NLN Exam Scores?

Lisa From Maui · Oct 30, 2009

Michelle:

I just took the National League for Nursing (NLN) exam in September 2009. There are 3 sections:

1. vocabulary & reading comprehension MAX SCORE 60 POINTS

2. math MAX SCORE 40 POINTS

3. science, ie, anatomy & physiology, chemistry, biology, physics, other stuff I can't remember MAX SCORE 60 POINTS

At Maui Community College (MCC), as of this year, they ONLY look at vocabulary & reading comprehension. You could completely fail the math and general science portion, and they don't care. You could probably walk out of the exam, score a zero on the math & science, and they probably wouldn't care.

One of the ladies in charge at MCC told me that they have some students who score zero on the vocab/reading. English is their second language, and they do poorly. But, they stil get accepted into the nursing program because they got As in their pre-reqs, they have nursing experience, and a great letter of recommendation.

That may change in the future, who knows? In the future, they may look at all 3 sections.

By the way, I honestly didn't study for the vocab/reading portion. And scored high. I'm in my 30's, and I'm an avid reader. I mean... I read ALOT! Not just books! I read novels, textbooks, magazine articles, newspaper articles, internet websites, a whole lot of wikipedia, allnurses posts, etc. etc. etc.

Years ago, in the movie Pirates of the Carribbean, someone asks, "Do we have an accord?" I didn't know what accord meant, so I looked it up. It means agreement. (Gee, and I thought it was just the name of a car.) I read that Hawai'i is an archipelago. Didn't know what that meant, so I looked it up on wikipedia. It's a chain of islands. I listened to the news, heard about a typhoon, wikipedia. A hurricane and typhoon are the same thing. Hurricane happens east of the international dateline; typhoon happens west of the int'l dateline. (Hooda thunk?) I get curious, and I look things up.

I scored well on vocab/reading because I've got 15+ years of knowledge to draw from. I have no idea how people study for that section in 3 months.

As for math & science... I think it's easier to score well on those parts if you took your pre-reqs in the last 2 years.

REMEMBER... THE NLN IS ONLY ONE THING THEY LOOK AT.

Lisa ;-)

michellebelle808 · Oct 30, 2009

Wow, thanks for your detailed info here! And yes, the NLN isn't the only thing they look at, however KCC (Kapiolani Community College, Oahu) looks at your NLN score seriously, since they have about 100-150 applicants/year, and only accept 30-50 students.

I agree with you about the English portion, and kinda like you, I love to read - but mostly fiction/classical novels. Not quite so much now that I'm busy with college, but I used to read a TON when I was in high school, and I loved to guess the meaning of big words by reading them in context....I usually don't have that much trouble with Vocab. sections on tests.

As far as the Math and Science sections go, I definitely agree that I'll need to use/retain all the information I'll be learning through my pre-req's and co-req's, and use that on the exam. I can't really think of a better way to study, although there is an NLN-Exam study book, which I'm planning to buy.

Mahalo,

Michelle

Slobgob · Oct 30, 2009

--Years ago, in the movie Pirates of the Carribbean, someone asks, "Do we have an accord?"

Hah. That's funny... that same movie taught me the word "Parley".

petunia2016 · Oct 31, 2009

The english and math parts weren't hard for me, but the science was a killer. There were questions on there that I couldn't answer, even with my pre-reqs under my belt. I left the test feeling like I did horribly. When I got my score, I discovered that I scored within the 98% (can't remember what my score was, but I know it was over 150). I applied to UH Manoa and got in on my first attempt. Remember, your grades are looked at too. Are you applying to KCC? I never applied there, but I have several classmates (fellow nursing students) who applied there, even three times, got denied, then applied to UH and got in on the first attempt. I would keep that option open. UH has a great reputation at the hospitals, and you would get a BSN instead of an ADN. I know an ADN seems quicker and easier than the BSN, but I had a friend who graduated from HCC with an ADN, and she had to move away to get a job. Everybody hiring in Hawaii wanted the BSN. In fact, she told me that out of her class, she was the only one to work in a hospital straight away, simply because she moved away. Good luck to you!