Passed NCLEX in 75 questions, and I am a terrible test taker. MY TIPS

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Specializes in Clinical Nurse Leader.

Hey everyone,

I passed the NCLEX in 75 questions. We had HESI in nursing school and I literally failed every HESI exam except the Labor and Delivery one my first semester. I am a terrible test taker, I would rather write a paper :) With that said, I was very nervous about the NCLEX because in my experiences I would see the right answer, talk myself out of it, and then pick the wrong one only to find out my gut was right. So always stick to your instinct.

1. I did 6000 questions, YES, overkill but I had to so that I could see a variety of questions and I found that after doing that I could see a med name know what it was for and what side effects absolutely did not go with it so I could narrow it down. The more questions the better in my opinion.

2. I used Kaplan Qbank and I only did about 70% of it and the 4 exams it came with. Scores were terrible: 54, 58, 87, 23. So the 87 was good but that was mostly delegation and common sense and the 23 was the Select all that apply. As for the test I did throughout, I always took the 50 question timed test and ranged from 40s to low 50s with the occasional 60s. So YES I was a little freaked out. I find Kaplan to be hard. Much harder than need be and the explanations were not great. Overall, I am glad I got it.

3. I got access to a one month free trial to UWORLD which for me, was the best. It had tones of alternate item questions such as hotspot, SOA, etc. It was great. I did all of those questions twice:) haha

4. I used the NCLEX Mastery APP everywhere. Waiting in line for groceries, getting coffee, as the passenger, at a stop light, you name it, I did it. I did all the questions and I did the pharm section twice.

5. I did the Lippincott Q & A app and I had the book (content is same) and I did about 75 questions from each chapter and then I did 2 comprehensive exams.

6. I did the entire Kaplan Book for 2015-2016 and I scored a 71 on the readiness exam at the end:)

7. I did the entire Prioritization, Delegation, and Assignment 3rd edition book, this was a must have in my opinion.

8. I did the entire Lippincott Alternate-Item format questions. Its 300 pages but its mostly like one to two questions per page so it goes fast and I did the 2 comprehensive test at the end. (I did this book in a day with a nice long break, it goes fast)

9. LAstly, I purchased the 3 week course (i did it in 2 days) off NSCBN from NCLEX and reviewed a little content but did all the questions at the end of each content course and all the questions at the end where it test your ability.

10. Almost forgot, I found a 2 week trial to PREPU NCLEX 10000, and I did that a little. I mostly did the exams to see how ready I was.

My point is the more questions you can get, the better. I study for a month but really studied hard the past 2 weeks setting daily goals of questions and then increased the goal amount the last few days. I also used that study guide that is floating around on here its about 34 pages. I LOVED that guide. I reviewed that day of test and the day before. I loved all the little tips to remember things. It was a life saver.

Good luck everyone.

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Specializes in Neurology, Med/Surg, Orthopedic, Telemet.

It sounds like you wracked your brains like the rest of us:). The test automatically shuts off at 75 questions. Not to scare you and make things worse for you because I bet you did fine. The 75 question shut-off of the computer is when the test taker has answered the minimum number of questions, and it basically means you did well enough answering those 75 questions, you don't need to go any further. On the other hand, it can also mean you did poorly answering those 75 questions it wasn't going to let you go on any further. A person must have to get a certain percentage to continue beyond the 75 questions or not.

The computer shut off at 75 questions for me as well, and I was convinced I failed. I passed. I was also a horrible test taker. I could study and study for hours and I still did bad on tests.

Most people I've talked to who only had to answer the first 75 questions, they all passed, but we can't assume anything by that. I bet you did just fine. You did good on the practice tests, that's a good start:). Good luck!

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Specializes in Clinical Nurse Leader.

I passed!!!! :)

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Specializes in Clinical Nurse Leader.

I passed the test. That was the very first sentence of my post ;)

It sounds like you wracked your brains like the rest of us:). The test automatically shuts off at 75 questions. Not to scare you and make things worse for you because I bet you did fine. The 75 question shut-off of the computer is when the test taker has answered the minimum number of questions, and it basically means you did well enough answering those 75 questions, you don't need to go any further. On the other hand, it can also mean you did poorly answering those 75 questions it wasn't going to let you go on any further. A person must have to get a certain percentage to continue beyond the 75 questions or not.

The computer shut off at 75 questions for me as well, and I was convinced I failed. I passed. I was also a horrible test taker. I could study and study for hours and I still did bad on tests.

Most people I've talked to who only had to answer the first 75 questions, they all passed, but we can't assume anything by that. I bet you did just fine. You did good on the practice tests, that's a good start:). Good luck!

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Congratulations!

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How do you get a free trial for u world pls?

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Congratulations on passing!!! I was wondering if you could email me the study guide you used? [email protected]

Thanks!

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Specializes in Clinical Nurse Leader.

I am just seeing all these post. I got the free trial just from googling. Haha.

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Soulshine can you share your monday-sunday study plan for doing 6000 total

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Did doing so many questions help because you encountered similar questions in the NCLEX or did it mentally prepare and provide yourself with certain strategies for the type of questions you got in the NCLEX????

I ask because I am doing as many questions as I can for the past few weeks. I have been using UWorld, not even close to finishing, and probably won't finish before I test next week. So i'm not really prepared for every single question but I do have a general idea of what the NCLEX is looking for and what questions are the most right, if that makes sense.

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34 page study guide... where is it?

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Is there any advice you can give a person who will be taking the test within the next year?

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