Fantastic Resource -- Passed in 75!
Wow! I chose to rely almost solely on UWorld for NCLEX-RN prep per a professor's recommendation, and it was the absolute best decision I could have made. I started studying the week following my graduation in mid-May and I took my NCLEX in mid-June. While I probably only needed the 30-day resource time-wise, I paid for the 90-day bundle so that I would have access to both practice self-assessments as well as the 2000+ practice questions; it was SO worth the money. I would highly recommend completing ALL the practice questions at LEAST once. I studied every day and did around 100-150 questions a day (on average) by subject, reading the rationales and taking notes on the questions I missed. Then, a day or two later after I'd reviewed my notes a bit for a given topic, I would make a practice exam out of the questions I got incorrect to see if I was retaining what I'd been studying/what I'd written down. As far as the timed practice self-assessments, I took the first when I was about halfway through the total amount of practice questions and another a few days before my NCLEX date.
I know some people don't like the idea of trusting UWorld alone as their NCLEX prep source, and I understand that everyone learns and studies differently! However, I struggled throughout all of nursing school with how to answer NCLEX-style multiple choice questions (multiple choice has always been difficult for me in general, as I overthink every question and answer); therefore, I knew that a question bank with rationales like UWorld would be the best tool for me. On most of my practice tests by topic, I scored from 60-80% (with a few challenging topics straying to the 50s). When I found a subject or concept particularly difficult, I looked up some more practice questions or brief explanations in a Saunders NCLEX book I had purchased prior to graduation -- however, that was all I used it for and I feel as though I would've passed my NCLEX even had I not used it.
Nursing school gave me test anxiety I never would've guessed I would struggle with. That being said, despite what all my friends and professors advised, I still reviewed some material the day before my exam (e.g. child development, immunizations, nutrition, and other things that I knew I'd never grasped as easily). Despite knowing that my college education and UWorld had prepared me well, I was still nervous going into the NCLEX (which I feel is normal). However, when my exam shut off after 75 questions, I knew I had to have passed (well, I was pretty confident, because I'd had a decent amount of select-all-that-apply questions and I figured that was a good sign). I also feel that it helped that the NCLEX exam looked practically IDENTICAL to the UWorld self-assessment, so it didn't seem foreign or intimidating at all. 48 hours later I was able to get my unofficial results and discovered that I had passed -- and in 75 questions!? I was so proud and SO relieved, and I knew that UWorld had been the best money I'd ever spent! If you are even sort of entertaining the possibility of using UWorld to prepare for your NCLEX-RN, I could not recommend it more. Good luck!
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