hi guys! first of all i just want to thank the allnurses.com community because you guys played a big part in my success for helping me..I made friends and got wonderful tips to pass the exam so if ANYONE of you needs help just pm me and ill help you in any way i can
Im 21 y.o from the Philippines and graduated there also last march 2010, so passing NCLEX is a big big wall for me to jump over. First time i took it was last march and i failed because of 1 of my weakness. GAMES, COMPUTER GAMES 
(LOL,Crysis2, Portal, dirt, witcher, dragon age, etc. etc.) my resistance to their pull is so low that i cant concentrate well on studying. i would sit in my room and study and i would hurry up what im reading so i can finish early and go and play again. 
But I still thought i was studying well because i nearly finished saunders and i finished all of kaplans test and the qbank also witha grade of 50-60% which i thought was good enough because they say a 60% passing in kaplan is 90% passing in NCLEX....how foolish of me to think that.
the day before that exam they said not to study and just relax so i relaxed...i thought relax means playing games all day. 
, on the day of the exam i prayed...and sat down to take the test.......mind went blank....cant analyze well....FAILED
after that i was in denial,anger,bargaining,depression and finally acceptance and realizing what my faults are i made plans to change it
now here are my changes where you guys can hopefully use whatever temptation is pulling you...whether it be games or drinking, or watching tv, facebook, etc
tip1: DESENSITIZATION and SELF CONTROL
what i did with this is to KEEP SOME DISTANCE FROM MY TEMPTATION. I found a review center who gladly lent me their room everyday so i can study in peace away from temptation. Everyday i would go to their room and study their and at evening i would still play BUT after 9pm. i would turn off the computer
tip2: MAKE A SCHEDULE
in the past i would make a schedule for study time BUT I ONLY WRITE IT IN MY MIND making it not solid enough and I would always deviate from the plan. What you have to do is MAKE A SCHEDULE, WRITE IT! and STICK WITH IT! It really makes a big difference when you write it....trust me....even though im near my computer, if i stick to my WRITTEN SCHEDULE im totally safe
tip3: DONT WASTE TIME
dont waste time. dont want to read? not in the mood to take a practice test? then you can LISTEN to your audio lesson while doing something else. Stuck in traffic or in a line? read a book. dont waste precious time. because each minute you study is a percent nearer to your success (for audio questions please pm me 
as i said I WOULD GLADLY HELP)
tip4: MAKE FRIENDS
not just any kind of friends. Friends that are in the same spot as you. and in that way you can help each other. I made a friends here in allnurses.com and we have been communicating ever since. we sometimes send text messages together about questions or send each other questions and the one on the receiving end replies with the answer :) it was a good way to study while walking or doing something else. I also made friends whose taking NCLEX we would form study groups and study
tip5: GET GOOD STUDY REFERENCES THAT FITS YOU
honestly kaplan helped me a little. what really helped me was Saunders for content and EXAM CRAM practice questions for analytical thinking. I sometimes find questions that i thought was wrong in exam cram but when i looked it up they were really right. they say Exam Cram has some mistakes but its really little compared to the deep questions that are NCLEX like...they would really make your practice how to think in facing NCLEX like questions....but if you want content go with Saunders. Software that really helped me was NCLEX 4000 (pm me for questions about software:D)
tip6: most Powerful tip PRAY, ASK GOD FOR HELP
last time i took it i just prayed but now that i think of it even though God wants to help me, i didnt help myself by studying hard so i failed. after that failure i was away from God. i thought God didnt really help me. but as the test date approached nearer i ask God again for help because he is the only one who can really help us directly. and besides i studied also . I also want to share 2 bible verses that really helped me a lot and was ALWAYS on my mind while i took the 2nd test
James 1:5
"If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to ALL MEN liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given to him"
Proverbs 3:5-6
5."Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding."
6."In all they ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy path"
extra tips
last time i took the test, i took it with a full stomach so the 2nd time i just ate SALAD! green SALAD avocados,spinach cabbage many more i cant remember with ranch lol and when i took the test i spent like3-5min per question after 3 hours i only consumed 50 questions so i started to panick, when it didnt stop at 75 i panicked and took the test a little faster...it ended at somewhat 180 questions so my tip is to not take too long answering 1 question but dont do it to fast lol. i took also about 7-10 breaks i think at the test center lol and brought a lot of chocolates for sugar lol....
well thats my story :) i took my test june 13 and got the result posted on the california website on saturday 1:30 am lol( i cant sleep because i keep looking at the website) tried also PVT AND IT REALLY WORKS!!!!
thank you guys for reading, and also i want to ask for a little help
i graduated nursing school at the age of 20 so my whole life was about school. Im a freshly new graduate without work experience and has been living on allowance the whole 20 years. Im just worried because i dont know what to put in my resume because i dont have any work experience do you guys have a tip for me or can you send me a resume sample for a new graduate nurse without work experience? THANK YOU GUYS FOR READING AND I HOPE YOU GUYS WHOSE TAKING NCLEX WILL PASS!! YOU WILL PASS!!! 
neil890123
104 Posts
Glad to hear from a fellow filipino
yup dont make the same mistake as i have lol just study and answer questions....i found myself after a while that i made answering practice questions into a game always aiming for the top score 
and also i a teacher and friend of mine said that i have to practice at least 5000 questions before taking it and also get at least 80-85% passing in a 275 practice question exam
just keep practicing and also understand what the rationale is and keep praying.....you guys will pass