Passed at 265! How I passed and what you can do to pass the NCLEX!

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Hello everyone,

I made an account just to give tips on how I studied for the NCLEX and hopefully help fellow nursing students pass the boards. I will not give information on what was tested or what I saw of the exam. I'm legally am not allowed, but I can give you ladies and gents some good information about my journey and how I passed.

1. Study, study, study. I cannot say this enough! Remember, you are going to be put into a hospital or healthcare setting were you need to be able to make critical decisions for your patients and their health. DO NOT PANIC! Some students do not have to study as much as I did to pass this exam, but I was the student who had to study my butt off to get a "A" or a high "B". You know yourself. I take pride in learning and gaining knowledge. You must believe that you want to pass this exam more than you want to breathe. This isn't a normal profession, it's almost a way of life. So to make this easier for you... here is a list of materials that I used to pass the exam, based upon how well they prepared me.

  • UWorld - I only completed about 300 questions from UWorld but the set-up and the software is just like the NCLEX. It is $50 for one month and they also have other options. THERE RATIONALES ARE TO DIE FOR!! I recommned that if you get ANY question software or review, please go with UWorld (I'm not a sales person, this is me being honest).
    • Why UWorld - Rationales. Please do not complete more than 50 questions a day with Uworld, why you might ask? The rationales are very long with a detailed description of what's going on within the question and why the correct answer is correct. It is not like Kaplan were they give you a couple words for each option. If you are a person that wants to learn CONTENT with questions at the same time. This is for you... all the way.

    [*]Hurst Review - I listened to Hurst review once, and then reviewed what I believed I needed to refresh on. Now, Hurst is very content based and can take some time to get through. I personally liked Hurst because it was split up into body systems or areas of patient needs. If I wanted to learn more about renal today, I would go to Hurst.

    • Why Hurst - Content. Content is essential for NCLEX, if someone tells you otherwise (cough* Kaplan), they are very very wrong indeed. Yes, it's very important to have strategies to help answer questions you don't understand (that's Kaplan), but it is also very important to realize this one important fact. You always won't have resources in front of you when you are taking care of patients... you need to be able to think on your feet about what will happen and they patient's overall condition. You need to understand they body and what EVERYTHING does. You are saving lives here... so please take content very seriously. Knowing content well will keep you out of low-level questions.
    • Hurst book - There are two Hurst books that I know of... if you want a content book, comprehensive review, Hurst is a great addition. I didn't have much time to look over the comprehensive review book with Hurst, but the time I did spend with it did help.

    [*]Saunders comprehensive review book - This book is great... absolutely great. If you can only get one book for the NCLEX, please get this book. The content is amazing put together and pictures are nice as well. This combined with UWorld and you will own the NCLEX beast.

    [*]Kaplan - Do not buy a classroom course for Kaplan. To me, Kaplan, was a complete wast of time. The questions were great, and the strategies were great... but unfortunately they are only great for KAPLAN QUESTIONS. The only thing that saved Kaplan was "REVIEW OF QUESTIONS" videos... were a woman would slowly go over the question, with strategies, and explain why that was the answer. Very, very helpful. I will break the ice here... Kaplan scores do not matter. They are Kaplan questions, they are not NCLEX questions. Yes, they help you think critically, but honestly, they really didn't help me that much. I complete the WHOLE TEST BANK AND Q-TRAINERS. I don't regret Kaplan, but I wish more was offered. Stay with the online version of Kaplan, or *hint* *hint*, go on Quizlet and look up Kaplan trainers.

    • Why Kaplan - Not a fan, even though I completed everything. The only reason... as I said before is the "Review of Questions" videos. The content review book from Kaplan is to big to study and too much information.

These next couple of suggestions are personal to me, but everyone should understand why they are important. It might help you.

  • BELIEVE IN YOURSELF!!!!!! I cannot express this enough on this post, I thought I failed the NCLEX and my life was over, that I was a failure. You have to believe in yourself and understand... EVERYONE FEELS LIKE THEY FAILED.
  • Listen to music when you are stressed (Not rock music, not crazy music - I love rock music but the mind needs to be cleared and rock music will not clear the mind). Meditate and relax during your study hours... Music has saved my life on many occasions and has helped me gain confidence and abilities to get rid of negative energy. Go to Youtube, and type in Kip Mazuy, this music will heal you. I promise.
  • Beliefs - I'm not religious, but I believe that the Universe helped me along the way because I ask it to... with an open heart. Whatever your beliefs are... use them to give yourself "faith" and hopefully relieve the tension.

Sorry for the long post. I hope this helps someone. Remember to BREATHE AND ELIMINATE on NCLEX.

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Congrats on passing your NCLEX. I actually loved Kaplan, it gave me the test strategies on how to get to an answer without knowing the content. That was the only thing I did, Kaplan questions and watched the videos.

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I think Kaplan was great. It allowed me to see that many questions are similar when you do so many over and over. I don't think I would get the scores on Kaplan tests, or any other tests for that matter, without them. I've done Kaplan and Saunders and that's it. I'm taking my test on Sunday and I FEEL CONFIDENT. No one ever says that, and sure I'm nervous, but that doesn't mean I can't believe in myself.

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I failed my first attempt at nclex in 265 questions using kaplan. Our schools program recommended we use it. Everyone is different. But kaplan doesn't work for everyone and it didn't work for me. It's great with test taking strategies but like You said if you are weak on content then kaplan is not for you. Hurst is great for content and Uworld is great for questions. Kaplan only gives you ONE set of questions with their whole program that's anything like the nclex and hats sample test 4 Cuz it's all alternate format questions. If you wanna brush up on test taking strategies that kaplan is so great at then don't waste the 300 on the whole course just buy the $30 kaplan premier book which goes over just strategies.

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How long did you study for? I'm 4 weeks out from taking my test is that plenty of time?

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