oliviamarch

i too felt discouraged with my kaplan scores but as i was taking nclex i felt as though i was taking another qbank and often found myself just guessing at something b/c i was just in such a mental state. then it would hit me...every question counts! stop doing that!!!!! when my test shut off and the ear plugs came off, and the internal screaming calmed down, and the blood rushed back to my head i realized, i was not taking a kaplan test, that was the real thing, and you probably just failed it b/c you were in dream land thinking it was practice! i laugh now b/c at the time i wanted to scream, just give me one more question...i wasn't done!!!!!! but, i passed (sure, after spending 48 agonizing hours and driving everyone i know crazy)...i was already thinking of alternate career paths. i mean after all, can't every office use an unlicensed nurse? congratulations to you. om

i've heard that these secrets can bring about extreme methods of torture in some countries. i'm glad you got to share it and expose the shame of keeping it to yourself! congratulations to you and i wish you the best in your career. om

katielee- it is the most stressful time i also went through to take that test and then even more agonizing to wait for the results. i'm so sorry to read that you failed, but like everyone has said, take some time, regroup, and go get it. you CAN do it and just think- although you won't get the same questions, you have the experience. you've seen the test, you know what to expect (style), and you will know where you need to prepare to pass it on the second try. if you felt prepared before you took it, you just have to ask yourself what, if anything, you would have done differently. take a breather. at least the weekend to regroup, on monday, find out when you can retest and then start planning how you will study, what you will study, and how you can mentally prepare to get those initials behind your name. i can recommend kaplan as i found the questions to be harder than the test itself! i felt confident when i left the test center and kept saying i would not have done anything differently. so, please don't feel like you're not good enough, trust me, i'm sure some of our beloved nursing instructors also failed, and i'm sure of the thousands of nurses in the world, many have taken this exam more than once. regroup, refresh, and go get it...you didn't suffer through nursing school to stop here. it's a set back...and a warped way of looking at it means you get an extended summer break. i don't know you, but i have all the confidence in the world you will do well. just think of how you become a cheerleader when one of your pts starts to come around (i work in an icu) and that awesome feeling you get b/c you had something to do with that...just keep thinking, that is the feeling you need to have to go in and take this exam. my best to you. om

congrats again to those who replied to my post and PASSED!!!!! Thanks for your posts and positive words. Just need to slow down and be thorough. So what if I take 6 hours to answer 75 questions? haha...

Hello everyone & MAJOR congrats to those of you who have passed the NCLEX! I'm taking the exam next Saturday and although I've reviewed content, questions, math, and some other stuff STILL feel completely unprepared. So, in reading some of these posts I've come up with some questions. I really appreciate your candid responses since I'm sure like other readers, we'll ALL find the info useful: 1) KAPLAN- my scores just suck. I've ranged from 38-79 on the Qbank questions and my Qtrainers have ranged from 48-71. Does this say anything for my performance? I still will continue doing their questions, but should I start looking elsewhere for additional questions? I have about 400 questions left in the bank and am at 58% score. 2) SATA- notice how it's missing an "N" at the end? Anyway, are they ridiculously difficult or if there is enough knowledge on a topic is it workable to figure out? 3) PHARM- how detailed are the questions? I've been studying overall categories and some meds within those, but with so many drugs and each having such similar adverse effects am I doing enough? Calculations I'll just keep practicing. I feel with the content area of Pharm being 13-19%, am I really ok with just knowing overviews of categories or do I need to know specific drugs? 4) THE END. Do you really leave the test center with a feeling of impending doom or is it just relief that it's over regardless of performance????? Overall I'm starting to freak out about this test and have not really slept for the past two nights b/c of my anxiety. I can only imagine how I'll be next week! Any advice on a change of direction in my studying is appreciated. I took the Kaplan class in May. I've done everything it says to do, but find myself making careless mistakes and rushing through. Aside from xanax (I wish) any tips for test day?