NCLEX Prep Course -- can you make it without them?

[la bellota]

Well let me start my thread on a happy note.

I did it. I graduated. I even graduated top of my class. And I feel pretty good. Especially since I had to work full time during school and I am a single mama. (Thank God for miracles that helped me through)

Now it will be time for NCLEX very soon.

I don't think I will be able to afford the Kaplan review. All the money I saved had to go to emergencies.

I don't believe I will be staying in the area so the likelihood of getting a hospital to pay for the NCLEX prep course is less likely.

Act of the desperate.....I have signed up to every stupid website offering the chance of winning the Kaplan review.

Barring a miracle....and I hope that there will be a miracle....

I don't think I will be getting a review.

So my question is this......

Can it be done without the review? If I put my nose to the grindstone, do my saunders book religiously, study hard......is it possible that I can pass?

Is there anyone out there who has done it without the benefit of a NCLEX review of some type?

Can it be done?

I am so nervous and so scared. But I keep thinking I made it this far.....can I make it to the finish line on myself alone? :uhoh21:

I think if it can be done....I will do it. I just need to know that it can or has been.

Thank you so much.

[marilynmom, LPN, NP]

I graduate in 2 weeks and don't plan on taking a prep class (I can't afford one first of all!). I bought the Kaplan strategy guide and will buy the new Saunders book and that is my plan....and I think I will do just fine!

[EagerlyAwaiting5208]

I just passed the NCLEX yesterday (4/23) and I never went to a review course. I bought the Kaplan strategy book (~ $30) and I studied from Saunders, mostly. I couldn't afford the Kaplan complete review, but I still passed. :)

Where did you purchase the Kaplan strategy book?

[EagerlyAwaiting5208]

I started following Suzanne's plan but I do not want to send her an email yet because I graduate on May 2nd and I can not pick a date to sit for NCLEX until my school sends proof that I have graduated from nursing school. According to Suzanne's posting if you do not include your NCLEX test date she will not add you to her program. I am days away from completing tip #1, What should I do? Send her a pm and explain that I do not have a date or just wait for a date. The coordinator at my nursing school says it should take 2-3 weeks(due to paperwork) before I can actually pick a date to sit for NCLEX. I want to study and since I've heard so many great things about Suzanne's program I would love to do that. But I need tip#2 to continue. What should I do??? Help me

[la bellota, BSN, RN]

Thank you all for the encouragement. I can tell you it has certainly helped.

I am scheduled for the NCLEX on May 29 which is soon than I had hoped but necessary.

I am trying Suzanne's plan. I was halfway thru my book when I realized there was a new one out there. argh.

BUT I am glad that I bought the new one. Seems like the focus may have changed.

As far as you not having your ATT yet. I am not sure what to say. BUT I can tell you this....I graduated two weeks ago and I got my ATT and my 90 day letter yesterday. woot.

What I might suggest....and I am not sure this is the best suggestion, we will have to know from Suzanne, is keep taking the Practice exams on the CD. That is what I would do.

We can do this you guys....hang in there and let me know how you come out.

[MaliahLinnea]

Wow.. I am so happy that I found this thread.. I graduate school this May, and Kaplan and Drexel came to our school trying to sell their product.. Of course, they make it seem like no can pass NCLEX with out their help... But I just don't feel like spending the money..and I feel that I can do it on my own....

I have several of friends that have graduated nursing school, including my own mother, whom swears by Kaplan...and that they couldn't have done it with out...

I am just so confused on what to do...

Well I wish everyone the best of luck....

[ShiphrahPuah]

Just another note of encouragement from someone who passed the NCLEX in 75 questions without taking a review course. I bought the Saunders review book and made myself study every day until I took the test. It was less boring to work through the practice tests and look at the rationales for questions I missed than to study the content in the book. I looked through my class notes and index cards I made during school for content I needed help remembering since it stuck in my head better looking at it the way I studied it the first time through. I flipped through content for about a half an hour every day and then took tests on the CD for at least an hour, often longer, every day for about six weeks since that felt more active than just staring at notes. I borrowed a Kaplan strategy book from the library and just flipped through it. Everyone who I spoke with who took a review course said it was ONLY about strategies and NOT about reviewing any content. Few people I know who took the review course thought it was was worth the money. Basically, remember the ABCs and Maslow, watch out for and avoid answers that do not gramatically fit the question stem, etc. Best wishes to you. It gets boring and sometimes overwhelming to study for the NCLEX, but look at it as the very last leg of this race and put everything you can into sprinting to the finish line.

[PhillyBSN]

Did you study Saunders from the beginning of the book? Or did you just review one content area at a time?

[Maliffy]

I graduated in December 2008 and took the NCLEX-RN on January 9th, a month before the Kaplan review that my school PAID for. I don't know why they thought anyone would want to wait a month and THEN take a 3 week review and THEN take the NCLEX. :angryfire I just could not make myself wait.

I passed in 75 questions. The whole thing took about an hour from check-in to crying in the car. I was convinced I failed. The "powers that be" do make it sound like it is impossible to pass without a review course, and that you HAVE to study 12 hours a day for weeks and weeks to even have a shot at passing, but that's not true.

I highly reccommend 2 things if you are going to go it alone...

1. Get the Kaplan "Stratiges" guide for the NCLEX. It has a lot of interesting information about the questions in it. The first chapter is actually dedicated solely to figuring out *** the question is actually asking, which isn't always as clear as you would hope. It also has a bunch of good practice questions in it that were WAY more similar to the NCLEX than ATI or ERI.

2. There are TONS of review questions scattered around online, make use of them.

Oh yeah, and a good hefty does of BELIEVE IN YOURSELF helps too. Graduating from nursing school is no small accomplishment. You didn't get through nursing school on your looks...well, I didn't anyway. :chuckle

[kathy1219]

Hi, I need help! I have been trying to pass the nclex rn (3rd time) I have studied everything!!! cards, books, cd's, i know the info but cant seem to pass.. I have the saunders book now because everyone says it the best but I have no confidence anymore... any tips?? I would appreciate any advice and help thanks. Kathy

[caliotter3]

There are lots of posts in the NCLEX forum about how people go about preparing. Most of them involve doing questions and studying the rationales. You have to make up your mind to put in the work that is necessary.