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BoardVitals is one of the most popular study materials nurses and nursing students use to prep for the NCLEX. In this article, I will discuss whether or not it is actually worth getting for anyone who is deep into their studies or is just starting to prepare for the NCLEX exam.
There are a few ways you can get the question bank. One of the ways is to purchase through ATI which is a a highly personalized 12-week program that is self-paced. As an ATI student, you get over 3000 RN AND 1000PN Practice questions. The other way you can the BoardVitals practice questions is by purchasing them directly from Boardvitals’ website
Not only is boardvitals harder than the NCLEX but the scores also tend to be lower compared to other resources such as UWORLD. Some users have noted as much as 10% discrepancies between boardvitals and the other resources they used. Below is a self-reported comparison of Boardvitals to the real exam
“Yup, NCLEX was easier than board vitals. I also couldn’t get uworld or anything else because of my tight budget. Passed it the first time with 75Q. You know more than I think — good luck !”
Anecdotally, the majority of those who have used Boardvitals for their NCLEX preparation have passed.
One of the underlying commonalities between all of the users that I analyzed who used BoardVitals is that they all practiced on Hard Difficulty, they used CATs, and they also used supplementary study materials. Below are accounts of how other students did on the exam with BoardVitals
The following quote below is one example of of how a reddit user used BoardVitals for her own prep. Similar to other accounts she consistently scored around 50%. She also notes that Boardvitals questions tend to be a lot tougher
“I was only averaging 50–60% on those exams. This is also when I started listening to **Mark Klimek**…..please if you do anything, start with this”
- BoardVitals works well in combination with other resourcees such as UWORLD and Mark Klimek lectures
- BoardVitals is objectively much harder than the actual exam as well as other similar resources
- Scores at or above 50% indicate you are in a good a position
- users who had success with Boardvitals frequently practiced on the hard difficulty mode
Overall I would say to use Boardvitals for NCLEX prep if you have the budget for it. Although it is harder, the over-preparation will make the actual exam feel extremely easy.
If you are thinking of using Boardvitals be sure to. use the Discount code FITMEDIC during checkout for a 15% discount!
