the previous questions, but it did! Screen turned blue after 75. Then, I got out the center and rushed to my car. Called my mom and broke down to tears. I was certain that I failed that moment. I drove home and tried the pearson vue trick,didnt get the "good pop up" and page went directly to credit card payment. I was stunned, and cried more. 48 hours later, I still purchased the quick result and... TADA!

it says PASS ! i looked up my name on the BON site and there it is.. my name and License num..OFFICIALLY AN RN! yey ! note: Pearson vue trick no longer works ( heard they did some changes, so i guess removing the pop up is one of them)

Tip: I know preparing for nclex is nerve wrecking, especially if you have test taking anxiety. Trust me, cuz i do too. That's why if you know you have that, then do all you can to reduce the anxiety. Whatever works for you. Also, I'm not the brightest in our class and almost was not able to graduate. But hey, I got this far. Just stick with what you know.

Don't forget , the most important tool - Prayer!

if you have some questions or thoughts you would like to share, feel free to post them. Goodluck !

[pdanne01]

I took it yesterday! I had over 20 SATA, like 6 drag and drop and so on. Test went blue after 75 ? playing the waiting game because I am too nervous to do the PVT! With that many SATA, it was brutal.

[smileyface123]

I took it yesterday! I had over 20 SATA, like 6 drag and drop and so on. Test went blue after 75  playing the waiting game because I am too nervous to do the PVT! With that many SATA, it was brutal.

PVT trick is no longer 100% accurate. Let me know how you did on the test. But, for the meantime keep yourself busy to reduce your anxiousness. Remember you did your best, So God will do the rest! :)

[pdanne01]

I didnt have to do PVT... got my results... I PASSED!!!! words cannot describe the emotions i am feeling right now!! guess all those alternate format type questions were a good sign!

[wsoxgirl2008]

Thanks for posting this! I got a 68% on qt6 and a 69% on qt 7 but I am testing tomorrow and still freaking!

[bhumipatel2004]

i am in MD gave twice at 8am to pearson vue at baltimore still have to give again. how did u study?

[smileyface123]

I didnt have to do PVT... got my results... I PASSED!!!! words cannot describe the emotions i am feeling right now!! guess all those alternate format type questions were a good sign!

Congratulations! go ahead and celebrate ! you deserve it :)

[smileyface123]

Thanks for posting this! I got a 68% on qt6 and a 69% on qt 7 but I am testing tomorrow and still freaking!

You have great scores so just relax. Listen to the decision tree once more if you want. When I did my exam, I was calm the whole time, but freaked out big time afterwards. You won't be able to think if you keep doubting yourself. When you get to the test center, keep in mind "you know what you know", so just stick with that. Let me know how it goes. Goodluck!

[smileyface123]

i am in MD gave twice at 8am to pearson vue at baltimore still have to give again. how did u study?

Did you do a self evaluation ? Ask yourself if you lack on content? or test taking strategy?

For me, I lack on both ( on top of that, I have to manage my test taking anxiety). I needed to refresh my content that's why I went to this review center at greenbelt. It's a two week program which has focus review on each system. They also give practice tests everyday. Then, when i felt comfortable with my content, I went over kaplan qbank and did questions

( i did qbank during my last sem of nursing school), but I just needed to go over the sections that I felt im lacking. On the fourth week, I did 1 qtrainer per day ( there are 7 qtrainers).

Note: dont go back and forth on your content. When you do content, just do content, then move on with practice test.

How dyou study ?

[bhumipatel2004]

frst time i read content only frm saunders . second time questions frm kplan gd thinking n PDA didnt work.frst time below in all second time 123 quest. 27 SATA below in pharama basic care n health promo, above in psychosocial n near in all other. ds time planning to follow sstudy calender on saunders n work on kplan after done wth content as it expires in november will do questn frm saunders later. wt do u say?thank u

[smileyface123]

frst time i read content only frm saunders . second time questions frm kplan gd thinking n PDA didnt work.frst time below in all second time 123 quest. 27 SATA below in pharama basic care n health promo, above in psychosocial n near in all other. ds time planning to follow sstudy calender on saunders n work on kplan after done wth content as it expires in november will do questn frm saunders later. wt do u say?thank u

Dyou know what kind of learner you are? are you visual, auditory or tactile? for me, Im both visual and auditory. That is why I prefer writing while listening. If you have read the whole saunders the first time, that means reading the book is not enough. You have to take a diff approach. I also read saunders during my last sem of nursing school, but I just couldnt grasp the content no matter how much I try and read. That's when I decided to listen to hurst videos instead.

[cmary]

Took it in mid-June. Highly recommend taking Kaplan. Although I did not find the physical class too worthwhile, the questions and rationales were excellent. I averaged around 60-65% on all of the question trainers and only completed about 60% off the qbank questions (ran out of time). Learning how to approach difficult questions that Kaplan gives throughout its course definitely helped me reach success. Finished in 75 questions!