Need Opinion on my Kaplan Scores! Please!

RN_true12, BSN · May 16, 2015

I think you are going to be fine. However, make sure to do at least 90% of the question bank before your exam. I believe that helped me out so much!

My question trainer scores were not that great...I scored mainly in the 50s, some 60s. My readiness was 52% :no:

THen, I got serious and started doing the question bank, really understanding the rationales for each question (right or wrong), and began to google topics I consistently got wrong, or used Saunders. I did not read a lot of Saunders. Maybe like 25% (or even less), just on areas I kept getting wrong over and over on Kaplan. My scores began to improve dramatically on the question bank. I was consistently scoring over 65+, and I got a few in the 70s and EVEN 80s! I was like WHAAAATTT! haha

I made sure to do as much question bank questions after I finished the trainers and also the 35pg study guide I found on all nurses, plus the nuclex cram sheet I found on google. I did those about 2-3 days before my exam. The day before, I just briefly went over the cram sheet again, but did not do any studying or read any new material or any questions for that matter.

The day of my exam, I ate a good breakfast, took some snacks with me to the test center (that I actually never got to eating). I passed in 75q! I thought the exam was SOOO similar to Kaplan, even a bit easier. I told myself after the first 100 questions I would go eat my snack and go use the restroom, but I never got to that point.

Best of luck to you on your exam! Remember to take each question one at a time! Don't read too much into it, and after you select your answer, go back, read the question and your answer choice again and make sure it makes sense. Sometimes, after reading the numerous choices over and over, it's easy to lose the topic of the question. This approach helped me out tremendously. Don't over-think and ask "what if." Do NOT change your answer what-so-ever unless you are 110% sure you misread the first time around. Your first answer is usually the right one! Good luck dear

Lili305RN · May 18, 2015

Good luck!!!! Let us know if you pass.. I've been scoring around the same and would like to know how was your nclex experience.

ter002 · May 18, 2015

Well, I did the Pearson Vue trick and got the good pop up! Not trying to get my hopes up, but the first time I tested the trick was accurate of my results (as it has been for millions of others), so I'm hoping its the same for this time! This website helped me out tremendously while I was preparing, so I would love to pay it forward by passing on my experiences- from failing the first time and then passing it the second, hopefully making a difference for someone that comes across this thread.

The biggest pieces of advice that I can give you is 1) do practice questions, 2) watch your time, and 3), DON'T STRESS! I know its so much easier said than done because we all care so much about this exam. And the more my friends and family told me to relax the more frustrated I would get. I felt they just didn't understand because they didn't know what I was going through. Talking to my nursing school buddies was always better because I felt like they got it, so take it from a fellow peer: allow yourself time for relax and recharge. I believe it made a huge difference not just on test day, but while I was studying the weeks prior to. I was able to retain a lot more information as well as be more confident while studying, instead of feeling hopeless. The first time I took the NCLEX, I literally studied every single day from the minute I woke up until midnight at night, then would toss and turn in bed for hours with random facts running through my head. The little sleep that I did get was not good sleep. I thought that the more time I spent studying the better my chances for passing, but in reality I never gave my brain a chance to relax so that I could look at material the next day and REALLY soak it in. The second time I prepared, I decided to study about 5 days a week, 5-6 hours a day. It made a huge difference. I went to the gym and ran errands after I woke up, studied a few hours, then forced myself to stop for the day and had a glass of wine at night while I watched TV with my boyfriend for a few hours. The day before my exam I got a massage, then went downtown with some friends for a meal and a few drinks (but don't overdo it). Came home and went to bed, got an amazing night's sleep and woke up feeling great. Being around others is really a great distraction if you need to bring your anxiety levels down.

I can also say that practice questions are what made the difference for me passing. The first time I tested I really only studied content. I read Kaplan's content review book, as well as the long study guide that's floating around on this website. I relearned SO many things that I had forgotten throughout nursing school, but without practicing testing strategies I didn't learn how to utilize the information to critically think. My brain was just full of medical facts, not nursing judgement. So on test day I went into autopilot, picking which ever answer had the most information that I remembered. This time I took about a month off to gather myself after hearing that I had failed, and work so I could save the $300 to retest. After I got the money and set my date, I spent some time reviewing content that I knew I already knew, but definitely needed to freshen up on after taking a long break. Then I reviewed Kaplan's decision tree and REALLY utilized it on my practice questions so that I could train my brain to think the way it should have been the first time. As you can see from my original post, I didn't do that many questions. I did QT 5-7, which are the higher level questions. You HAVE to do some critical thinking to answer these questions; QT 1-4 is mainly good for content review, but if you want to pass the NCLEX these questions aren't gonna do it for you. I did the Diagnostic Exam and Readiness Exam and was pleased with my results on both of those, but don't stress too much about scores. As you can see I didn't do too hot on the Question Trainers, but it really doesn't matter as long as you review the rationales and understand why you got them wrong. Even with scoring in the 50s on the trainers, I passed with 75 questions! So don't get too hung up on your scores! I didn't even do hardly any of the question bank..like 2 tests of 75 questions, containing questions from areas that I did the worst in on the Readiness Exam. If you do bad on the QTs just review rationales, and if you still need to feel more secure do the Q Bank. I was afraid I didn't do enough to prepare but clearly I did.

The last thing I can tell you is WATCH. YOUR. TIME. Like I had mentioned earlier, the first time I took the NCLEX I only answered 150ish questions in 5 hours. I thought there was no way 6 hours wouldn't be enough time to answer 265 questions. WRONG. Not only was this a mistake because I didn't have time to finish, but didn't realize I was reading into the question way too much. I over thought, and then spent 5 minutes picking apart the answer I had chosen and would talk myself out of it. Don't do that! You're doing well with your time if you can answer approximately 50 questions per hour. And there is no need to think so far into the question. Read it, think about what condition the patient is experiencing given the symptoms, and with each answer think to yourself "why would I do this action?".

I'm so sorry this is so long, but I hope that someone will benefit from my advice. And if a retaker happens to read this, just know that you shouldn't be discouraged! It is possible and you WILL pass. Honestly, as much as it sucked to fail the first time, I'm grateful because it gave me a completely different outlook on nursing judgement, as well as a whole new respect for the exam. If I would have passed the first time I wouldn't have realized my mistakes and would have continued to give mediocre care to my clients. Now I realize what it means to think like a nurse, and although it took me 300 extra bucks and 2 extra months to figure it out, I will now be a better nurse to my patients, and that is worth ANYTHING! Good luck to anyone out there who is preparing for the NCLEX! You know that you can do it, don't make yourself think otherwise!

Nursemia05 · May 19, 2015

Congratulations! very inspiring story.