Today May 20, 2019 at 8 am I took the NCLEX for my first time and at 3 pm I found out I passed the NCLEX!

A little back story, I have been a decent test taker throughout school with some good scores and some bad scores. I also graduated from a Nursing School that has a high percent pass rate on the NCLEX. I used ATI throughout school and feel like the exams I have taken in school have prepared me well for this exam. Regardless of that, a month prior to taking this exam I decided to down load U-world. I have had friends fail the NCLEX one, two and even three time who have used U-world and then passed and swear by it, so I thought might as well try it out myself.

U-World Scores: When I first started U-world I had 25 days to prepare to sit for my boards. I would start off with 25 questions at a time and would do about 100-200 questions a day (I did also take a few days off here and there). I would average 50-65% on these exams and was in the 58th percentile. I then started to do 75 questions at a time and averaged 70-85% on exams by the end of the test bank and was in the 72nd percentile overall. I did also take a practice exam and had a high percent chance of passing the NCLEX according to the stats.

The NCLEX: The NCLEX itself was pretty-basic but was hard. I was full of anxiety and after I was finished, I thought I had failed. I got 88 questions, 10-15 SATA, no ordering, no math, just regular questions. (YIKES). It took me about an hour to do and in my opinion was easier than U-World but was harder because it was an actual exam and not just practice (if that makes sense). The NCLEX questions wording was also quite wacky and you should really focus on what they are trying to ask you. I also did the ‘Pearson Vue Trick’ 2 and 4 hours after and got the good pop up, which helped ease my anxiety. Then at 3 pm I found out that I had passed!

U-World: In my opinion I feel U-world looked similar if not the same to the NCLEX. I feel that it helped prepare me well for this test and had great difficulty and great practice questions. I feel that U-world also covered majority of what was on my exam in some way shape or form too. I would suggest doing all the questions in the test bank, starting off slow and building your confidence up to 75. I would truly focus on the rationales, especially on the subject you do not know that well. I also suggest getting a practice test too, it could help ease your anxiety and help you feel more confident! Keep cranking out those questions and keep practicing the things you do not know!

I feel that regardless of how you prepare for this exam you will walk out of there feeling like a failure and feeling defeated because that is the nature of the beast. But, just trust in yourself and trust in how U-world prepares you. You know more than you think. Deep breath! If you fail, that’s okay! A test doesn’t define you as a Nurse or a human being. Keep pushing forward!

Thank you U-World!
edited by on 5/21/2019

Hi!

Congrats on passing!! Given what you know about Uworld/NCLEX, I was wondering if you have any advice on how you'd condense your studying to a 2-week time frame. I'm feeling quite stressed because I have such a short amount of time! On the first try for most of the question sets I do I tend to get 56-64% (but more 60s than 50s). Thank you!

Hi! Thank you!

I think I replied to your previous post (if that was you). I would do the max amount of questions in tutor mode, 75 at a go at least 2-3 times a day. The next day focus on the things you got wrong, because you already know the things you got right. I would do that for a week. The last week just found out questions. 25 at a go to 75 at a go. The more you do the merrier. In reality you just need around a 50% to pass the NCLEX. If you are getting over that, you're golden. The day before the exam do not do anything, relax. The day of, I did 20 questions when I woke up to get me ready for questions. You got this!

Yes, it was me! Thank you for the advice and encouragement! How many hours a day would you say I should study? I made sure to not make any plans for 2 weeks to focus on studying

I did questions for about 2- 3 hours a day, two days before the exam I did a solid 12 hour cram session ( I do not advise). But, I would say whatever you have time for and are comfortable doing. 4 hours a day seems reasonable to sit down and just do questions. And at this point in the game memorizing crazy amounts of material seems tedious! Focus on the things you are faulty in. But, make sure to take care of yourself in between then too!