As I studied for NCLEX these last few weeks, I've been on this site back and forth looking at posts concerning Kaplan scores, study plans, and NCLEX results so I decided to post mine and to post what worked for me as far as studying goes. I graduated from a traditional BSN program this May 2014. After graduating, I took 2 weeks off to travel and see family and friends then I started my Kaplan review course the beginning of June. I received my ATT a week after my Kaplan course ended and scheduled to take the NCLEX in 5 weeks.
During my Kaplan course (4 days long), I took the Diagnostic Exam (57%) and Readiness Test (57%). I chose to take the Question Trainers after I finished the Kaplan course because I wanted to review content. I knew I was weak in content and I knew many of the questions I missed were because I needed to review content. I actually did rent the Saunders book but after reading the first few pages, I realized the questions were just review questions from the previous chapter and I felt like it didn't help me like Kaplan did so I didn't use the Saunders book. I knew reading NCLEX prep books wouldn't help me at this point. I chose to review content just by watching the Kaplan content videos and making sure I understood concepts.
As far as my study plan goes, I had a general idea of what I wanted to accomplish every day. I have a big erase board in my room and I made a calendar outline from the day I scheduled an appointment to take the NCLEX to the day of my NCLEX. Every single day, I would fill in the board with what I've studied. It kept me in check with my progress and it made me feel like I accomplished things every day. One day each week, I made sure to take a break and just not study at all. This kept me sane. Here's a general week-by-week outline of how I studied:
Week 1 (5 weeks until the NCLEX):
Watch Kaplan content videos related to my weakest areas from the Diagnostic & Readiness Tests.
Complete Question Trainers 1-3 (QT1 - 61.33%, QT2 - 51%, QT3 - 52%) and review the rationales the day after a Question Trainer was taken.
Week 2 (4 weeks until the NCLEX):
Watch Kaplan content videos related to my strongest areas from the Diagnostic & Readiness Tests.
Complete Question Trainers 4-5 (QT4 - 54%, QT5 - 93%)and review the rationales the day after a Question Trainer was taken.
Week 3 (3 weeks until the NCLEX):
Start the Kaplan Qbank by completing 150 questions a day as recommended by Kaplan. I did this by taking 3 50-question exams per day using the "All Items" option in the Question Reuse Mode (The more I see things repetitively, the more it sticks with me). After each exam, I would review the rationales and write in a notebook any content I didn't really know beforehand or I had trouble with remembering. I never actually went back to review the things I wrote in the notebook. I just retain things better by writing something down.
Week 4 (2 weeks until the NCLEX):
Complete 150 Qbank questions per day by doing the 3 50-question exams per day using the "All Items" option in the Question Reuse Mode and reviewing the rationales after each 50-question exam is taken.
Complete Question Trainer 6-7 (QT6 - 80%, QT7 - 50%, QT7 retake 1 week later after reviewing rationales - 98%)and review the rationales the day after a Question Trainer was taken.
Complete the "Alternate Quiz Type" which I don't remember my score on and it won't show me but I reviewed the rationales for that as well.
Week 5 (1 week until the NCLEX):
Complete 150 Qbank questions per day by doing 3 50-question exams per day using the "All Items" option then eventually using the "Incorrect Only" option in the Question Reuse Mode and reviewing the rationales after each 50-question exam is taken.
Review the PDF allnurses NCLEX review guide that is floating around this website. Just as I knew NCLEX prep books wouldn't help me with retaining anything, I didn't really retain anything from the guide except the mnemonics and some little things. Pretty helpful when it came to some priority or isolation questions on the NCLEX though.
Review any content videos that I was still weak on as shown under my "Cumulative Performance: Test Content" in the Qbank.
Week of NCLEX (I had about 3 days left to review):
Take the NCLEX sample tests (ST1 - 52%, ST2 - 56%, ST3 All Priority - 83%, ST4 Mostly Select All That Apply, Drag & Drop, and Med Calc - 40%) and review the rationales after I took them.
Day of NCLEX:
I went to church for mass in the morning and spent some time there after just reflecting and praying. I did this because I knew it would calm me down and it did. I ate brunch, went home and tried to study little things but I realized, there was really no more preparation that I could do or that I could retain. I read somewhere on someone else's post on allnurses that trying to review things on the day of your NCLEX won't help you because it will just confuse you with information you've already learned and studied. I thought that was silly because I always review things before exams and it's always helped me before but I realized what that person meant now.
I got to the testing center half an hour early, checked in, and I remember the moment I sat in front of the screen that this was it. Kaplan's Qbank and Question Trainer format, down to the colors, really resemble the NCLEX like people have said here. I did feel more at ease because of that. I didn't keep track of how many questions I got of each type but I remember knowing the answers to the first 4 questions then getting about 10-15 Select All That Apply (SATA) questions in a row after that. I had some questions with pictures, a lot of Drag and Drop, and no math. I realized most of my questions up until question 50-55 or so were SATA or Drag and Drop. Around question 55, I remember getting multiple choice questions with a few SATA tucked in. I remember looking at the timer and realizing how long I was taking per question. I'm usually a fast test taker but all the SATA's were taking me forever. By question 75, I realized 90 minutes already passed and when I clicked next, the computer shut down then the nice little Pearson Vue survey came up. I walked out feeling ok but as I walked to my car, I got mixed feelings. When I got home, I did the Pearson Vue Trick and it gave me the "good pop up" error ("Our records indicate that you have recently scheduled this exam. Another registration cannot be made at this time"). A part of me was happy to see this, but another part of me just felt more anxious. The next day I checked the board of nursing's site to see if they processed my NCLEX score and it led me to a different website showing my license number, which it did so I PASSED! :)
Overall, I think the fact that I focused on both content and practicing questions really helped me. I'm happy that I focused on reviewing content based on how I know I retain things best. I would read these posts to get a general idea of how other people studied and realized it worked for them because it was based on how they study best. I knew I wanted to stick with 1-2 study materials so I did (Kaplan and a little bit of that allnurses PDF guide). I didn't even read the Kaplan Content Review guide because I felt overwhelmed by all the details so I stuck with the content videos.
Study by how you know you study best. Use these study outlines as a guide or an inspiration to make your own. Only you know how you retain information efficiently so use that to your advantage. Kaplan worked for me because I made it work for me. I completed 100% of the questions but I only did 150 questions a day as recommended unless it was one of the Question Trainers that gave you more than 150 questions. My Qbankscores started from as low as 46% to as high as 96%. I pretty much saw an average of scores ranging from 76-84% by Week 5. Take your time reviewing and familiarize yourself with the NCLEX format. Study smart! Good luck!
Thank you! Wow, your QT scores are pretty good and consistent.
LOL! Thanks! I thought that my Qbanks would be higher given that I went through the Classroom Review and have been studying a lot of content!! God bless you for getting a 96% on anything Kaplan!!! That must be a record!!
Graduatenurse14
630 Posts
LOL! Thanks! I thought that my Qbanks would be higher given that I went through the Classroom Review and have been studying a lot of content!! God bless you for getting a 96% on anything Kaplan!!!
That must be a record!!