Testing SOON! Question.....

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Okay guys....scheduled my test for next week. I need some advice here. I have been doing Virtual ATI for a little over 2 months and received the 'green light' to test. I'm not feeling very confident with the Virtual ATI program as they don't have a very large test bank and I would often get the same questions on the exams so I don't feel they are a very good indicator of my 'readiness' as I start to memorize the answers (and of course read the rationales). So I purchased the LaCharity book and am about half way through it. I've been scoring in the 60-70% range and have been focusing on the rationales for each question. I feel like I am learning a lot from that book. I also have been using Saunders 6th edition and answering questions from the EVOLVE website, but I find the questions to be too straight forward and not hard enough. OKAY, so I'm debating on paying the $300 for the Kaplan Qbank to use to brush up on my test taking skills and to learn from the rationales. I'm just wondering if it's worth it to purchase the qbank if I'm testing in a week? Will I have enough time to get through all of the questions? I am currently not working and only studying, so I have all day to do these but I also don't want to do too many questions and overwhelm myself. Also, am I going overboard by using all of these review materials? Sorry for such a long post Any and all advice is greatly appreciated!

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Specializes in Cardiac, ER, Pediatrics, Corrections.

I used kaplan and am glad I did! All I used was Kaplan and Saunders. However, I found Kaplan to be a bit more difficult than the actual NCLEX. I have several friends who only used Saunders and passed. I have several friends who only used LaCharity and passed. I have several friends who only used ATI coach and passed. (Sorry repetitive ha) So honestly, it is your call. If you can afford the 200 bucks and would feel more confident with Kaplan..go for it! The most important thing for going into NCLEX is confidence. But of you feel like ATI prepared you, go for it!! I cannot speak for ATI because I never took it (but obviously heard good things) But I can say that Saunders and Kaplan prepared me well! PS. I found that Saunders SATA questions were most helpful for NCLEX SATA. Good luck dear!

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I wouldn't want to give you advice and say "don't buy it" and then you don't pass the NCLEX, you know? But I'll just say this. Your anxiety as the test comes closer is normal, feeling unprepared and like you don't know the information is normal. I would go by what your testing results are saying. I got the green light from ATI and then I did Kaplan and I passed.

Kaplan is great and there's a reason they give a guarantee...it works. The thing is, I'm not sure how much Kaplan could help you in just one week. It takes some time to work your way around the website. I'd be afraid that you would cram then freak yourself out.

I would either keep doing what I'm doing and take the test...or if you really don't feel prepared: postpone the test and order Kaplan which would give you more time to do the Qbank.

Your scores w/ ATI and LaCharity seem good, but it's a call only you could make.

Good luck!!

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I'm testing next week too! Best of luck!!

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Thanks, Laura! I think that there are so many different resources out there it's hard to feel confident in just one of them. @onehappywon, if I just purchase the qbank from Kaplan and not the whole 'shabang', do you know how many questions are provided? They don't have much info on their website. Did you do the whole Kaplan program or did you just do the qbank?

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I'm testing next week too! Best of luck!!

Good luck to you too @wayfinder! What resources did you use to study? What's your plans for your LAST week of studying?

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Honestly you have week to go I do not think it would be worth it to buy it now. There are some free apps for your phone you can download like Kaplan RN mini Qbank, NCLEX RN mastery, ATI RN mentor, Lippincott RN Prep and Saunders had one too. I was tired of studying content so a week before my exam I just did questions from all these apps. I did not pay for any program and I passed with 75 questions in 45 minutes

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Honestly you have week to go I do not think it would be worth it to buy it now. There are some free apps for your phone you can download like Kaplan RN mini Qbank, NCLEX RN mastery, ATI RN mentor, Lippincott RN Prep and Saunders had one too. I was tired of studying content so a week before my exam I just did questions from all these apps. I did not pay for any program and I passed with 75 questions in 45 minutes

Thanks for the response MLW84. I already have the Kaplan mini qbank on my phone and love it. I'm going to download the others now, thanks!

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Sorry Nurse2beMN, I just saw this. I think there are 1,300 Qs if you order just the Qbank and it costs $299.

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Sorry Nurse2beMN, I just saw this. I think there are 1,300 Qs if you order just the Qbank and it costs $299.

Thanks, onehappywon. I think I've decided to just stick with the ATI material, LaCharity book, and Saunders. You're right, I might start to 'cram' if I start qbank now and I don't want my confidence to go down because of it. Thanks everyone!

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I took my test on June 2nd, If you know the contents it will be easier for you. I did only questions in Saunders 5E CD, especially the Alternative Format questions (SATA). Do as much as questions you can(contents, Prioritization, Delegation)... Good luck..

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Good luck to you too @wayfinder! What resources did you use to study? What's your plans for your LAST week of studying?

I did the Hurst review in early June, which was helpful bc it was concise. I also had the Kaplan review course and Qbank through my school, so I have been doing questions from that everyday.

For the final week, I'm finishing up about 200-300 of my remaining qbank questions, followed by just reviewing content for a few days (using the study guide floating around allnurses.com, Hurst, and some Saunders). I'm saving question trainers 6 and 7 for a couple of days before the exam to build up endurance (if I am able to get to them, I'm hoping to do at least 1 before NCLEX).

For the day before the test, I am taking most of the day off (movies, maybe a mani) but I am also planning to do a little bit of questions, like 25-75 ques. It personally helps me. I think the morning of the test I will do like 20 ques before I leave to get warmed up.

Ahhh! My NCLEX-RN is exactly a week from today! :nailbiting: I will keep you in my thoughts, I hope we pass this exam!

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