What is the whole concept of "focus on the smaller percentages" for Excelsiors..?

NotMyProblem MSN, ASN, BSN, MSN, LPN, RN · Jan 12, 2014

Before I give my experience/explanation, I will first say that you have to do what works best for you. Everyone has their own technique with tackling study materials. Microbiology is not even ON my list of favorite subjects, let alone being at the bottom of the list. EC/Pearson Vue grades each area of the exam and then issue a final overall letter grade. If the total amount of questions is multiplied by the percentage listed in any given area, that will tell you just how many questions will be asked in that area.

After trying to get an understanding of textbook microbiology, the more I read, the more confusing the information was to me. So, I focused my studies on the areas that I knew were not going to have that many questions derived from them and tried to do really well in those areas, while trying to 'know something' in all of the areas of the exam. The areas with the larger percentage numbers had so much more information to learn. Even though I tried to grasp it, again, the more I read, the more confusing it was to me. It was just not sticking with me.

So, my strategy of focusing on the smaller content areas worked very well for me in my less-than-enjoyable subjects. (Try to imagine each area as a quiz. In a real classroom, you have graded quizzes that are averaged together to give you a final grade for the course). That view is how I tackled the more difficult exams. Getting good grades (percentages) on the smaller quizzes helped me to land a passing 'final' grade when averaged with the other areas.

Some people do focus on the opposite and that works well for them. Some people barely have to study for Micro at all because science comes naturally to them. And then you have those who fail the exam each time they sit down to the computer. Either strategy is not something that MUST be done; it is strictly what works best for the individual and when other students ask me how I passed a certain exam, I start by telling them that this is what worked best for me. Getting an A in Micro was out of the question for me and I knew that before I even enrolled with EC. But I had a plan to get the minimum grade on an exam that might as well have been written in Greek and it worked....for me.

The thing about advice is that it is always opinionated;); everyone has it and no one has to accept it. Every student has a different story to tell. Your EC experience will be what you make of it, whether you take someone else's advice, ignore it, or add your own twist to it....whatever gets you to graduation and ultimately, the NCLEX.

Good luck with this exam and all future exams in the program.