Passing NCLEX

[cosha]

Hello everyone. I promised an update regarding the boards, so here is my experience. I'm hoping by sharing it will help eliminate some of the stress to anyone regarding the NCLEX (as this site was definitely a huge help for me!) So here it goes...

I graduated my BSN program back in April. I chose not to do Kaplan, since we were required to do ATI as part of our program -- they are so similar and I hated ATI, so I didn't continue the reviews with Kaplan. In fact, I didn't even study until after I received my test date. I received my test date around the second/third week of May for a test date of June 5th. The next day I purchased UWorld and began the questions. I did about 200 questions a day, and completed all 1800 with only a 56%. I was terrified of that score, however there were times where I did the questions on my phone or tablet and even when I knew the answer, it would have a mind of its own.. so I suppose that could play a factor. I read probably half of the rationales.. and completed the final assessment the day before the exam. Both assessments I did I received the "very high chance of passing" score. The day before the exam a friend came over and we went over lab values and any last minute pharmacology we could think of.

The morning of the exam I was super nervous going in, however once I got in I just began testing as usual - I think uworld is to thank for that since it looks like it.. and before I knew it, I was at number 73. I literally took a moment and prayed for it to continue passed 75. When I got to number 75, I clicked submit and it shut off. I'm not even sure how I was able to stand up and walk out of there. I felt like I didn't know one single thing, and I knew I had failed, miserably. The majority of my test was SAA, a handful of multiple choice, and 4 "drag and drops". The rest was all SAA. I had NO lab values, and only 3 pharmacology, and 2 math questions. I felt devastated and totally defeated. The same friend that came over, also took her exam that morning. We were both out of there in about 40 mins. We went for coffee and she did the PVT trick and it didn't work. (she didn't do it right) I didn't even want to know, so we went for coffee, saw a movie, and basically licked our wounds as we were both sure we failed. Hours later my husband came home and made me do the PVT trick - he had done so much research that day and was determined that I passed, while I was convinced I failed. Out of spite, I did the trick and got the good pop. Called my friend and made her do it, she then got the good pop up. This alleviated some of the stress for the remainder of our night, and the next morning before 11 AM, we both received our license numbers. I could not believe it.

Fast forward to a week, where 4 more of my friends have taken the NCLEX, and they have all passed. Some passed with 76 q's, 150 q's, and two went all the way to 265. We all did the trick, and we all got the good pop up and passed, therefore I believe it works.

My best advice is to utilize a system that works for you - I don't have the attention span to sit in a review setting for 8 hours a day, therefore I knew Kaplan and ATI would not work for me. I learn best my repetition, so doing questions really helped me. Trust the system, and get a good nights sleep. It will all be over soon! Good luck everyone =)