Not satisfied with Kaplan

Have you looked at Hurst Review? It's online but I thought it was great. I passed NCLEX 2 1/2 years ago on my first try using Hurst. I've heard others have had very good success with this review too. Good luck!

Have you tried using the Saunders book? Do tons of questions daily and you will gain the test taking strategies you need from reading the rationales.

NSCBN has a NCLEX review course. It is online, and for 3 weeks of access it costs $50. Here is the link NCSBN Learning Extension . NCLEX preparation . Continuing Education for Nurses . Nursing Faculty Education

I took hurst and I thought it was great.

Wow. Looking at the NCSBN website, I feel like a sucker for paying for Kaplan. The only thing I like about Kaplan is the Qbank.

Also consider looking into an independent reviewer. The one paid for by my school was excellent she was a writer for the NCLEX test bank and had also written her own review that covered exactly what you needed. I wish I could remember more details but I lend my review book to someone who never gave it back. The only thing I remember is her name was Ms Blanca. She travels across the country apparently.

I felt Kaplan was good only for Kaplan questions. The NCLEX was so random and Kaplan's decision tree was only useful for a handful of NCLEX questions as at least 1/3 were SATA. But I do wonder if I had not taken the Kaplan review, would I have still passed my NCLEX.

I used Kaplan and passed NCLEx the first time, 75 questions... Kaplan focuses on test-taking strategies mainly... after my Kaplan course, I took a few weeks to review content (from Kaplan's content review book and my HESI review book) and answered 100s of questions (I only did questions from their Qbank, it helped a lot)... Its true that their decision tree doesn't work on EVERY question you come across (they give you tips/strategies for most types of questions), I think I may have only used it 20 or so times during my NCLEx, but what I did get from Kaplan, and what I believe saved my tail, was learning how to slow down and dissect each question... how to break the question down, determine what's being asked and choose the best answer. I don't think I would've done so well on NCLEx without Kaplan... but Idk if that's due to Kaplan teaching me what I needed to know, or if taking the course gave me the confidence to go in there and do my best... I don't know.. but if I had to do it again, I'd use Kaplan again... just my opinion..

my school did ATI and Kaplan. finishing kaplan next week. i liked ATI for the content review and semi-happy with the decision tree. the only thing it did was give an order to the way i already answer my q's-assess before interventions if validation needed physical before psychosocial, then ABC's. the instructor is a little annoying because the rationales to some q's apply to only one thing and don't really help for other situations. i paid the money for kaplan so might as well use it...

didn't take NCLEX yet but according to both ATI and kaplan i have a 99% chance passing the first time. if thats true, how come i'm petrified?

I took kaplan because it was offered for free through my school. Well....not free, im sure the cost was hidden in my tuition somewhere lol. Any-who, I ended up failing the NCLEX with 265 questions However, I wont blame that on Kaplan. They actually have questions extremely, if not exactly, like NCLEX. What I needed was more content review. Everyone kept saying that just doing X amount of questions per day was enough. Maybe for some it is, but for me it was not.

I did a lot of research and ended up getting Hurst for my content review. If you can get the extra 300$$ I highly recommend it! The videos are quite entertaining, and help a lot! I tried saunders but it was a lot of info to read and it just made me sleepy every time i tried to do so. Thus I could not get the info to stick. I am glad i got it though, because i can use the cd to test myself on content area after im done watching and studying a section in hurst.

Also, dont feel like a sucker taking Kaplan over NCSBN. When I was looking for ways to help me pass, I saw lots of people complaining that NCSBN did not have hard enough questions, and/or their rationals to their questions were vague and unhelpful.

So yeah...keep up with kaplan. They honestly do have good test taking strategies outside of the decision tree. Like I said their questions are very similar to the nclex, and that can only help. If you have the gut feeling you need more content review, then do it! It may mean the difference between passing and failing. If you have the money go for Hurst, if not, get saunders book.

Hurst reviews practicals, Kaplan is, "the thinking". Honestly, what helped me most was looking at each question, and prioritizing the answers according Maslow.

don't believe Kaplan has ever marketed themselves as a content-review prep course. Almost every graduate I kept in touch with, who took kaplan, had wonderful things to say about it. And I do believe they expect that you will be reviewing content, in addition to learning their test-taking skills.

The real problem is, most students cannot self-asses their weaknesses. I can't even, with some of them. If your issue is content, then you need to bone up on it. I firmly believe most students' issues are not content related. It's decision-making. Students are awesome at regurgiating facts, but not as great with knowing what to do with them, and how to decifer what is most important. Another issue is, what is the question really asking you? Students often jump tp the answer they find familiar, because they are loosely associating words, symptoms and interventions together.

Stick with it. And dust your notes off. When you are answering questions, get out your notes, books, etc. If you can't answer them as an open-book test, then it's test taking.