I passed Naplex...so can you!

This forum made possible through the generous support of SDN members, donors, and sponsors. Thank you.
P

pharmacymonster

Full Member
7+ Year Member
Joined
Jun 22, 2015
Messages
15
Reaction score
5
Hey guys!

I NEVER EVER post these types of things, but I really felt that this one is necessary for people like me who are reading all these posts and having panic attacks.

Basically I'm an average pharmacy student, meaning throughout pharmacy school I got good/decent grades but never was considered an "over-achiever." However, I studied for tests 3 days before the exam, and would forget everything I learned anyways after taking it lol.

Down to taking the naplex...I scheduled my naplex pretty early compared to the rest of my classmates. I studied for one week for about 5-6 hours a day. I never did ID, oncology, or HIV. I didn't even do half of the rxprep book, so trust me I was not confident at all. I did calculations the day before the exam, and was never able to finish all of them. I took the pre-naplex about 2-3 days before the exam and scored a 60 (depressing I know!) Would I recommend taking the pre-naplex to anyone? NO it's a waste of money and makes you feel pretty bad about yourself. It's much HARDER then the actual exam.

The day of naplex: I pretty much was so nervous that I just wanted to not show up. However, I was scared that I would have a problem re-scheduling since it's the day of the exam, and I didn't want to end up paying for it again. I walked in and my test started off with math (great -__-) but the questions weren't so bad. I had a lot of ID questions, which I had to guess since I didn't know anything about ID lol, and I could tell I was getting them wrong cause they wouldn't stop throwing ID at me.

Also I took the exam in approx. 3 hours because I was rushing that I would run out of time. I honestly don't see how people run out of time unless your reading each question twice or something. Most of the questions didn't even pertain to the case, so my advice would be to read the question first then see if you need the information in the case (esp. if your worried about time). Most of the time a lot more of the calculations pop up at the end (well at least they did for me) so you need time for them.

But anyways, after the exam I felt horrible. I thought I failed I knew I got a lot of stupid questions wrong. I felt like I rushed taking this exam, and all I worried about how I was going to tell my district manager that I would have to wait another 3 months to take the exam again. Finally, I got my results (which are online for my state) and I PASSED! I was sure there was no chance of me passing, but yet here I am!

For anyone out there with a similar circumstance to me, I hope I'm giving you that push to go for it! And btw, the whole myth about the "orange/grey" button isn't true. At least for people who get their results online.

Naplex score: 92

If anyone needs any other advice, I'm here :)
On to the next exam. . .
Members don't see this ad.
 
  • Like
Reactions: 3 users
Sort by date Sort by votes
Members don't see this ad :)
Thank God/s hehe! I passed my exam with flying colors!!! Let me know if you have any questions on how to pass the exam. I will be sure to help! Good luck
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
The wait is finally over! PASSED. Thank goodness. Tip: Take your test on a Monday! lol
 
  • Like
Reactions: 1 user
Upvote 0 Downvote
sideeffect said:
The wait is finally over! PASSED. Thank goodness. Tip: Take your test on a Monday! lol
Click to expand...

CONGRATS!!!
Sideeffect, I agree 100%. I took mine on a Tuesday JUST to make sure I would have results by Thursday/Friday and sure enough, there was a delay and I got them today.

Advice: take your test on Monday morning. You do not want to be agonizing over your results over the weekend.
 
Last edited:
  • Like
Reactions: 1 user
Upvote 0 Downvote
I got a 90 on my NAPLEX from studying 12 days. I didn't get through everything, and I completely skipped the common heart disease stuff, winging the questions based on what I remember from class. I had a question repeat 2 times, so I got the exact same question 3 times. I answered it right the first two times, then the 3rd time, I second guessed myself thinking it's an adaptive exam, so I chose the wrong answer. Thanks, NABP, you tricky fellow, you. I skimmed through the APhA pharmacist review book I got for free from school, which looked like it didn't help at all. I also went through an old Pronto Pass flash cards pack my friend gave me, which didn't help much. I thought RxPrep book and question bank were the most valuable/invaluable resources out there. I don't want to endorse any product, and I really didn't want to spend money on study aids, but RxPrep really helped so much. I woke up early and spent another 2 hours on 4 topics from the question bank that I didn't read from the book, and that helped a bunch. I think you do need the book, if you were planning on just using the question bank and explained answers. A bunch of those explained answers would say "refer to page XXX from the book." My buddy took the RxPrep review course offered by RiteAid, and he did about just as well as I did. Single digit better than I did, and we have similar study style and grades. I think I also skipped the first 1/3 of the book and went straight to disease states. The first 1/3 is about pediatrics, labs, calculations, a chapter on drug interactions that just seems to say, "oh, if you have something metabolized by cyp enzymes, chances are it interacts with another one using cyp enzymes." Just do the 120 questions packet floating around somewhere for the math.

Without revealing questions and topics from the exam, here are my tips: Trust what you learned from school. If you had a 3.0+, your instincts should be good. For me, I think going over all the drugs' important side effects and interactions helped, because I studied more into mechanism and therapy in school. I don't know what your schools stress. If your GPA was low in school, study more than other people, so you don't bring your school's pass percentage down. Look up your school's pass rate. Don't be the bottom ~4% of your class who fail. I graduated with a 3.2 GPA and got a 90. One of my friends graduated I think with a 3.3 and got a 120 or something. If you are on the dean's list, you probably don't even have to study, but I wouldn't recommend winging it. Read questions before reading cases/patient charts. It'll save you tons of time. I was falling behind on the first hour until I noticed this. Know your brand names. They're all mixed in on all the questions on the exam. Top 200 might be enough, I don't know. I didn't go through the top 200 list, nor did I have a specific number I wanted to study. I just tried to remember as much as I could. The 120 math questions did wonders, but doesn't cover everything. I got by fine, but I'm Asian and got 100% of the math questions correct on the SAT and PCAT, but I know I missed one or two on the NAPLEX that weren't in the packet. If your questions start to seem ridiculously hard, feel hella confident. If you suddenly get a balls easy question, you should probably think, "whoops, oh well, time to build back up." No big deal. Don't delay, and don't be discouraged. You've spent 3 years learning this stuff, and like 1 or 2 classes on law. You should be worried about the MPJE. All that stuff you learned from therapeutics is relevant to all practices. Very small parts of the law are relevant to your practice.

Remember -- this is minimum competency to be a pharmacist. If you failed, don't be discouraged, you have 2 more tries. And you'll do better the second time around since you'll know what's going to be on there already and how it compares to your knowledge and study material. You have a doctorate, the highest level of degree obtainable. You can do this.

Good luck, have fun. I kinda did, except I drank too much water and ate a bunch of sweets before going in, so I had to pee all bad several times.:boom: <-----my bladder and, possibly, kidneys.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
pharmacymonster said:
Hey guys!

I NEVER EVER post these types of things, but I really felt that this one is necessary for people like me who are reading all these posts and having panic attacks.

Basically I'm an average pharmacy student, meaning throughout pharmacy school I got good/decent grades but never was considered an "over-achiever." However, I studied for tests 3 days before the exam, and would forget everything I learned anyways after taking it lol.

Down to taking the naplex...I scheduled my naplex pretty early compared to the rest of my classmates. I studied for one week for about 5-6 hours a day. I never did ID, oncology, or HIV. I didn't even do half of the rxprep book, so trust me I was not confident at all. I did calculations the day before the exam, and was never able to finish all of them. I took the pre-naplex about 2-3 days before the exam and scored a 60 (depressing I know!) Would I recommend taking the pre-naplex to anyone? NO it's a waste of money and makes you feel pretty bad about yourself. It's much HARDER then the actual exam.

The day of naplex: I pretty much was so nervous that I just wanted to not show up. However, I was scared that I would have a problem re-scheduling since it's the day of the exam, and I didn't want to end up paying for it again. I walked in and my test started off with math (great -__-) but the questions weren't so bad. I had a lot of ID questions, which I had to guess since I didn't know anything about ID lol, and I could tell I was getting them wrong cause they wouldn't stop throwing ID at me.

Also I took the exam in approx. 3 hours because I was rushing that I would run out of time. I honestly don't see how people run out of time unless your reading each question twice or something. Most of the questions didn't even pertain to the case, so my advice would be to read the question first then see if you need the information in the case (esp. if your worried about time). Most of the time a lot more of the calculations pop up at the end (well at least they did for me) so you need time for them.

But anyways, after the exam I felt horrible. I thought I failed I knew I got a lot of stupid questions wrong. I felt like I rushed taking this exam, and all I worried about how I was going to tell my district manager that I would have to wait another 3 months to take the exam again. Finally, I got my results (which are online for my state) and I PASSED! I was sure there was no chance of me passing, but yet here I am!

For anyone out there with a similar circumstance to me, I hope I'm giving you that push to go for it! And btw, the whole myth about the "orange/grey" button isn't true. At least for people who get their results online.

Naplex score: 92

If anyone needs any other advice, I'm here :)
On to the next exam. . .
Click to expand...
congratulations
i took my test last week,. failed miserably with a score of 39 . i have three kids , feeling frustrated that i have to study and go throgh all the struggle again ! . i studied from rx prep also took the kaplan q bank for a month. still not sure what i did wrong
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
You must log in or register to reply here.
Next unread thread

Similar threads

F
Naplex Preparation
Replies
8
Views
1K
Flowerpower98
F
J
Pharmacy, Naplex, MPJE exam preparation.
Replies
1
Views
1K
Karnold801
Karnold801
P
NAPLEX/MPJE 2023
Replies
1
Views
2K
CYNTO
C
M
Naplex Score Transfer
Replies
0
Views
589
Mur7ay
M
N
NAPLEX Study Tips
Replies
2
Views
1K
BC_89
BC_89
Top