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As a recent graduate I undertook the challenge of taking the boards. I did it insanely.Began studying 2 mos before at about 4 hours a day. One month before test was up to 5-6, two weeks before 8-10. I had taken the Barclay and Fitzpatrick review. In addition I purchased the Leik cert book . I also went and purchased the APEA Q BANK online after a month of studying. The night before I purchased the AANP practice test. Went in the next day, after drinking coffee (4 shots of expresso) and sat for the exam. The first 40 questions are there to throw you off, I found them to be the most challenging. My advice, answer, mark them and move on. Don't sit and contemplate A or D. Listening to Dr Barclay kind of replayed in my head on his advice on taking the test. And some great advice for that matter.As you proceed through the test you will see the questions are (I found) more straight forward. I finished the test, went back with some clarity and negotiated all those that were marked for review. My goal was to score above a 90 and I did. You can as well. I found that the test had components from all four studies I utilized. Of course the subject matter is the same, but the little stressors in those reviews were what popped out at me and allowed me to reason through. What I find was an added benefit was the great broad refresher I had which helped me prepare for practice feeling a little more confident than I did coming out of school. You CAN do it and WILL do it! Just read the material verbatim over and over. Eventually it becomes embedded. I did the Barclays review and Fitz review both every day and did questions for two hours at the end of the night. The questions were there to challenge and move on, don't linger and "research". You will find the next day or so during your review those questions you got wrong will now have an answer to them because while you are studying, the rationale becomes clearer. Good Luck you will do it! And yes, I think they do utilize a large question bank with questions and topics varied. I heard of people having less challenging exams with only one pharm question on it. My test had EVERYTHING with lots of pharm on it. So be prepared and good luck

I am a recent graduate,May 2017 out of a Northeast College as an AGNP-PC. I have a background as an ER RN for 10 years, I have to say the salaries have been varied as far as offers. One specialty practice offered 100,000.00 and involved working as a second in a few(yes a few local hospitals) urban area.. That did not include any reimbursement for travel, wear and tear. The partner who made the offer did so with a smiling face, thats when I told him my salary as an RN was 107,000.00 Then I moved on to a second interview with a very large organization. Their salary? Told my an NP in practice starting was about 95,000 with 4 weeks vacation. The next position was as a Cath Lab NP , starting salary 90-95. I settled on a internal medicine practice which will give me autonomy and quite an education. Owned by a large NY provider, starting salary is 120,000 not salaried. Cap is set at 40 hour then above time and a half with 28 days a year.I think it is a good salary to start with. Friends are getting 160-170 per year in the city and some bargain up to 150 after experience. I think it is insane on how the diversity of salaries are across the board. What I do not agree with is the assumption "you shouldn't be in it for the money". Well, I went into healthcare for caring and I agree, if one is not apt to being compassionate toward the sick , wrong profession. With that said, yes we should be paid. I find unfortunately that NP's are very soft in negotiating their contracts. The burden of needing to taking a job available I am sure comes into play. I found that I went on many interviews, and was pretty forward on my qualifications and what I expected salary wise. I know many NP's that settle under 100,000 thats crazy after paying so much for school and working so hard to achieve their goals. Even college professors would soapbox stating I would expect 2 weeks vacation at $47 for the NYC area. Insane. Hold your ground. You are worth the money. Know your strengths and promote yourself on those interviews. It is nice to hear what they are looking for, but it is also important for them to hear what YOU are looking for. Our salaries are varied because we are RN's and typically were unionized (sorry) and expected very little in salary changes and benefits with the assumption of a high workload. All I can say is keep pushing, promoting yourself and the NP worth. You are worth the extra money, once people start realizing that across the board, I think salaries will get more competitive. (I think they are definitely starting to). Hospital ANM and NM are making well over 120 for a BS degree. You now have a MSN and a NP cert. Think of all the training and hours invested into reaching your goal. Not to mention, administrators and what they are making. We are a commodity , a HOT commodity. Our experience does entitle us to greater expectations all around. Good Luck and push forward!!!