Took NCLEX 8/25/15, Passed in 75 questions.. my advice

[Lindzy, RN]

Hey!! So I finally got to take the NCLEX RN on Tuesday 8/25 and it shut off at 75 questions and I cried a little when I got to my car because it was just overwhelming to finally be done with the NCLEX after so much hard work and dedication the past couple years in school. But honestly, I was calm when I went in to the NCLEX because if nearly 3,000 NCLEX practice questions and a 3.5 GPA in nursing school then there would be nothing more I could have done get my RN license number. I didn't feel awesome when I left but I knew that I tried my hardest and did questions nearly everyday since completing school in June. What an amazing feeling it was to find out on Thursday (8/27) by looking at the Ohio Board Of Nursing website that I was officially an RN! yayaya!!

Here's how I prepared: (Hoping this may help others)

My school used Kaplan in the last few months of school so I had full access to all QTrainers and the Qbank. We also did the Hurst Review a few months before our last quarter... AND NCSBN review course in the last quarter (I know that is a lot and I will offer my opinion on them all for what it is worth)

First NCSBN: In short, the questions were nothing like my NCLEX test and seemed to be a lot of content/knowledge questions which aren't above passing line so I didn't use any material or questions once my subscription ended. Good Content but waaaaay too in depth for me since I just graduated in June; HOWEVER, if you have been out of school for a while or taken NCLEX a few times without passing then it is VERY cheap and has a lot of good content which doesn't take too long to get through.

Next, Hurst Review: I enjoyed the live review and did complete two QReviews (both below the goal of 84/120). I feel like Hurst questions were below passing level and I think that content questions are always harder because you either know it or you don't. This review again is a content review and the videos are very entertaining, but honestly none of the "tricks" in the review book applied to the questions that the NCLEX gave me. So, all in all I think that Hurst is useful and will help you pass NCLEX, BUT you may need to also use harder questions from another source.

Lastly, Kaplan: I had questions VERY VERY similar to Kaplan and I seriously felt like I was taken another Qbank test. Here are my Kaplan Scores:

QTrainer 1: 69.3%

QTrainer 2: 49.3%

QTrainer 3: 50%

QTrainer 4: 54.7%

Qtrainer 5: 56.7%

QTrainer 6: 58%

QTrainer 7: 49.8% (hahaha, I just wanted the pain of doing 265 kaplan questions to be over)

Overall Qbank: 59% (I completed 100% of the Qbank) I was getting consistently above 64% each 75 question quiz (one a day) prior to NCLEX.

NCLEX SAMPLE 1: 62%

NCLEX Sample 2: 44% (I'm not sure what happened here, haha)

NCLEX Sample 3: 70% (all priorities)

NCLEX Sample 4: 38.8% (all Select All That Apply Questions)

I HATED Kaplan in school, because it was a ton to do on top of everything else they expected from us. BUT at home doing Kaplan was different because their questions (for the most part) are really challenging and though their rational is not like UWorld, it is still helpful 99% of the time. Besides completing all of the QBank for Kaplan and doing the QTrainers, I also completed all 18 chapters of PDA by LaCharity which was I think 477 questions in total and my overall average was 69%.

Kaplan + LaCharity Book = The reason why I passed Nclex in 75 questions on my first try.

NOTE: This worked for me and I 100% back Kaplan's product after taking NCLEX, but no ones NCLEX is the same and this post is just my opinion on the NCLEX prep courses that I took.

Also, I read this post prior to NCLEX which helped me to decide my attack plan. Here's a link because I agree with the comment about "Maybe we found the secret to passing the NCLEX"... https://allnurses.com/nclex-discussion-forum/passed-nclex-rn-970544.html

So in Short:

-Completed entire Kaplan Qbank & all Qtrainers

-Completed all questions for PDA by Lacharity

Also, it took 7 weeks to get our ATT's so that is how long I studied. Remember to review all questions right and wrong when doing practice questions!!

BEST OF LUCK! All the hard work pays off and IS worth it!! If I can help in anyway let me know!!

Lindzy, RN