Passed NCLEX first attempt in 75 questions with 25 SATAs

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I just found out this morning that I PASSED the NCLEX my very first attempt in 75 questions!! First of all I want to PRAISE GOD as I know he is the reason I was able to accomplish what I did, not only on the NCLEX but in all of nursing school. When I started studying, I'd come on allnurses to see what it was like for others who were in the same boat as I was. I'll give you a little background info, I graduated December 12th, 2015 with my BSN degree. Took the ENTIRE month of December off from studying so I was able to take a breather before I started to study for the NCLEX (advice I received from one of my professors). I took the Kaplan course. I went to the in-person classroom sessions January 4th-7th and began studying after that. Kaplan gives you 1303 practice qbank questions and 7 "QTrainers" which are timed practice tests (take them timed!). I STUDIED for ONLY 1 MONTH and scheduled to take the NCLEX on February 6th, 2016. I did 90% of the qbank and all of the qtrainers. My professors all highly encouraged us to take a review course (specifically Kaplan but encouraged Hurst as well) because of their guarantee, and if we did pass on the first try like they guarantee, we will be making that money back very quickly rather than if we didn't take it, didn't pass, and weren't able to get to work as quickly.

My Kaplan Scores freaked me out, but as everyone agrees, Kaplan Q's are very hard and these types of scores are expected. We were supposed to do qtrainers 1-3 before class started, but I didn't so they got a little out of order.

NCLEX Diagnostic test: 58%

Qtrainer #1 - 53%

Qtrainer #2 - 61%

NCLEX RN Readiness test - 59%

Qtrainer #3 - 50%

Qtrainer #4 - 64%

Qtrainer #5 - 61%

Qtrainer #6 - 62%

Qtrainer #7 - 65% - finished qtrainer 7 one day before my exam.

NCLEX -RN - 75 questions, 25 SATA (1/3 of my exam!!!), 1 place in the correct order, 1 exhibit, several in-service questions, 3-4 legal/ethical questions, 3-4 psych questions, ~8 priority questions, ~10 med questions, NO math questions.

I studied very hard and felt I needed to since I was only taking a month to study. I was studying anywhere from 7-12 hours a day! I would also take a day off here and there, but would do my best to do at least 100 questions a day and read each rationale. I would read every single rationale Kaplan gave (even though the rationales aren't very helpful) but it DEFINITELY got my mind in the right state to take the NCLEX -- which means not freaking out when NCLEX throws a question at you about a topic you have never heard of! Of all of my med questions (around 10), I probably knew for sure what 1 medication was! When I was studying and I came across a med/disease that I wasn't familiar with, I would just google it and read up on it quickly, and move on. I watched all but 2 of the content review videos that they provided us (which took FOREVER because I took notes during the videos). Kaplan was basically the only resource I used! I got the free NCLEX-RN mastery app and did all of the free questions but I did all of those before I even graduated, and my friend also let me borrow her sister's old HURST review book which I looked over for 2 days.

I did not take Hurst, but the review book was actually amazing. It is such a great refresher of content, but I only got 2/3rds of the way through it before I took my test. After taking the NCLEX, I am glad I took Kaplan (although during Kaplan I seriously thought I wasted my money).

As I said earlier, 25 of my 75 questions were Select all that apply! In my first 10 questions, 5 of them were Select All that apply. I would often have several SATAs in a row. Every time I got one, I was actually super happy!! Because select all that apply questions are extremely difficult and I had heard that they were usually the passing level questions. Once my computer shut off at 75 questions, I was soo relieved. I tally-marked on my erasable board every time I got a SATA and had saw that I had 25! I thought this was a great sign! I had often heard that SATAs can be above or below the passing level, but I believe they are usually above.. especially if the topic is something you've never heard of before. I told myself that if I passed on the first try, I would make myself an allnurses account to share my experience with others. I watched countless youtube videos of NCLEX advice on how to pass and it seemed that everyone was doing more than me. Several people get help by doing Saunders, LaCharity, HURST, Kaplan, ExamCram, etc.. but for me, just Kaplan and reviewing what I didn't know worked just fine, but I did study very hard for several hours a day. If you have any questions, feel free to comment and I will reply as soon as possible! I feel the need to give advice because I know I didn't have much to go off of when I was studying!

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Congrats!!

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Hi congrats![emoji4] i just want to ask about meds questions is it true that nclex now only provide the generic name and NO brand name? Thanks

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Specializes in Neuro/NSGY, critical care, med/stroke/tele.
Hi congrats![emoji4] i just want to ask about meds questions is it true that nclex now only provide the generic name and NO brand name? Thanks

Yes, that's true!

the NCSBN FAQ says:

The NCLEX exam uses consistent language for every examinee. In order to achieve accurate, stable measurement, terminology used in exam items can have only one meaning. NCSBN understands most clinicians acknowledge both generic and brand/trade names when referring to drug medications. At this time, the NCLEX examination will reflect, on most occasions, the use of generic medication names only. We take into account that the use of the medication generic name is more consistent while a brand/trade medication name may vary. Some items may refer to general classifications of medications.

It says "most occasions" but I think that's a CYA thing haha. I didn't get any brand names - I had never thought about the brand names being different in different areas but it's true. When we did our Hurst review in class, almost none of the brand names they mention were the same as what we had encountered in clinical.

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Oh thanks for this info. [emoji4]

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I also took it 2/6. What state are you in?

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Hi! Congrats on passing! :) I graduate in May of this year and am super nervous about the NCLEX. I don't know if your program required you to take ATI tests, but if ATI was required, how much harder/easier was the NCLEX than the ATI tests? I've heard the NCLEX is easier than ATI.

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Congrats! And, thanks for sharing your experience! :)

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Hi! Congrats on passing! :) I graduate in May of this year and am super nervous about the NCLEX. I don't know if your program required you to take ATI tests, but if ATI was required, how much harder/easier was the NCLEX than the ATI tests? I've heard the NCLEX is easier than ATI.

The NCLEX is WAAY harder than ATI in my opinion. ATI was a breeze.

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My school used ATI. I personally thought my NCLEX (passed first attempt) was easier than my ATI's. I have heard varying opinions on the topic.

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Specializes in PSYCH.
Hi! Congrats on passing! :) I graduate in May of this year and am super nervous about the NCLEX. I don't know if your program required you to take ATI tests, but if ATI was required, how much harder/easier was the NCLEX than the ATI tests? I've heard the NCLEX is easier than ATI.

ATI is overkill!

my program recommended getting the green light. I didn't have the mental space for that. I did entire Kaplan qbank and lww nclex 10,000

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