It was a long and hard struggle but I was able to finally pass on my 3rd attempt. To tell you the truth, I don't think it was any ONE thing that I studied from. The first time I used Saunders and its accompanying CD with 4000+ questions. I took the test and got 265 questions. The second time I took Kaplan along with its q-trainer and q-bank. I took the test a second time and got 80 questions, still no luck. I was pretty much stuck after the second time because I used 2 of the most popular review resources on this forum. The third time I added the NCSBN review website. I passed with 75 questions. All 3 resources helped me to pass. Saunders for content, Kaplan for critical thinking, and NCSBN for a mix of both.
My advice is to use as many resources as you can before taking the exam. Absorb as much rational as you can from as many questions as you can tolerate. When you get your candidate report, focus your study on the items that say "below passing standard."
All in all, it really comes down to luck on what content you get for the exam. Some people get content on their strengths while others get content on their weaknesses. Just remember one thing, never give up. As my classmates would say to me, "you got this!"
I thought i needed motivation so i came to read this thread, I failed the first time, now I am not convinced that i will pass it the second time around. I used KAPLAN and a bit of saunders. Now im focusing on Saunders alone and doing Suzanne's plan. Will be taking sometime this 2nd quarter of the year.
What i noticed when i took the exam was, i concentrated too much on each item and ended 3 hours and thirty minutes for 75 questions. I have rewritten every question just to be sure and used 4-5 writing boards, and yes the attendant was kinda pissed since she needed to attend to me every now and then. Any advice on overanalyzing the exam?
I usually do good in practice tests without overanalyzing. But i got too tense and failed. And now I'm even more anxious since the nclex is increasing the passing standard. Sigh
I tended to over analyze after taking the Kaplan course too. What gave me a balance was the NCSBN review course ( www.learningext.com ). The questions on this website seemed to be more similar to the actual exam. Kaplan was great with critical thinking skills, but the actual NCLEX questions weren't as difficult. Getting to the correct answer seemed to be more simple. That's why it's important to have a balance of study resources so you can see different kinds of questions.
so te exam will be more diffivult than before??? oh my the preveious exam questions were totally difficult! so it 'll be harder this time wat shud i do now?? oh no! is there any advice how wil i review even better? any books..also i saw this book wyl i was canvasing for saunders (they ran out of stocks) " the book was NCLEX-RN REVIEW" second edition by Margarat Dahlhauser ...u think guys thats useful?? my bf is in the states and he checked that out in a bukstore there and its worth $39.95, almost d same as Saunders' price...well i never heard of that book b4 but is that advisable to read? if u know bout this book..can u tell me about it and how it works for the nclex rn prep..thanks
I read ur thread and it is interesting what u said about not passing the first time. When u read ur results info that u receive from NCLEX it said u were Near Passing Standards. Well, with me this was my second time taking the test and I got all 205 questions and when I realize that I was about to take the entire test I was running out of time. I started answering the questions really fast so I wasn't taking my time answering the remaining questions. When I got my results in the mail, I was NEAR PASSING STANDARD on each and every categorie. I keep telling myself that had I took the time to answer each and every questions and also not taking the break they give u, I would have pass. I do plan on taking the test a third and I know this time around I will pass.
Thanks to all for their congrats! To people taking the test again, just keep at it and try your best. Think of each and every time as your first. You'll get it!
marxsoft
12 Posts
I tended to over analyze after taking the Kaplan course too. What gave me a balance was the NCSBN review course ( www.learningext.com ). The questions on this website seemed to be more similar to the actual exam. Kaplan was great with critical thinking skills, but the actual NCLEX questions weren't as difficult. Getting to the correct answer seemed to be more simple. That's why it's important to have a balance of study resources so you can see different kinds of questions.