So I decided I really didn't want to study for the NCLEX. When I heard you can just take it again, I thought: brilliant. I'll just give it a shot and see if I can do it. If not, I'll disillusion myself of what the test is not and I'll study a bit each day for the next month or so.
Luckily, I don't need to be working right this second, and I'm not in an embarrassing situation where employers are waiting on me to pass.
Wondering if anyone else decided to give it a whirl without studying.
My experience today:
I started out thinking, "Hey, these aren't so bad. Not so bad at all." But by question 50 I was quite ready to be done.
I have a hard time staying interested in tests. Mostly, I think, because they don't scare me, and they certainly don't interest me. I simply find them boring.
Having heard the test could end at question 75, I had high hopes. Real high hopes. These soon turned out to be hopes made of wishful thinking. Question 76 arrived. Then 77...99...110....150...180...I soon realized the test was on to me and I wouldn't be let go until I'd received every delicious question it had to offer.
Around question 240 I seriously just wanted to walk away, it was becoming so tedious. 265. Finally. Test ended. Whew. That's a lot of questions if you're not used to that kind of question load. Took me five hours. I didn't take any breaks because I didn't want to run out of time.
I've since learned you can run out of time and it will just look at your last 60 questions. I also learned that there is no way for the test taker to know whether he/she passed based on how many questions they received.
While I doubt I passed, I honestly have no idea. The fact is, the test kept giving me questions...so I was hovering somewhere around certainty--either just below, or just above. It was basically five hours of guessing.
Oh well. I'll either be very pleased I don't have to study for that test, or I'll frown for a second, laugh, and start going over some questions (and memorizing some lab values, etc.). I think I'd start with that "random fact" thread, only because it seems way more fun to read than actual practice questions.
But if I DID pass, I think it would be really funny. I think the ability to retake the test in 45 days is so generous. I wish I'd just taken the test right away, after graduating, instead of vacationing for a few weeks doing nothing. Then I could be even closer to my second test date. I'm telling my fellow students (who can afford the testing fee x 2) to just take it now and see if they manage--again, if they can afford the time off/fees.
Different strokes for different folks.
Oh yeah--I also had a classmate do this today. We just decided to do it the other day and signed up for the first available test. She scored a 75 (argh, so lucky to be done so quickly, either way) and was out of there.
i don't like to think that this NCLEX-RN exam is a beast......coz it's not....it has to be thought of rationally as a CAT exam and that's it....it's not a beast ....i hope people will stop thinking it is a beast ,better to think it as an opportunity for a license to work and earn a living and not a beast. ok????
ira100178,
It's just a figure of speech and so many of us are in different places with the NCLEX it becomes a beast. Most of us are hard working people who know it's a way to earn a living. This is not to be taken personal.
i see what you mean. but you see we influence how people think here....others are just silent readers. what is a more positive tone or realistic tone of thinking? thinking it as a beast or as a CAT Exam....if one thinks it as a beast one will be totally intimidated.......not good. we must help each other here......and somehow influence each other's thinking in a more positive light......i had seen the exam. i did not pass. but i will never think it as a beast.....not good. why add more intimidation to something intimidating?
i see what you mean. but you see we influence how people think here....others are just silent readers. what is a more positive tone or realistic tone of thinking? thinking it as a beast or as a CAT Exam....if one thinks it as a beast one will be totally intimidated.......not good. we must help each other here......and somehow influence each other's thinking in a more positive light......i had seen the exam. i did not pass. but i will never think it as a beast.....not good. why add more intimidation to something intimidating?
Thanks! - what a great story . . . very amusing- probably because your personality fits me to a "T." I graduate in December, unfortunately- I DO have a job waiting on a passing score, so I'll be sitting in the 9 hour, 4 day review class. Hope you pass, Good Luck to you!
I took the PN exam without really studying because I was in school mode. I remember thinking that it really showed that I wasn't as up to speed as I would have hoped. I didn't feel like I knew a lot about what the questions asked, however, I managed to pass. When, (if!), I take the RN exam I intend to set up a schedule and restudy the whole nine yards. I will need to!
WHAT HAPPENED????? YOU STARTED, NOW FINISH. HAVE YOU PAST THE NCLEX:banghead:
I am curious too. No one here will judge you regardless of the results. We are just all really curious and hoping for the best for you. By the looks of this thread you started you have alot of people behind you. I wish you the best regardless.
Oh no! I had no idea there were so many messages on here!!! I can't believe it.
I FAILED the test. I eventually got the results in the mail (it took about 3.5 weeks) and saw that I was close to passing in every category--but not close enough.
Ever since, it's been something in the back of my mind. Far, far back of my mind. I haven't wanted to think about it.
One thing I wish I'd known before going in is that the test will ask you the same question more than once--even if you got it right. I remember trying to hedge my bets sometimes, thinking, "Uh oh...it's asking me that question again, giving me a chance to get it right this time."
But now I know the test will ask you a more difficult form of the question if you answered correctly, to ensure you really "get it." Or it asks you an easier form if you answered incorrectly. I think that would have been helpful. But I don't know if that would have made a difference.
So!
I can't help but smile and feel a lot of gratitude and connection to everyone here.
I feel bad to have started the thread and then just disappeared.
I certainly don't mean for this to be a "tsk tsk, don't do what I did" thread--but then again, maybe someone will read this and feel motivated to study a bit and save themselves some headache.
i hope your story would be an inspiration to those preparing for or even thinking of taking nclex. thank you for letting us know the result...i know you are a strong person and i wish you the best and hope you'll nail it next time. i admire your guts! god bless you!:wink2:
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determinedgal1
337 Posts
ira100178,
It's just a figure of speech and so many of us are in different places with the NCLEX it becomes a beast. Most of us are hard working people who know it's a way to earn a living. This is not to be taken personal.