Hi everybody,

Reading the NCLEX- RN posts really helped with my testing anxiety, so I am writing to hopefully do the same for you all. But first, I want to start off with some encouragement- YOU WILL PASS. I graduated in December of 2019 and it took me about two months to receive my ATT number. Unfortunately, my testing dates kept getting cancelled or unscheduled, which really bummed me out because I felt that I couldn't create a good study plan/routine. However, I finally got a testing date that seemed to stick, which gave me about 2 weeks to study.

Study Materials: I ONLY USED UWORLD, because I knew that I would get even more anxiety if I read from too many resources.

Study Plan: I would wake up around 8-9am, get some coffee, go on social media, and then around 10am, I turned OFF MY PHONE (this really helped me focus, since my phone is my biggest distraction). I enabled timed and tutor mode and would do 50-75 unused questions in a quiz. I tried to do anywhere between 75-125 practice questions a day. READ RATIONALES! I can't emphasize this enough! Even when I got questions right, I always read the rationales and I ALWAYS ended up learning something from it. I would also make practice quizzes from the questions I got wrong to make sure that I completely understood the concept. I made 25 question quizzes that were only on timed mode, so I could get in the habit of not seeing rationales afterwards, which really helped me on test day.

My scores: During the first week of studying I was getting anywhere between mid 40s and 50s with an occasional 60%. I decided to take my first assessment test after only studying for about 2 days, because I wanted to see where I really needed to focus. I end up getting a 44% and was put in the low chance of passing category (I WAS HEARTBROKEN, but this motivated me even more). After reviewing the WHOLE test, I created a quiz based off the concepts that I got wrong. During the second week of studying I was getting high 50s to high 60s with an occasional mid 70s score. About 4 days before I took my NCLEX, I took the second assessment test and got 63% and was put in the very high chance of passing category (I WAS RELIEVED, but still anxious). I made another quiz based off the concepts that I got wrong on this test too.

Day before the test: I did my usual study routine and did about 100 unused practice questions. Then, I RELAXED. I took a bath, had some wine, had a good dinner, and went to bed early, since my exam was at 8am.

Day of the test: I drank some coffee, ate a small breakfast, and did about 15 practice questions just to help me get in test mode (I got 70% on it). I only thought POSITIVE and told myself that I was READY. I walked into the test like I was walking into a hospital and imagined every question as if I was actually there (this probably sounds weird but it really helped for me). I took deep breaths and closed my eyes after every 15 questions. If I found myself getting upset or sad because I had no idea what the answer was, I would try to relax, do a little arm stretch, and make the best possible choice I could using process of elimination.

Don't forget that the NCLEX wants you to pass!! It is only seeking an average (50/50) score!! You got this!! I hope you guys found this post helpful and let me know if you have ANY questions at all!! (:
edited by on 4/30/2020

Hello, That is awesome, congratulations! I feel like I had the exact same study method as you and I passed 60 questions first try as well! It took me a while to get my ATT because of my school and I had the same problems. Happy for you!

Thank you and congratulations to you as well! I hope you do well in your future RN endeavors! (:

congrats!!! thank you for this post it definitely helps! i have a few days left until i take mine and have just been doing UW for the most part. were there specific topics your nclex focused on like pharm, ob, etc or was it random? also were the q's more difficult than UW? I am hoping UW is also enough for me to pass. i was a pretty average student in nursing school and sometimes barely managed to pass classes

Hi! Sorry it took me a few days to respond, but I feel the NCLEX is very random and touched a lot of concepts. The questions were about the same, but maybe a little easier on the NCLEX. I definitely recommend only studying from UWorld, this helped me so much! (: Goodluck on your test!

I PASSED! THANK YOU!

Congratulations, it's very cool!