I took the NCLEX RN last Aug 23, 2014 at 8AM. It was my first take on the exam, and was understandably anxious (and scared) to start and get over with it. We arrived an hour and a half before the start time. I checked-in and was assisted by a fine, old gentleman. I got to start the exam earlier than scheduled (they allow it, as long as you are checked-in, you can immediately start). The tutorial sort of calmed my nerves but to my surprise I was trembling when I started reading the first question! It really helped a lot that you have control on your pacing, so I got comfortable as the exam went on. And so it was, my exam stopped after the 75th question. I finished the tutorial, exam and survey in two hours. OMG! Either I passed or failed miserably fast!
I have been reading about the pearson vue trick, how it works, etc. I planned to check on it an hour after the exam. I logged on to the pearson vue website and got the "good" pop-up. Oh my was I on cloud nine. Thank you Lord! Of course, I checked again after an hour or so, and still I got the good pop-up.
Now, it so happens that that day August 23, 2014, there was a scheduled website maintenance from 5:00-11:00PM CDT. True enough I couldn't access the site during those times. But the stubborn in me still couldn't resist checking the site after the said schedule. So I logged in again, but this time, pearson vue had a new "interface", the old one had the register option on the left. The new website had a "START THE REGISTRATION PROCESS" button right in the middle of the page.
I did try to register again, and do the pearson vue trick again. I answered the questions, etc...and then when I pressed the Next button, praying I would still get the "good" pop-up (to reaffirm my "unofficial" passing result), alas, it went straight to the credit card page!!! I felt shivers in my spine, OMG! "Does this mean I failed?", I thought. I was in denial. I thought, it probably was because they updated the website, after all, I still got the "good" pop-up before the scheduled maintenance. I guess I was just convincing myself at that point. I tried again and again and still went straight to the cc page, I was devastated. It didn't help that my result wasn't available that whole weekend. It was agonizing! Did I pass, did I fail? Waaaaaahhhhh!!
But then thank God for quick results, it was available this morning! I was ambivalent to check because I didn't know how would I react. But of course, I'm not the type who prolongs the agony. I went ahead and paid $7.95 and then the result was available on the next page... I PASSED!!! Praise the Lord!
After I finally got the "unofficial" passing result. I tried again to register for the exam...and still it lead to the cc page, even if I already passed!
Hence, based on my experience, the Pearson Vue trick cannot tell anymore whether you pass or fail after AUGUST 23, 2014. Even if you passed or failed, it will still let you start a registration process and lead you to the cc page. Thus, no more so-called "Pearson Vue Trick". I don't know if this is temporary or permanent, but what I know is that it changed when they had that website maintenance. Its sad that we can't rely anymore on this "trick" to reduce our anxiety and get a "quicker" "unofficial" result.
This just means that future takers of the NCLEX RN would have to rely on the "quick results" option (48 hours after the exam) or wait for their official results in the mail to know for sure what their result is.
