Hello all! I LOVED this subreddit while I was preparing to take my test, it eased a lot of my anxiety seeing other people going through the same thing as me and to be able to get advice, ask questions, and see the test through other people's eyes. I told myself I would post something if I passed, and here I am!! This will be a long and in-depth post about my experience and what resources I used!

The most important thing I wanted to talk about was free resources. It seems like every single person I have talked to, and all the posts I have seen here talk about purchasing programs and questions banks to prepare. I didn't really have the budget to do that, and I know there are probably a lot of other people that can't afford to spend the money on these too. It made me anxious seeing everyone talk about uworld, archer, etc... and how they felt it was essential to them passing the NCLEX knowing that I wasn't able to do that. If this is you, I want to tell you that YOU CAN PASS USING ONLY FREE RESOURCES!! If you don't have the money to spend on these programs, there are so many other things you can do to help you prepare for free.

Here is a list of what I used and what I liked about it:

• Nexus Nursing - I used her youtube videos during school and LOVED them. She has SO MANY different videos on any nursing area you can think of. If you are struggling with a particular concept, I promise she has a video on it to help you review. I mostly used her NCLEX review videos and pharm videos. Her content is more practice question and rationale focused versus a lecture. She breaks things down to make it SIMPLE and her rationales make it so easy to understand why answer choices are right/wrong. I watched so much of her content leading up to the test that I actually started reading questions in her voice!
• Nurselabs cram sheet - This sheet has a lot of useful info condensed into just a couple of pages. It's short and sweet, good for reading through while you have just a little bit of spare time. It has testing tips, pharm info, lots of random tips, stuff like that. It also has a lot of useful links on the last page to other resources, most of them free! Nurselabs also has a really big question bank as well, no sign up, all free!
• Use the resources you have access to through school - My school used HESI, evolve/elsevier content. I found that HESI exams were super similar to the NCLEX itself, and I like the products that were available through evolve. Through evolve, I had access to the Saunder's comprehensive review. I did not read the actual book, I ONLY used the question bank. I have heard good things about the actual book itself, but can't speak from experience. I did really like the question bank though, TONS of questions and customization for what content you want to study. It is a little pricy (about $60), so I'm very grateful that I had free access through my school. I don't know anything about ATI, but if it is similar to HESI content (someone help me out here, is it about the same? no clue) and you have access to it, I'm sure this would be a great free resource as well. Look back through the notes you took for school! Look through slideshows your profs posted on areas you're weak in! These are all amazing free resources.
• Quizlet - My tried and true for the past 8 years. Quizlet was a lifesaver for me throughout high school and college. Make your own flashcards to focus in on certain areas, or find pre-made sets! I personally studied from 2 pre-made sets in particular : This one for general content and this one for pharm. If you don't already have a quizlet account, you probably won't be able to see the full set. But signing up for a quizlet account is free and will give you access to just about everything on the site.
• Beautiful Nursing's comprehensive review video - This is a GREAT comprehensive video, so much important content squeezed into an hour twenty minute video. I watched (or listened to while I was cleaning, driving, etc...) about 3 times leading up to my test. She has a lot of funny tricks and mnemonics to help you remember information.
• Free trials! - Uworld and bootcamp both offer free trials. They are both very limited in the content you are able to use, but if you can't afford these programs, it's better than nothing! Uworld free trial lasts for 7 days and has about 50 or so free questions with rationales and videos. Bootcamp free trial lasts for 2 weeks (I think? I can't figure out how to view the trial info since I already have an account. But I still have acess 11 days after sign up.) You get access to 36 free questions with rationales and videos. You also get access to 3 case studies as well, which I loved! It's a little harder to find free NGN practice, so I really liked that you had access to it here, even if it's only 3. I tried finding a free trial for archer as well, but it looks like they don't offer one.
• Spotify premium - If you have spotify premium, you can listen to an audiobook version of an NCLEX review book. There are a couple out there to pick from, but I listened to this one, focusing on my weak areas. Obviously, listening to a review book was pretty boring, but it was nice to leave on in the background while I did other things.

There are a lot of free resources out there, so many more than the ones I listed - but these are just the ones I personally used and liked. Find what works for you! I promise that you can find free resources that fit with your study style.

Finally, my experience with the studying and taking the NCLEX:

• My last day of school was the very end of April, and my graduation the begining of May. I didn't do ANYTHING school/nursing/studying related until the day I got my ATT, so for about 2.5 weeks. It was so important to me to take a break after 4 years of going nonstop. Giving my brain and my body a break helped me SO much. You don't even realize how exhausted you are until you finally have a chance to rest. If you have the time to take a break before you test, TAKE IT. I felt like I was able to study and focus better because I had given myself time to relax and shut my brain off for a while.
• I got my ATT on May 9th and scheduled my test for May 21st. I know a lot of people take over a month to study, but that just wasn't realistic for me. I knew I wanted to take my test within a month of finishing school. For me personally, the sooner I took it, the better. The information from school was still somewhat fresh in my head, and I knew that I would not study if my test was a month away. I'm a procrastinator, and I had to be realistic with myself. With my test less than 2 weeks away, I knew I HAD to study, and couldn't push it off until later. I'm so glad I took the test sooner rather than later, I still felt like I had plenty enough time to study, and even more, I didn't have the anxiety hanging over me for all that time.
• Every morning I would wake up, get my coffee and breakfast, and watch a nexus nursing review video. I paused and came up with my answer before she gave the correct answer, and listened to her rationales. After that, I took a break, then sat back down and did practice questions. The first few days, I did practice questions on uworld until I ran out of free content, then the next few days moved onto bootcamp, used all of that free content, then finally switched to my saunder's book. I sprinkled in some quizlet and nurselab questions in there everyday too.
• During the day when I had things to do, I would ALWAYS be listening to something. Driving? I was listening to the book on spotify. Cleaning? I was listening to Beautiful nursing's video. Showering? I was listening to a nexus nursing video. I know not everyone has the time to sit down at the table and click through practice questions or read a textbook, so being able to listen to content while I got other things done was SO helpful. Seriously, I always had an earbud in my ear during the day listening to something. Even if I wasn't necessarily entirely focused on listening, it still just made me feel better that I was doing something to help me prepare. It also helped me to not get burnt out on doing questions, it was nice to switch up the way I was preparing.
• I got my friends and family to help me review. When I got sick of staring at a computer doing questions, they would read them out loud to me and I would guess the answer. It was a lot slower that way, and most of the words they read were pronounced incorrectly (lol) but it's a great change of pace, and a good reminder of the support system you have around you.
• I tried really hard not to overwork myself. If I felt like I needed a break, I took one. When I was just reading, but not comprehending, I stepped away and did something else. I still went out with friends and spent time with family. Every waking hour of every day leading up to your test does not need to be spent studying, you will only make yourself feel worse. Take breaks! Go out and have fun! Enjoy your hobbies! If you have enough days until your test, schedule a day where you don't study at all. Seriously, overworking yourself and studying from sunrise to sunset will not put you in a good space mentally to take the exam.
• I know a lot of people don't study at all the day before their test, but I did, and honestly I'm glad I did. Like everyone else, I had so much anxiety and fear leading up to my exam, and spending some time reinforcing my knowledge and proving to myself that I knew what I was doing helped me feel better.
• I'm NOT a morning person, so I scheduled my exam in the afternoon. Don't feel like you have to take it at 8 am. Know yourself, your body, and your needs. Taking it in the afternoon helped me get more sleep, and gave me plenty of time in the morning to eat, get my things together, and arrive at the testing center nice and early. During the drive there, I hyped myself up. "I know the content, I've studied, I will pass."
• Use the earplugs they give you at the center! People were being brought back into the testing room and getting up after they finished the entire time I was testing. The earplugs helped me stay focused and not get distracted by every little thing going on around me.
• During the test - TAKE YOUR TIME. You have 5 hours, utilize it. Read the question twice, eliminate answer choices, use all of the tips and tricks you've learned during your time studying. Don't look what question number you're on, it will only make you feel worse. (If you have trouble with running out of time during tests, maybe don't take this advice... but personally, I have never run out of time during an exam, and I knew looking at how much more I had to do would just exhaust me. Like I said, know yourself, know what you need, this is just what worked for ME.) Use the whiteboard they give you, make notes to yourself, write things out if they confuse you. I always filled up my scrap paper during exams in school, so I definitely utilized the whiteboard during the test. I hit 85 questions and my exam shut off, the anxiety didn't really hit me until I got back to my car and I processed everything.
• Know that you likely will never feel confident. There is just no way to know every single thing. You will always feel like you need to study more, there will always be an urge to push back the day so you can study just a little longer. Walking out of the test, you're probably going to think you failed. I haven't talked to a SINGLE person who felt like they passed without a doubt. You will get questions on things you've never heard of before. You will feel like you guessed on just about everything. Don't let the anxiety consume you. Chances are, you DID pass.
• I went out with a friend and celebrated after my exam. Whether I had passed or failed, I was proud of myself. We went shopping and had a nice dinner. Take your mind off of the test afterwards, plan a distraction or you'll probably be miserable with the anxiety of not knowing the results. I did not do the scheduling pop up trick. From what I've heard, it's not very reliable anymore, and I didn't want to give myself false hope or thinking I failed when I didn't.
• Less than 24 hours later, I got an email saying I passed! It was such a weight lifted off my shoulders, and I could not have felt more proud of myself in that moment. I cannot wait for each and every one of you to feel that same feeling.

This was WAY longer than I thought it was going to be, but I hope this helped someone out there. These super long posts were my favorite to read before I took my test. If you have any questions, I'll try my best to answer them. Thank you to this subreddit for easing my fears and giving me advice. Good luck to all the future RNs!!