Question about NCLEX posts

Every day I read posts here that go something like this:

I had "100 questions, 27 were SATA, 4 were drag and drop, 11 EKGs, 14 OB, 6 education"(etc)

It has already been made clear that the type of question has nothing to do with if you pass or fail, so I am very curious about WHY anyone keeps track--but I am even more curious about HOW anyone keeps track. When I tested, I was concentrating on the question at hand and there was no way I had the mental capacity to keep a running tab in my head about what kind of questions I was getting. Everyone knows how many total questions they get, but the rest of the tally amazes me and I would love it if someone could tell me how the heck you do that???

I also have to wonder if those who do keep track and then fail may actually be failing because they were too focused on keeping those tabs?!

I made a tally of SATA questions at the top of my dry erase board. Even though the number didn't mean anything, making tally marks was kind of calming for me.

[OrganizedChaos, LVN]

LOL! I always wondered the same thing!!!

[SWM2009]

I kept track of the SATA/pharm/OB etc questions using tally marks on the board provided. It did not interfere with my ability to pass the test. As long as one understands that the number of SATA/other topic questions has no bearing on pass or fail who cares if they want to tally how many they get?

[OrganizedChaos, LVN]

I kept track of the SATA/pharm/OB etc questions using tally marks on the board provided. It did not interfere with my ability to pass the test. As long as one understands that the number of SATA/other topic questions has no bearing on pass or fail who cares if they want to tally how many they get?

A lot of people don't know that. They think if they had X number of SATA/EKG/etc they passed/failed.

[SWM2009]

A lot of people don't know that. They think if they had X number of SATA/EKG/etc they passed/failed.

True but in all my years of being on AN this has always been the case. There are a gazillion posts stating the number of SATA etc does not mean anything and a gazillion more stating they do. Around and around it goes. Oh well.

[OrganizedChaos, LVN]

True but in all my years of being on AN this has always been the case. There are a gazillion posts stating the number of SATA etc does not mean anything and a gazillion more stating they do. Around and around it goes. Oh well.

Lol. Yeah, I just saw a post earlier asking if anyone passed the NCLEX with 5-6 SATA. And on the merri-go-round we go!

I guess it is the nature of the beast....people look for any little thing that will convince them that they passed because the wait is so difficult...but I cannot imagine taking the time or brain power to keep track of that.

Myths are long-lived, it seems, and that includes the one concerning the "level" of the SATA question. People may write a million posts about the myth, but it doesn't make it any more true than if it was posted about once.

OTOH, if there are enough people who ALSO write "it is irrelevant"....well, maybe it'll sink in :)

[kbrn2002, ADN, RN]

I took the test long enough ago that there were no SATA questions. Thank goodness! Seems like that's pretty much what people obsess about.

I was always wondering the same thing. The last thing I was thinking about when taking the NCLEX was the amount of certain types of questions I was getting! For the longest time I thought the NCLEX would tell you after you passed/failed since everyone was so sure of their numbers!