Those who passed NCLEX: what were your practice test scores?

[malapata]

Hello all!! I recently joined the ranks of the 1,000's of nursing school grads who are completely freaking out about the NCLEX.

I'm just wondering... for those of you who have taken and passed the exam, what were you scoring on practice tests prior to taking it? I'm using a couple of different resources, and I've been studying for several weeks, but I just can't seem to break out of the low to mid 60% range (I've gotten a couple of 70% but not consistently) and it's making me REALLY NERVOUS.

Any thoughts?

Thanks and good luck to all! :redpinkhe

[dbaldinoRNBSN]

words can't express the relief i'm feeling looking thru these (and similar threads). graduated mid-may this year, taking the NCLEX July 5... I cut down to 24 hrs/week at my current job and I just study study study, making flash cards, taking practice tests, using a couple different review guides until my brain actually hurts .. then the worst feeling is taking a practice exam and getting a 60-70.

as for my HESI exit exam (similar to ATI), I got an 1093 out of 1500, whereas passing for my school was 850, class avg. 890. my conversion rate was like a 97% so I feel pretty good when I think of that atleast.

the review guides i'm using are NCLEX-RN Review Made Incredibly Easy, Kaplan NCLEX-RN strategies, practice & review, Lippincott's Q&A Review for NCLEX-RN (broken down by topic as well as a few comprehensive exams), Mosby's memory cards for pharmacology and of course my trusty ol' HESI review guide.

Weird part is I can get 85% on "incredibly easy" comprehensive tests online, yet 60-70% on the Lippincott book...but then again the practice questions I do in Lippincott are by topic (e.g. I know 70-75% of my cardiac stuff as opposed to 85% on the comprehensive "incredibly easy" exam).

i guess i'll know when I know. just fell asleep studying and had crazy dreams that I was taking the test in an auditorium and that my score at the end was simply the word "genius." yeah, i'm not cocky or anything , LOL :)

-danielle .

[CorazonDeOro]

I scored between 70-75% on all practice tests. I found Kaplan's questions to be the best (I did not purchase the course, just the strategies book. I also found old question trainers of theirs on Slideshare and used those.) My other resources were Lippencott (the book with like 5000 questions, loved it!) and LaCharity. I found Saunders good for content but the questions were way too easy. I passed in 75, but walked out feeling like I had failed.

[BrittersRN]

I took the NCLEX and passed on the first try with 265 questions. My Kaplan scores never made it above 64%.

Here are my Kaplan scores:

Diagnostic 54%

Test 1 - 51%

Test 2 - 55%

Test 3 - 54%

Test 4 - 57%

Test 5 - 57%

Test 6 - 56%

Test 7 - 56%

Readiness (I took this test first before any of the tests, I know I did it backwards :)) 64%

[chrisjebb24]

I took the NCLEX and passed on the first try with 265 questions. My Kaplan scores never made it above 64%.

Here are my Kaplan scores:

Diagnostic 54%

Test 1 - 51%

Test 2 - 55%

Test 3 - 54%

Test 4 - 57%

Test 5 - 57%

Test 6 - 56%

Test 7 - 56%

Readiness (I took this test first before any of the tests, I know I did it backwards :)) 64%

my first try on qrtrainer was T1-73 T2-50 T3-63 T4-6- T5-50 T6-50 T7-50

my nclex 4000 the scores i got usually from mid 50s to mid 60s..

please i need ur feedback if these scores are good enough..i'll be taking mine on june 30 godbless us all..

[Val_998, BSN, RN]

this is so helpful!! I take the big test July 7th (ahhh) and have also been getting scores in the 60s and a few 70s wondering how I will ever be able to pass. I didn't take any review courses but I am using prentice hall's comprehensive review book with a cd of several thousand questions and i have been stalking Barnes and Noble for a while for all their nclex review books.... good luck everyone

[anny08]

I didn't really do many "practice exams", except for the one we took during our last semester and I did not do well AT ALL. I took the Hurst review which was amazing, and used a kaplan book with the CD to do many, many practice questions. I passed after 75 questions. Key-do not overthink the questions, remember ABCs and go with your first instinct.

[Nonick9700]

Congrats malapata!

I tracked my progress as a studied, as I did it on my own since I could not afford $350+ for a review class. I did 1,500 practice questions, most from Kaplan strategy book and Saunders Comprehensive. My average score on the 1,500 questions was 72%. When I first started studying, I was scoring in the high 60% range. The night before the NCLEX, I took the comprehensive practice test on the Kapln CD and scored 66%. I was freaking, but so tired of studying....nothing to do but go for it. Not like I could reschedule at that point!

I passed with 75 questions. I think Kaplan came closest in format, Saunders was better at review. I've been an LPN for 6 years and it took a lot of "un-learning" how I've done things! As Kaplan says, when you take the NCLEX its not the real world - you have all the time, staff, supplies, etc that you need for the task at hand.

Good luck to all!

[BrittersRN]

I strongly suggest going through each of the question trainers and reading the right and wrong rationales. I cant say if your scores are high enough...I knew my scores werent high enough because my Kaplan instructor told me they needed to be in the 60s range. Well I never made it to the 60s which is probably why I ended up with so many questions on NCLEX. And definitly do the "alternative format questions" trainer on the Kaplan website. Hope this helps!

[oztizz184]

congrats to those!

good luck to those!

great tips!