Passed NCLEX second time with 75 questions after failing with 265 the first time

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I graduated in May from a well known university with average grades- lots of B's. I wasn't very studious and when I realized I had to take my NCLEX soon, I freaked out. I took the Kaplan course in early June and registered for my NCLEX on July 15. This gave me about 6 weeks to study for the exam which my Kaplan instructor said was ideal. I took all of the Q trainers and about half of the Qbank and averaged 50-65. I remediated every question I took and wrote down the rational (I filled a notebook:dead:). I occasionally referred back to Saunder's if I needed a refresher on a certain topic. It wasn't really until 2 weeks before my exam that I was studying about 6-8 hours a day.

With all that done, I tested at 8:00AM on July 15 and was unbelievably nervous. I had scheduled a trip the following day and had errands to run at 12:00pm because I believed I would be done way before that. I started the test and immediately felt my heart pounding out of my chest, I have never been so overcome with anxiety. When it took me to question 76 I was not surprised but still devastated. When it got to question 150 I knew I would be taking all 265 and struggled to remain positive. I kept on thinking about a million different things and how awful its going to be to fail the NCLEX throughout my exam. Sure enough 2 days later I checked and failed and I felt powerless to the situation while everyone else on FB would post their happy new RN status.

I started studying again about 3 weeks later and planned to take the test again in September. Evaluating what went wrong, I finally decided to start studying again. I realized that because I wasn't so studious throughout nursing school, my knowledge content was pretty low. So, I did every single chapter of Saunders. I would first do the questions, remediate questions, read the chapter, and answer the questions again. It was immensely helpful in teaching and refreshing my memory on tons of subjects. I also did over 1,000 questions from Saunders online questions that come with the book. I started off averaging about 50 and after finishing the textbook I averaged low 70s. I finished Kaplan's 2014 NCLEX book from the library as well. Each night I would read a page of my remediated questions to help the new info solidify.

I took the test on Sept 23rd at 1:00PM (the 8:00AM time slot is brutally early for me). On the day of I read some NCLEX tips (Ultimate NCLEX Strategies for answering 2015-16 Exam), and got there about 40 minutes early. The whole car ride I was EXTREMELY positive. I kept on telling myself that I was going to be a RN, that I was smart and capable and had worked hard for this. I followed through with this mentality throughout my testing. With questions I was unsure about, I told myself that this was one of the experimental questions and let it go with my best guess. I took 2 hours for 75 questions because I triple read questions and answers and applied decision tree occasionally. I had about 15 SATA, 3 math questions, and a ton of meds that I was soso on. When the test turned off at 75, I knew I had passed and felt unbelievable relief!!

The next morning I did PVT and used a gift card that had $2 on it and got the good pop up. Yesterday I did quick results and saw I passed!!! I just wanted to write it out here because I read so many encouraging stories that helped me when I felt like I was never going to pass. Know your weaknesses and what kind of learner you are and be dedicated! I'm a visual learner so for ex when reading about intussusception, I would have to google a picture for the mental image so it would stick to me. I'd watch youtube videos on everything I needed a clearer picture of. I took notes ALL the time and reviewed them ALL the time. If anyone is struggling or taking the exam soon, don't give up!!