NCLEX success - UWorld vs ATI

[respRN]

It has been a little over a month since I took my NCLEX, and I really thought that it would be beneficial to share my study plan as I think back to how I felt prior to my test.

I went to a two year RN diploma program, not a BSN program. The main resource my school stressed to the students was ATI. We took the comprehensive predictor just before graduation, and we were provided a study guide based on our results. ATI gave me a 50% chance of passing my NCLEX on the first time (absolutely ridiculous), which while I felt was rather inaccurate, also made me feel much less confident in my abilities. This comprehensive predictor can't be anywhere near accurate, because I know several people in my graduating class who received 95-99% chances of passing on the first time and did NOT pass their boards. We also received a 3 day "comprehensive live NCLEX review" with an ATI representative that was brought to our school.

I personally felt that ATI was not helpful at all and did nothing to prepare me for what the test was actually like. The questions on ATI were too straight forward and knowledge based when compared to the questions I got on my NCLEX exam. If I had relied soley on ATI for my preparation, I am fairly confident I would not have passed the first time - which is scary considering this is the only resource that my school and it's teachers really pushed for us to use.

After graduation, I took a nice vacation for about two weeks and let myself take a break from studying. I had a job already lined up for a little over a month after my graduation date - so I was keeping in mind I needed to take my test fairly soon. After my vacation - I got on the website one day to schedule my test. I chose a date about 2.5 weeks away and that same day I purchased UWorld (one month access for $59.99). I had done research and read many reviews on the content between different programs for NCLEX prep - such as Kaplan vs UWorld, along with some others. I had personal recommendations made to me for UWorld, so that along with my research findings is why I felt UWorld was best for me.

I can wholeheartedly say I have never made such a practical decision, because the UWorld program was set up exactly like my test as far as format. The questions were perhaps even a little more challenging than what I was given on my NCLEX. I completed a total of 1100 of the UWorld questions by the time I went to sit for my exam (I believe there are just over 2000 questions in the entire UWorld bank). I passed my test with 80 questions, and was in and out of the building within 1.5 hours. UWorld made my NCLEX experience less stressful than I anticipated, and I felt prepared and confident when I went in for my test. I would recommend it to anyone studying for their test, even if you don't have weeks on end to study - this program helps tremendously.

[pmabraham, BSN, RN]

While I use ATI and uWorld, if I had to pick between them, uWorld hands down. The rationales for uWorld are fabulous; and, many of the rationales include charts, diagrams, and pictures to help make things very clear.