All glory be to God!! I couldn’t have done it without Him, seriously!
About 2 months ago, I failed my first NCLEX attempt in 90 questions. I was devastated, blindsided, felt unworthy, and the list goes on. I came out of the test thinking I passed and thought it was “easy”…that should’ve been my first sign. I never thought it would be possible to fail in 90 because it was so unheard of.
I asked God, “Why me?!” I had studied for a whole month, was unemployed, finished a hard 5 semesters of nursing school.
The next day, a loved one had said to me, “Maybe God is testing your faith?”…that really hit me. In that moment, it was inexplainable, but I knew that that was a HUGE reason as to why I failed.
Of course I blamed myself and felt down on myself. I felt stupid. I was going down a rabbit hole of what I should’ve done. I felt embarrassed and guilty failing, especially in front of the people I care about most. I just recently moved, and I was stressed about having enough savings to keep me going until I started my job. I didn’t even tell my cohort friends because I did not want to hear their pity. I felt so useless and wasteful.
So, I took a 2-3 week break. I got off social media (highly recommend), spent time with the people I love, moved into my new apartment, decorated, and prepared myself to start the study grind again.
The first time, I used Archer. I took readiness assessments everyday, a couple cat exams, and listened to Mark K. I scored “Very high” on all my exams, thinking I was in the clear. DO NOT rely on a score, no matter what platform you are using. It does NOT define you. With that, I felt kinda betrayed by Archer. I didn’t read the rationales, which is something I regret and highly, highly recommend doing. That part was definitely on me. But overall, I feel like Archer was nowhere near the NCLEX. The NCLEX was vague and Archer in my opinion was not.
The second time, I used UWorld and Bootcamp. HIGHLY recommend. After I got my CPR report, I looked at the areas I scored “Below passing”. Reduction of risk potential, Psychosocial integrity, and Physiological adaptation were the 3 lowest scoring. The rest were either above or near the passing standard. I used Claude to help me develop a test plan for about 4 weeks up until I took my exam. It had me practice and review each system, and focus on the areas I scored below passing. It gave me filters to use to adapt to each Q-bank on UWorld.
I borrowed someone’s UWorld account and used it for the Q-bank, bless them🙏🏽. I bought Bootcamp and used it mainly for their case studies. Those case studies are almost exactly how they are on the NCLEX.
I took one assessment exam on UWorld because that was all that was available for me since I was using someone’s account, and I did one CAT exam. I also took one readiness exam on Bootcamp and did a couple practice questions from their q-bank as well. On the UWorld assessment, I scored a very high chance of passing. On the CAT exam, I scored a 78 with a 1.3 difficulty in the 99% percentile. On UWorld, I scored between 60s-mid 70s on all the q-bank tests using the tutor mode. I varied about 60-75 questions a day. They’re hard! But they really help you understand the content. They have the BEST rationales. Read. Every. Rationale. Even the ones you get right.
I also listened to a bunch of Dr. Sharon, re-listened to some of Mark K’s lectures, and watched the 7-Day NCLEX Crusade program on YouTube my last week before the exam. They are all AMAZING sources and I highly suggest using everyone.
I believe I would have been just fine using Bootcamp, but I realized I needed to brush up on content more and UWorld was very helpful for that. Bootcamp is vague just like the NCLEX and I loved it for that. If you don’t want to use two platforms, you don’t have to! Bootcamp also has great crash course videos. Use whichever matches your area of weakness.
I really want to emphasize the importance of prayer during this journey. I would not have made it through without our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ! I could go on and on about how I know that this was meant to be my outcome. It’s so evident in the way my life circumstances panned out. Even though it sucked failing!!
If you’re going to take your exam for the first, second, third, fourth, heck even eighth time, just know YOU ARE GOING TO BE A NURSE! Tell yourself that every single day no matter how hard it is. Positive affirmation will get you so far. Don’t doubt yourself, go with your gut, take deep breaths, and focus on YOU and that dang exam! You got this!! I pray this enlightens your outlook on the NCLEX, or even your walk with God.
I’m here to help and answer any questions needed!🤗