NAPLEX: calculator, scratch paper and skipping questions?

[pinkyrx]

For those of you who have already taken the NAPLEX, could you clarify a few things for those of us who are getting ready to take it...

• Do you have to answer all questions in order or can you mark certain questions for review and then come back to them at the end of the exam?
  
  
• Instead of using paper I heard that we have to use a wipe-off board. How big is this wipe-off board? Do you get a small pen to work with or do you have to use one of those big fat markers? I can just see myself trying to do math problems on a tiny board with a gigantic marker.
  
  
• Was the on-screen calculator the little Microsoft calculator that comes installed on all PCs? Can you use the number pad or do you have to use the mouse to enter numbers?
  
  
• Last question: Is there an option to scratch through answers that you know are wrong? I've always crossed out wrong answers when taking paper tests to help make sure I pick the right one. It sure would be helpful if the computer allowed us to do this!
  

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[SpirivaSunrise]

For those of you who have already taken the NAPLEX, could you clarify a few things for those of us who are getting ready to take it...

• Do you have to answer all questions in order or can you mark certain questions for review and then come back to them at the end of the exam?
  
  
• Instead of using paper I heard that we have to use a wipe-off board. How big is this wipe-off board? Do you get a small pen to work with or do you have to use one of those big fat markers? I can just see myself trying to do math problems on a tiny board with a gigantic marker.
  
  
• Was the on-screen calculator the little Microsoft calculator that comes installed on all PCs? Can you use the number pad or do you have to use the mouse to enter numbers?
  
  
• Last question: Is there an option to scratch through answers that you know are wrong? I've always crossed out wrong answers when taking paper tests to help make sure I pick the right one. It sure would be helpful if the computer allowed us to do this!
  

Yes, you have to answer the questions in the order they're given (one at a time)...and you can't skip over and come back to it. Once you click the submit button, there's no going back, and you move on to the next one.

You'll be given a few dry-erase type laminated sheets with a sharpie-type marker. It's kind of a pain, but not that big of a deal.

From what I can remember, the calculator is very similar to the PC one you're referring to. I don't think it's the exact one...but very similar. I'm pretty sure it's built into the testing program, and you should be able to use the keypad as long as the 'Num Loc' is on.

No, there's isn't an option to eliminate answers, but I like to do the same thing. So what I did instead was write A B C D E on the board for certain questions that I wanted to go through the process of elimination, and scratched them out like that.

Good luck!! It isn't bad. You may feel like crap walking out of the test, but I'm sure you'll feel relieved/satisfied when you get your results.

 

[rpharma]

For those of you who have already taken the NAPLEX, could you clarify a few things for those of us who are getting ready to take it...

• Was the on-screen calculator the little Microsoft calculator that comes installed on all PCs? Can you use the number pad or do you have to use the mouse to enter numbers?
  

Regarding calculater, what I did was: One of my friend got the real calculater at his test center, so I asked my proctor for the one, explaining about my friend. He was hesistant at first, but when I told him like all my friends were provided with the calculaters at different test center, he gave me one. And that was such a relief..So I would recommend you to ask for the real calculater at test center. BTW, it was when NAPLEX was under prometric test center. Anyways you can try for it...

Cheers

 

[Hels2007]

You cannot go back to questions, you have to answer them in the order they appear because the next question depends on whether or not you answer the previous one correctly or not.

I had real paper and pencil for scratchpaper, but with the new testing company that may not be an option anymore.

You have the right to request a real calculator (and I would suggest you do, toggling between windows would be a pain, and I always hated on-screen calculators with a passion).

As someone suggested, you can write ABCDE on your scratch paper and cross the options that way, that's what I did. The computer does not give you such an option.

 

[glowinglimabean]

When you say calculator, what kind. Scientific or a simple calculator? I remember a student studying with a scientific calculator.

 

[Hels2007]

No, you are only allowed the plain one, with subtraction/addition, possibly square root but I am not sure about that. Definitely not one that can do logarythms, etc. - but you wouldn't need that anyway.

 

[DrugDealer]

[*]Was the on-screen calculator the little Microsoft calculator that comes installed on all PCs? Can you use the number pad or do you have to use the mouse to enter numbers?

Page 12 of the NAPLEX Bulletin (http://www.nabp.net/ftpfiles/bulletins/NAPLEXMPJE.pdf) says:

NAPLEX ONLY: An on-screen, five-function calculator (ie, addition, subtraction, multiplication, division, and square root or percentage) can be activated during the examination for your use. You may also request a hand-held, five-function calculator from the testing center administrator at any time.

 

[glowinglimabean]

Thanks for the info.

 

[pinkyrx]

Thanks for taking time to answer all my questions!! I know that stuff probably seems petty, but I like to be prepard.

I took my first exam today and it was just like you guys described. The wipe-off sheets are pretty nice because they have lines so you can be somewhat neat enough to read what you're writing.

Now... the wait begins!

 

[s1lver]

^^ What did you think of the exam? Any thoughts about it? Impressions?

 

[pinkyrx]

^^ What did you think of the exam? Any thoughts about it? Impressions?

I took the MPJE and it wasn't that bad. I think I was expecting the questions to be much wordier and more complex. I did think there were several questions that didn't have a clear-cut answer. I was hoping some of the weird ones were part of the 30 questions that they are testing out.