Student Success Story – Taylor Lester, Nevada State College
I was in an accelerated BSN program through nursing school and graduated in May of 2020. My nursing program required us to buy UWorld’s 90-day question bank with Self-Assessment 1 & 2, along with HURST live review. I am so thankful they did because they prepped me very well.
I believe that UWorld prepared me more because of their self-assessment and the amount of practice questions they offer.
I loved how I could pace myself with however many questions I wanted to do per day and had the option of choosing tutor or timed mode. Their rationales were amazing along with visual pictures and images to help you visualize the concept. This helped me as I am a visual and hands-on learner.
After every quiz, it would give you your score, along with the average score of other individuals. It was very easy to use, and I highly recommend it to every nursing student/new graduate who is preparing for the NCLEX.
I started using UWorld occasionally throughout my last semester of nursing school and had about 1600 NCLEX-RN QBank questions left before taking my NCLEX. I scheduled my NCLEX within three weeks of receiving my authorization to test.
I studied Monday–Friday for about six hours at a time, completing 120–160 questions a day. While studying, I did 60 questions at a time and logged my scores every time I finished a quiz. I mixed up all of my subjects because I knew that the test was going to be randomized by a variety of subjects.
I bought a three subject notebook and wrote down all of the questions that I got wrong to refresh my memory and also had a stack of flashcards that I wrote on for concepts that I was missing.
When I first started UWorld, my scores ranged from high 40’s to mid 50’s. As I did more questions throughout the weeks, I had scores of 53, 58, 62, 54, 51, 50, etc. I always compared my score to the average score to make sure that I was at average or above the average, and the majority of my scores were above the average. At the end of studying (2 days before my NCLEX), I had 80 questions left in the quiz bank.
I took my Self-Assessment Exam 1 during my senior semester of nursing school as it was graded for an assignment and got a 46% (borderline passing). I felt discouraged because the questions were SO different from ATI, which is what we used throughout my nursing program.
After dedicating a lot of time to UWorld and understanding the priorities and select-all-that-apply questions, I took my Self-Assessment Exam 2 four days before I took my NCLEX and got a 59% (high chance of passing).
It is POSSIBLE, so DON’T GIVE UP!
The day before my NCLEX, I just reviewed my notes and flashcards because I felt very prepared. On the morning of my NCLEX I was motivated and ready to go!
During the NCLEX, I took my time answering the questions to make sure that I was confident in my answer. I reached the two hour break time mark and I was at question 78. I took the break to get up, drink some water, go to the bathroom, splash some water on my face, and to tell myself that I could do this!
I did the full 130 questions and was an emotional wreck afterward, thinking that I failed. The test was very difficult and challenging as it was nothing like any other exam I had ever taken before. I did the PearsonVue Trick, and got the “good pop-up” and PASSED!!
My overall message to nursing students and new graduates is that it is POSSIBLE if you believe in yourself and have confidence that the NCLEX is just a “safety test” and that you have the knowledge to save lives.
Study UWorld and trust the process because hard work pays off. During nursing school, I always struggled with testing anxiety BUT had encouragement and support from instructors and the HURST review lecturers telling us that the reason why many people do not pass the NCLEX is not because of testing anxiety, it is because of a knowledge deficit. I wish everyone else the best in the near future. You got this!!
Whether you’re a nursing program looking to supplement your curriculum or a nursing student in search of test-prep materials, check us out to see how UWorld can help you find NCLEX success.
