Preparation for First Attempt of NCLEX
My school used Kaplan and let me tell you, I SUCKED at Kaplan. I hated it. I thought their questions were so stupid and it just never made sense to me LOL. I didn't even bother to practice Kaplan questions because I wanted to find another resource that would be more beneficial for me... I heard so many great things about UWorld. Most of my classmates only studied for a few weeks with just using UWorld and easily passed the NCLEX with 75 questions. I thought to myself, "Wow, the NCLEX shouldn't be THAT bad then." -- WRONG. I was totally wrong. I should have never had this mentality as I began to study for the NCLEX. I studied for about 1 month, did about 50 questions/day (10-20 questions at a time - untimed which btw wasn't good because I wasn't building up my stamina of taking multiple test questions on time-mode), didn't really take notes and didn't truly try to understand why I got certain questions wrong or right. My scores ranged from 43-55% (definitely low scores) on UWorld but for some reason.... I still assumed I was gonna pass the NCLEX since all of my other classmates were easily passing. Clearly, I was overly-confident for someone who didn't really study. HUGE MISTAKE.
First Attempt of NCLEX
As I walked into the test center, I began to get nervous. When the first question popped up, BOOM. I completely blanked out! My anxiety was OVER THE ROOF... Looking back, I had many easy questions but I couldn't seem to figure it out because so many things were running through my mind that I couldn't think straight. 75 questions passed and its been about 3.5 hours. 80, 90, 100, 168.... I RAN OUT OF TIME. It took me 6 freaking hours to answer 168 questions. I immediately knew I failed. Before I even stepped out of the test center, I broke down into tears, went to my car and began calling my family. I was sobbing. I was hysterical. I was angry. I felt defeated. I was filled with disappointment. I didn't want to go through this again.
Preparation for Second Attempt of NCLEX
For 2 whole weeks, I decided to give myself a break. I reflected on myself and went over what I did wrong so that I can take better action to prepare for NCLEX the 2nd time. LOTS OF PRAYERS AND THE SUPPORT OF MY LOVED ONES IS WHAT HELPED ME PERSEVERE THROUGH THE 2ND ROUND OF STUDYING. I not only prayed to God, but I also prayed to Mama Mary, my guardian angel and many Saints such as St. Joseph of Cupterino; I asked them to intercede for me so that I may overcome the fears and anxiety of retaking the boards. I prayed throughout the first round of studying as well, but I had just assumed "God's got my back" LOL even though I didn't put 110% into studying. Totally no one else to blame, but myself. THIS TIME, I made damn sure that I gave my 1000000000% into studying — because you gotta meet God halfway... DO YOUR PART, AND HE WILL TAKE CARE OF THE REST.
For 6-8 weeks, I treated studying like a full-time job. This was my schedule for about 6-8 hours/day Mon-Fri:
-
Gym in the morning
-
75 questions (timed-mode)
-
Remediate on both wrong AND right answers
-
Listen/take notes to at least one of Mark Klimek's lectures
-
Do additional questions from LaCharity
-
Don't forget to take breaks here & there
On the weekends, I would look over ALL of my notes so that it will engrain in my brain and I won't forget it. In total, I did about 2,000+ questions. You can scroll all the way down to view my scores.
RESOURCES
Kaplan: This time, I used Kaplan and it helped so much! I used to despise their questions but tbh — their questions were much more similar to NCLEX.
UWorld: I used UWorld for a bit as well, and my scores were so much higher this time.
LaCharity Prioritization, Delegation and Management: THIS BOOK SERIOUSLY HELPED SO MUCH WITH PRIORITY QUESTIONS.
Mark Klimek: YOOOO. I swear to you, if it weren't for Mark Klimek I would have failed my NCLEX! He teaches you all the basics you need to know to be successful in tackling the NCLEX. All of his lectures are avail on Spotify! Every day that I went to the gym, I would listen to Mark Klimek instead of music — even if I already heard the lecture, I would still replay his lectures over and over again.
Notebook: Make sure you write EVERYTHING down and split your notebook into sections e.g., RENAL | CARDIOVASCULAR | GI | etc.
The more questions you do, the more you will get a feel of how to answer certain questions correctly. NCLEX is VERY STRAIGHT-FORWARD. Many questions were one-sentence questions (similar to Kaplan). Make sure you know your basics and lab values! Once you get this down, you will ace the boards.
Second Attempt of NCLEX
I woke up at 5am, worked out, ate breakfast, prepared food for the boards assuming I'd stay there for 6 hours, visited the chapel and took my exam at 8am. I WAS CONFIDENT and I knew God was by my side guiding me as I took the exam. I was one of the last few people to get checked-in, but I was the first one to finish! It took me one hour and 15 min. (I built up my test-taking stamina by doing 75+ questions/day on timed-mode.) The computer shut off on me at 75 questions and I KNEW I PASSED. Instead of waiting and paying for quick results, I logged into Breeze exactly at midnight the day after I took my boards and my license id # was posted! I WAS SOOO HAPPY! I could not sleep (I ended up sleeping around 6am hahaha). All that hard work and prayers paid off... GLORY BE TO GOD! Thank you Mama Mary, my guardian angel and all of the Saints for your intercessions. This success is dedicated to my parents, family & loved ones. GOOD LUCK if you are taking/re-taking the NCLEX. If I can do it, YOU CAN DO IT!
BSN, RN. Woo woo!!! ?
Also... here are my scores 2nd time around from studying:
Kaplan TEST SCORES
75's:
- 47%
- 60%
- 41%
- 53%
- 52%
- 52%
- 49%
- 55%
- 60%
- 53%
- 48%
NCLEX SAMPLE TESTS:
- 58%
- 48%
- RETAKE: 90%
- 87% *who do you see first*
- 22% SATA
- RETAKE: 52%
Q-TRAINER TESTS:
1. 67%
2. 55%
3. 49%
- RETAKE: 72%
4. 59%
5. 57%
READINESS TEST:
63% YAY!!! ? *pat on back* (Kaplan recommends 60% or above)
UWorld TEST SCORES
10's:
- 60%
- 90%
- 70%
- 80%
- 50%
- 70%
- 50%
25's:
- 76%
- 60%
- 60%
- 56%
- 48%
75's:
- 80%
- 52%
- 57%
- 50%
- 49%
