Naplex Maths RxPREP VS SDN

[PharmBulldog]

Just wanted to get some insight from previous test takers. Did you find the Naplex maths questions to be more like the RxPrep questions or the SDN questions. I am very confident in solving the RxPREP maths questions, however I am having difficulty with the SDN questions. Thanks in advance!

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[rxgrad2017]

I took the NAPLEX almost two weeks ago now and I was really scared about not knowing the SDN packet well, but DON'T BE! The math questions on the exam were super easy. Definitely WAY more like the RxPrep questions than SDN. I got really freaked out working through the SDN packet, so I stopped, and I am so glad I did, because it was a waste of time. I would recommend going through the RxPrep calculation test banks and making sure you get a 100% on all 5 of those before you take the exam- those are all you need to know to do well on the math

 

[lionheart555]

Way easier than SDN. If you did RxPrep and SDN 120 there shouldn't be many problems on the NAPLEX that throw you off. Out of 30-40 calculations I got, only 1 threw me enough that I gave up trying to solve it. I later revisited the problem after the exam and realized I just overthought it.

 

[PharmBulldog]

Way easier than SDN. If you did RxPrep and SDN 120 there shouldn't be many problems on the NAPLEX that throw you off. Out of 30-40 calculations I got, only 1 threw me enough that I gave up trying to solve it. I later revisited the problem after the exam and realized I just overthought it.

Do you think I'd be fine just preparing maths with RxPrep?

 

[PharmBulldog]

I took the NAPLEX almost two weeks ago now and I was really scared about not knowing the SDN packet well, but DON'T BE! The math questions on the exam were super easy. Definitely WAY more like the RxPrep questions than SDN. I got really freaked out working through the SDN packet, so I stopped, and I am so glad I did, because it was a waste of time. I would recommend going through the RxPrep calculation test banks and making sure you get a 100% on all 5 of those before you take the exam- those are all you need to know to do well on the math

Thanks for sharing your experience, I am experiencing the same thing. Finished RxPrep, started on a couple SDN questions and the difficulty is a lot harder

 

[Wvupharmfarm]

I took the NAPLEX almost two weeks ago now and I was really scared about not knowing the SDN packet well, but DON'T BE! The math questions on the exam were super easy. Definitely WAY more like the RxPrep questions than SDN. I got really freaked out working through the SDN packet, so I stopped, and I am so glad I did, because it was a waste of time. I would recommend going through the RxPrep calculation test banks and making sure you get a 100% on all 5 of those before you take the exam- those are all you need to know to do well on the math

Took the NAPLEX yesterday and 100% agree with this. As long as you can do RxPrep questions, you will do just fine on the exam.

 

[PharmBulldog]

Took the NAPLEX yesterday and 100% agree with this. As long as you can do RxPrep questions, you will do just fine on the exam.

Thank you! Care to share your overall experience and what you thought about the exam/ topics to be sure to know?

 

[Wvupharmfarm]

Thank you! Care to share your overall experience and what you thought about the exam/ topics to be sure to know?

In my opinion, I didn't think the exam was that bad, especially when compared to the MPJE. It took me roughly 4 hours and that was with quadruple-checking my answers to calculation questions. To study, I used the RxPrep book/online questions and felt like questions on the NAPLEX were pretty similar to what you'd see from the RxPrep online questions, perhaps even a little easier. The estimate of my NAPLEX content breakdown is as follows -

25-35 questions on Calculations - Some say use SDN120, but RxPrep was perfectly sufficient for the difficulty of questions I saw.
20-25 on Infectious Disease
15-20 on HIV, Compounding, Appropriate counseling of medication side effects/administration/etc.
5-10 on Immunizations, Heart Failure, Diabetes, Oncology, Asthma/COPD, Biostatistics, Hepatitis/Cirrhosis, Anticoagulation, Female Hormone-replacement, Choosing an appropriate reference

Those are the content areas/topics I specifically remember. Looking back, I really wish I'd studied Infectious Disease/HIV more in depth because it seemed like I got slammed with those questions. I don't know, however, if everyone generally gets the same amount of questions per content area or if it is random in that respect.

Biggest piece of advice? Don't be nervous. Statistics are on your side as the nation-wide first-time pass rate is over 80%, so you're way more likely to pass than fail. Just remember that fact if you begin to stress out.

Best of luck!

 

[lionheart555]

Do you think I'd be fine just preparing maths with RxPrep?

Overall yes RxPrep should be enough.

The thing I most liked about SDN's prep was it really forced me to understand every single way to use alligation. With alligation you can answer a ton of the calculation based questions (at least in my experience). The other aspect of SDN useful in my opinion is the isotonicity type question. While I did not get any isotonicity questions on my NAPLEX, some of my friends did.

 

[PharmBulldog]

In my opinion, I didn't think the exam was that bad, especially when compared to the MPJE. It took me roughly 4 hours and that was with quadruple-checking my answers to calculation questions. To study, I used the RxPrep book/online questions and felt like questions on the NAPLEX were pretty similar to what you'd see from the RxPrep online questions, perhaps even a little easier. The estimate of my NAPLEX content breakdown is as follows -

25-35 questions on Calculations - Some say use SDN120, but RxPrep was perfectly sufficient for the difficulty of questions I saw.
20-25 on Infectious Disease
15-20 on HIV, Compounding, Appropriate counseling of medication side effects/administration/etc.
5-10 on Immunizations, Heart Failure, Diabetes, Oncology, Asthma/COPD, Biostatistics, Hepatitis/Cirrhosis, Anticoagulation, Female Hormone-replacement, Choosing an appropriate reference

Those are the content areas/topics I specifically remember. Looking back, I really wish I'd studied Infectious Disease/HIV more in depth because it seemed like I got slammed with those questions. I don't know, however, if everyone generally gets the same amount of questions per content area or if it is random in that respect.

Biggest piece of advice? Don't be nervous. Statistics are on your side as the nation-wide first-time pass rate is over 80%, so you're way more likely to pass than fail. Just remember that fact if you begin to stress out.

Best of luck!

Thank you for sharing!

 

[folkster]

Overall yes RxPrep should be enough.

The thing I most liked about SDN's prep was it really forced me to understand every single way to use alligation. With alligation you can answer a ton of the calculation based questions (at least in my experience). The other aspect of SDN useful in my opinion is the isotonicity type question. While I did not get any isotonicity questions on my NAPLEX, some of my friends did.

Amen to this. I actually did SDN first, and it took me 3 full days to get through all of the problems; math is not what I'd consider a strong point. However, two weeks later when I started RxPrep math I felt like I was running with the weights off... it was actually EASY. And alligation, which is something I never really understood in pharmacy school, I can now do with my eyes closed and it served me VERY well on the NAPLEX.

So... could you prepare with just RxPrep math? Yeah, but if you couple it with SDN it becomes much easier to recall when it's time to test. My most important math tip would be to understand the conversions from percent strength to mg/mL, ratio strength, and ppm. I used it in almost every math problem and being able to do it quickly is huge.

 

[HealingTouch23]

Thank you for this thread! Will refer back to this later.

 

[laurenlorcaserin]

If you can do the math you should be fine on the test period