Passed in 85 Questions!

I wanted to write this post because I looked at posts like this a lot before my NCLEX! For reference, I studied for two weeks, around 4–6 hours a day. I've always crammed for my university exams in 1–2 days, so I found two weeks to be enough for me. Honestly, I got pretty lazy and got sick of studying near the end..

For study materials, I used the "NCLEX Study Guide" by yournursingeducator on Instagram and UWorld (since I already had a subscription through school). I studied each topic (adult health, pharmacology, maternity, pediatrics, mental health, leadership, and critical care) for about 1–3 days, depending on how extensive the material was and how underprepared I felt. Each day, I made sure to do at least 150 UWorld questions on the topic I was studying, even if I hadn’t finished all the material.

I used tutor mode on UWorld, completing 50 questions at a time. Before moving on to the next question, I carefully read the explanations and made sure I understood why I got a question right or wrong. I even wrote notes if I kept getting a certain topic wrong. I also watched UWorld videos if needed. Looking at the rationales and videos was key to my studying as the study guide isn’t very detailed (it obviously can’t cover everything), so I found UWorld helped me fill in the gaps. Also, each time I finished a topic, I completed the CAT exam provided by UWorld. After a week of studying, I started doing the UWorld Self-Assessments. I completed 5 out of 6 Self-Assessments before my exam and scored “high” or “very high” on all of them. This method of studying might not work for everyone, but I wanted to share my experience in case it helps even one person.

The format of the NCLEX felt very similar to UWorld, so it was easy to adjust to on test day. I definitely think there’s a luck component to the NCLEX since it only tests us on certain topics (which are randomized for everyone). Everyone has their strengths and weaknesses, so it’s normal to guess or be unsure about some questions. Personally, I guessed on several questions and wasn’t 100% sure about many of them. However, I felt confident about a few that I knew I got right (or at least partially correct, such as with SATA or new-generation questions).

Good luck to everyone preparing for the NCLEX! If you have any questions, feel free to ask in the comments, and I’ll do my best to answer :)