- Joined
- Aug 16, 2017
- Messages
- 62
- Reaction score
- 10
First off, I'd like to thank those on the forum who provided their test experiences to help me through this difficult time of my life. To return the favor, I'll post my experience to maybe help someone out there reading. So my test was August 6 and I didn't start study until a couple of days after July 4th. I've always been a crammer throughout school, studying for just 1-2 days before major exams, and passed with B's. A couple A's and there if I really paid attention in class, a couple C's when I didn't attend classes. I have a good memory so I tend to just rely on that to get me by. So I thought I'd be able to cram for the NAPLEX over these 4 weeks and get through the entire book a couple times, since I read on this forum that people only studied for 1 were or so. I ended up only getting through the book once. My study strategy was to watch the RXPrep videos and follow along with the book. And then after, I would take the quiz. And then go back and review why I got a question right and why I got it wrong. The problem was that some chapters had like three 50 questions quizzes. So this took forever and after 1 week I only got through 100 pages of the 1000+ page book. So now the clock was ticking and I was freaking out. I then decided to set my daily goal at getting through 50 to 100 pages a day. I realized I didn't need to do the entire quiz bank so for each chapter I'd only do 10 to 15 questions. If I got 80% and above on those 10 to 15 I moved on to the next. I also stopped doing the quizzes right after each chapter and do all the quizzes together on the following day for review. So with 1 week left I felt I was weak on brand and generics. So every morning before studying, I went on quizlets and did the top 300 drugs for like an hour in bed to get myself warmed up for the day. I knew my math well though and didn't after do any of the practice questions on the RX Prep Quiz bank. The 195 math questions in Chapter 2 and the bio stats chapter and more than enough to get you by on the test. For my sleep before exam day, I had planned for 8 hours of sleep but had massive anxiety and ended up waking after 4 hours. However, it's during these times when my brain really comes alive pumped with adrenaline and I attain a sort of photographic memory like from the movie A Beautiful Mind. So then I used those 4 hours to do my second scan of the book scanning just the bolded words while also focusing on Biostats and compounding as recommend by RXPrep. On the drive to the test, I was doing quizlets and was getting them all right so that gave me the confidence boost I needed. People say not to study the day before or day of the test, but I think a refresher is critical. I was super tired from only sleeping 4 hours so I downed a Monster energy drink and walked in hoping for the best. Then I realized I actually overstudied. The test is pretty general knowledge so me focusing on every single detail made my studying inefficient. Definitely keep your eye out on the big concepts, instead of actually knowing the details. Like for PCP prophylaxis 1st line second line and PCP treatment 1st and 2nd line, you'll be good with just knowing the PCP prophylaxis 1st line and skipping the rest. It's the fear that makes you think you have to know everything, but really you don't! So don't get freaked out like I did. If you're strong on math, good with the top 300 brand generic, and know basic clinical, you'll auto pass or maybe get triple digits. So don't be scared guys, you can do it! Best of luck 
