Passed AANP 1st attempt April 2023

[penny.mb]

Hi all! I took the AANP FNP exam this AM and PASSED! I am ecstatic to say the least. I wanted to pass along what helped and my pre-testing scores, etc. in hopes that it will help another student/NP grad.

I technically do not graduate until April 29. My class ended 4/16. With AANP, you can actually apply and get the ATT before graduation if it is within 30 days of class ending and the graduation date. 

I had purchased APEA review audio version (around $500) and listened to all of the lectures/took notes. I did this in the last few weeks during school. Before the end of class, we had to take an APEA predictor exam. I got a 63%. This was in March. (Side bar: I also had to take one at the beginning of this class in January and scored a 51%. So, I felt good I had made such improvement in 2 months.)

Over the last two weeks I have been doing Latrina Walden crash course ($170/mth access) and taking my own extensive notes/study points of her "buzzwords," listening over a few more of the APEA lectures I felt I needed extra help with and doing all of the APEA Q-Bank questions. I used the Leik book some for review and had signed up for their free 3-day trial of the app for practice questions. I also did every flash card practice question of theirs that came as with the book combo pack ($100 book with flashcards). Many of these flash card questions were the same questions as their app. Then, I took another predictor exam to see if I was ready for the real exam. Scored a 63%.... again.... I was devastated. I felt like I put a huge amount of time and effort into studying after last predictor I took in school and got the exact same score. I honestly considered postponing boards because of the score. I thought that final predictor should have been higher after all the study time and effort.

According to AANP, the 2021 pass rate for the exam was 84%. Looking at the APEA predictor score of 63%, I scored just above average (which was 62% at the time according to the printout). I could not understand how I scored above average, the test having such a high pass rate, yet APEA categorized me as not likely to pass.
Because of this, I decided to purchase a practice exam from AANP for $50.  

On the same day I scored the 63% on APEA predictor, I took the AANP practice exam and scored 70.7%. So I felt encouraged to keep my test date for 2 days later. In the remaining 2 days, I listened to Latrina Walden's lectures a bit more and reviewed my notes from those lectures IN DEPTH, repeated practice questions from APEA Q-Bank and Leik's App. I also read over the test tips in Leik's book from each chapter.

This morning, I took the exam and am so thankful it gave me a "Congratulations. You have done well. You passed." 

If I had to rate helpfulness of review programs, it would be:
#1 Latrina Walden crash course $170/month access. Her "buzzwords" are invaluable and showed up countless times on the exam today
#2 Leik Book/flash cards/app ($109 one-time purchase) -OR- APEA QBank
#3 APEA comprehensive review audio lectures ($500ish)

I do think the APEA QBank questions were very helpful if you can purchase those separately. I would rate them #2 level as well. They are just practice questions, but the rationales are great. The Leik book had great basic test taking skills and exam tips so those were good as well. The AANP practice test had the same screens and set up as the real exam, so it felt familiar when I took the legit test today which was nice.  I had the Fitzgerald review book as it was a requirement for my school and used it in reference then but, it was not great as review for the exam in my opinion. 

I hope some of this information helps someone preparing for the exam or trying to decide which review program to use. Coming from an anxious test taker, I was prepared to take this exam twice. I took the NCLEX twice as a new grad, took the CEN twice when I wanted to become certified as an emergency room nurse a few years ago, so I felt I would be prepared to take this twice as well. I about fell out of the chair when I got the passing sentence.

Goodluck! If I can do it, you can too!

P. Brown, MSN, FNP-C, CEN

 

 

[atchemp]

Hello All!

        I wanted to add to this email, as I read some of P. Brown's suggestions before I took my test. I took an AANP practice exam and scored 82%. Then, I took the APEA practice test and scored 64%. I was deflated. I almost canceled my testing date because of this. Then, I looked at the questions - I had 8 murmur questions, 2 on Kawasaki Disease, 5 on osteoarthritis, etc. I had a screening question on scoliosis for girls and then 5 questions later, a screening question for boys. I do NOT feel the APEA was a well-rounded test, and it caused me unnecessary anxiety. I went and took the other 2 AANP practice exams and scored 70% and 77%, making me feel a little more at ease. I took ALL 4 of these tests 2-3 days before my exam.

       I passed on the first try and feel elated. My perspective - I did in-person Fitzgerald 8 months prior to my test, and it wasn't worth the money. The course went too fast for me, and I didn't have time to understand some of the concepts (and it was dry). 8 months prior to my test, I also downloaded FNP Mastery on my phone. I HIGHLY recommend it. If I didn't know an answer, I looked up. I also did ROSH review. Even though they are good, they help more with critical thinking and have a lot of rare diseases (don't recommend for FNP prep). I also have been using Leik for the last year to brush up on concepts (Recommend) and completed all the questions in the back of the book. I mostly wanted to post because I was so disappointed with the APEA practice test and wanted others to know not to let the results get them down.