I thought it was important for me to share how I passed the NCLEX so that I can help others pass as well.
A little about me:
I graduated from an accelerated nursing program. My first degree was in Kinesiology. I was a pretty good student. I graduated with a 3.7 GPA. I wouldn't say I am naturally smart, I really worked hard to achieve my GPA. I ended up passing the exam in 75 questions.
Kaplan:
After I graduated I decided to take the in person Kaplan course. I felt like the in person course was not that helpful. The teacher was very not very effective in teaching the strategies. It was more effective when I observed the online lectures.
After taking the Kaplan course I went to work on the Kaplan practice tests. I was not scoring that well in the beginning and I was getting VERY discouraged. I was getting between 57-61%.
After about two weeks I begin to do better. I realized I was lacking a lot of content. So when I would do my Kaplan tests I would write down the rationales of all the wrong answers and would look up more info the topic.
After I begin to improve on my Kaplan tests (I would be getting between 65-75%, but occasionally I would get that one 60%), I felt like I needed a different style of practice questions. My friend was doing Uworld, and I kept hearing great things about it. So I signed up for it and I am SO glad that I did.
Uworld:
Uworld is great for content and gives you GREAT rationales. I would for sure recommend Uworld to study for NCLEX. The questions on the NCLEX are more similar to Uworld than Kaplan in my opinion. I don't know if it was just me, but the Kaplan questions were too specific, they would focus on details that were almost impossible to know. Uworld in my opinion asked my general questions that are easier to answer. My average for Uworld was between 65-78%. Towards the last week before my exam I decided to focus on the Priority/Delegation and Safety questions since I knew these questions would be the majority of the test. And this sure did help me on the day of the exam.
NCLEX Exam:
I'll be honest, I have never been more nervous for an exam in my life. My anxiety was through the rough and there were times in the beginning of the exam where I thought I couldn't do this and I just wanted to give up. However, I took a deep breath and tried to think positively. I probably had about 7 SATA, no drag and drop, no calculations. I had a lot of renal questions, priority questions, and safety questions. The select all that apply were similar/easier than the Uworld SATA.
I want everyone to know that it IS POSSIBLE TO pass this exam. If I can do it, so can you! You made it this far, You can do it!
P.S.:
I also used the 35 study guide that is floating around on this site. It was VERY HELPFUL in terms of Isolation precaution stuff. And my nursing program also provided the Hurst review. I rarely studied from that. I would focus more on doing Kaplan and Uworld questions.
