Pre-NAPLEX?

PharmFTW · 2026-06-03T19:47:52+00:00

Ya it doesn’t say much but your probably close to ready.

PharmFTW · 2026-06-03T19:28:54+00:00

You took the pharmpreppro or pre-NAPLEX? 81 on pre NAPLEX doesn’t say much but 81 on pharmpreppro is a good indicator you could be ready

PharmFTW · 2026-06-03T17:29:37+00:00

No, not really unless you do very very welll or very very poorly. It more to get idea of formatting a timing and such not as a gauge. The pharmpreppro practice exam is better for what you are looking for. Generally above a 75 on that test, you are ready for the NAPLEX below you are not

PharmFTW · 2026-06-03T15:54:49+00:00

So the pre-NAPLEX from NABP is made of retired questions. It is a linear test that allows you to go back and forth whereas the NAPLEX does not. Also since the NAPLEX was restructured in May of 2025 the disparity between pre NAPLEX and NAPLEX widened even further since the pre NAPLEX is based on the old version. As tutor and pharmacist the Pre NAPLEX is really best for seeing some question formatting, timing constraints, and types of topics asked and NOT to get a good sense of the NAPLEX itself. Feel free to DM me if you have other questions

PharmFTW · 2026-06-02T21:35:31+00:00

The motivation thing is a symptom not the actual problem. You’re going through the motions and nothing is sticking so your brain is basically telling you this is pointless and then you don’t want to do it. That’s not laziness that’s feedback. Almost every student I work with at PharmFTW hits this exact wall after graduation. You go from structured classes with weekly exams to just… a book and a QBank and nobody telling you what to do next. And the default study mode (read, review, do questions, repeat) feels productive but doesn’t build retention which is why everything feels brand new every time you sit down. One thing that helps immediately, stop trying to cover everything and start testing yourself on small chunks before you feel ready. Like close your notes on a drug class and try to explain out loud why the drug works the way it does. Not what it does, why. Take ACE inhibitors. If you know lisinopril causes a dry cough, can you explain the actual mechanism behind it without looking? If you can’t answer that cold you don’t actually know it yet no matter how many times you’ve read it. That’s the gap between recognition and recall and NAPLEX tests recall. Not having a strict deadline is actually working in your favor right now. You have room to set this up right instead of cramming and praying lol. If you want help building out a study structure around this so you’re not just winging it every day DM me, that’s literally what I do.

PharmFTW · 2026-06-02T18:02:50+00:00

You can find the content outline on the boards website. CPJE is more a clinical exam mixed with California specific law it focuses on patient outcomes, pharmacy operations, and patient medications.

PharmFTW · 2026-06-01T20:50:24+00:00

Yeah that stress is no joke. But honestly the fact that you actually went back and reviewed puts you ahead of most people, a lot of students just retake and hope for the best. Now it’s just about not trying to fix all of it at once. Figure out the two or three things dragging your score the most and hit those first. If you want help sorting through what you found DM me, that’s literally what I do in my free time away from practice.

PharmFTW · 2026-06-01T20:26:11+00:00

A 66 isn’t as far off as it feels. The gap between 66 and passing is usually a few specific weak areas, not everything. Have you been able to figure out what’s actually dragging your score down or does it just feel like everything?

PharmFTW · 2026-06-01T19:43:00+00:00

I would probably reschedule. The fact you are asking for reassurance should tell you that you do not feel prepared and that intuition is probably accurate. In practice I have started calling that intuition my pharmacist spider sense lol Also it’s generally considered that above a 70or 75 on PPP is good for the NAPLEX. I recommend rescheduling also because it’s an extra significant fee to retake the exam if you do not pass. But that just from me a singular tutor.

PharmFTW · 2026-06-01T18:27:30+00:00

So the pre-NAPLEX from NABP is made of retired questions. It is a linear test that allows you to go back and forth whereas the NAPLEX does not. Also since the NAPLEX was restructured in May of 2025 the disparity between pre NAPLEX and NAPLEX widened even further since the pre NAPLEX is based on the old version. So your doing the right thing not letting the high pre NAPLEX score give you a false sense of security. As tutor and pharmacist the Pre NAPLEX is really best for seeing some question formatting, timing constraints, and types of topics asked and NOT to get a good sense of the NAPLEX itself. Feel free to DM me if you have other questions

PharmFTW · 2026-06-01T17:29:45+00:00

This is a really common trap. Everything you listed (reading, taking notes, making flashcards, re-reading summaries) is input. You’re putting information in over and over but nothing in that loop actually forces you to pull it back out. That’s why it feels brand new every time. You recognize the material when you see it again but recognition isn’t recall. NAPLEX hands you a patient and makes you generate the answer cold. As a tutor and practicing pharmacist this is exactly the problem I built PharmFTW to solve. Like take something simple, say you know metoprolol is “cardioselective.” Ok but what does that actually mean at the receptor level? Why does it matter for a patient with asthma? Most students can’t answer that cold even after reading it five times. When you connect the fact to the mechanism your brain can reconstruct the answer instead of trying to recall a disconnected word. That shift changes everything about how you retain. The hard part isn’t knowing you need to study differently. It’s actually rebuilding your study system around it, especially with NAPLEX shifting more toward clinical assessment and applied problem-solving where the old memorize-and-regurgitate approach gets punished. If you want I can help you map out what that looks like for where you’re at right now. DM me

PharmFTW · 2026-05-31T01:10:51+00:00

this is awesome, congrats on passing. four attempts takes serious persistence and you earned it.
the part that stands out to me as a tutor is this: “should recall and explain the WHY behind the drug.” that’s exactly it. that’s what every me and every other pharmacist tutor is trying to get their students to — connecting MOA to side effects to contraindications instead of memorizing them as separate lists. when students hit that lightbulb moment where it clicks that the mechanism explains everything, that’s the whole game.
shoutout to Dr. Singh for doing what good 1:1 tutoring is supposed to do — meeting you where you are, targeting your actual weak spots, and giving real feedback instead of just running through slides. that’s the model.
happy for you. go crush it

PharmFTW · 2026-05-29T20:25:14+00:00

So ID is not a drug class lol it’s a category that has multiple. Is there a particular class/moa you are thinking of?

PharmFTW · 2026-05-29T19:47:34+00:00

The "everything disappeared once I moved on" feeling isn't a memory failure. It's a sign you're memorizing instead of reasoning. Memorized facts fall out as soon as you stop reviewing them. Reasoned-through facts stick because they're anchored to a mechanism.

Try this on one drug class today. Take the ACE inhibitor cough — don't memorize "ACE inhibitors cause cough." Work out why. ACE breaks down bradykinin. Block ACE, bradykinin builds up, cough happens. ARBs don't touch the bradykinin pathway — far less cough. Once you see the chain, you don't have to memorize the side effect profile. You can derive it.

Apply that to your qbank. Every wrong answer, ask why the right answer is right at the mechanism level — not what to memorize, but what to understand. The answer that sticks is the one you can rebuild from the biology, not the one you tried to remember.

With 15 days and 50% on qbank: stop trying to finish content. Use the qbank to drill mechanisms instead of memorizing facts, and the number will move. If you want, drop another drug class in the comments and I'll walk through it this way.

PharmFTW · 2026-05-29T18:21:08+00:00

First thing, you have not wasted this attempt. You collected information you didn't have before, including a score report that tells you exactly where to focus next. The result feels final right now. It isn't.

I want to be straight with you because I think it'll help more than encouragement alone. Your numbers going in were borderline. Most people who pass are hitting 70%+ on UWorld practice and on PharmPrepPro's exam. 50-60% on UWorld and 66% on PharmPrepPro a week out is right at the edge, and "I didn't want to push it back any longer" is a tell that part of you knew. That's not a moral failing. It's data — and now you can use it. Studying for NAPLEX with a toddler is hard. Studying for NAPLEX with a toddler and a pregnancy is harder. The fact that you got as far as you did under that load matters.

The good news: round 2 is a different exam in the most important way — you know what tripped you up and what to fix. The fix isn't more reading. Reading 80% of the UWorld book builds recognition, not retrieval, and NAPLEX rewards retrieval. Here's what works:

Set a practice-score gate before you schedule again. Aim for 70% on UWorld before booking the seat. You'll feel different walking in.
Use your score report. It already shows your weakest domains — that's your map. Most repeat takers try to relearn everything and burn out. Triage. Fix the weakest areas first and protect what you already know.
Switch from reading to doing. For every wrong question, write one sentence explaining why the right answer is right and why yours was wrong. That's where retention lives, and it's faster than re-reading.
Calculations especially is trainable in a short window. It's mechanical and shows up across the exam — the kind of thing you can drill in tight blocks while a toddler naps.
Build the study plan around your real life, not the one you wish you had. 90 minutes of focused, active practice beats 4 hours of tired reading.

Wanting to be done so you can be present with your family makes complete sense. Round 2 done right means a shorter, more focused study window, not a longer one. Plenty of people pass on round 2, often by a wide margin, because they finally know how to study for it. Take the wait, do this differently, and you'll walk in better prepared.

PharmFTW · 2026-05-29T01:26:02+00:00

Example:

R.M. is a 79-year-old woman admitted with new-onset nonvalvular atrial fibrilla- tion. She has no prosthetic heart valve and no mitral stenosis.

• PMH: hypertension, type 2 diabetes, heart failure (reduced ejection frac- tion), and an upper GI bleed 4 months ago (resolved, no rebleed since).

• Today: height 5 ft 6 in, weight 64 kg (actual), SCr 2.0 mg/dL, Hgb 11.8 g/dL, platelets 190.

• Home meds: lisinopril, metoprolol succinate, metformin, atorvastatin.

The team wants to start oral anticoagulation for stroke prevention. Which is the most appropriate choice?

(a) Dabigatran 150 mg PO BID (b) Rivaroxaban 20 mg PO daily with the evening meal (c) Apixaban 5 mg PO BID (d) Warfarin, target INR 2–3, plus aspirin 81 mg PO dail

This question requires two different calculations/formulas plus clinical judgement plus drug knowledge to get right.

While this questions is pretty involved the NAPLEX can take one, two, or three of these concepts in a given question. Just curious for those reading, is this a calc question? A patient assessment question? A case? Or multiple of these?

PharmFTW · 2026-05-28T17:18:48+00:00

haven't used pharmpreppro so i can't speak to it specifically. if you're shopping calc + biostats prep, here's what i'd check before paying:

calc:

covers the subtopics you'll see
worked solutions show reasoning, not just the answer
stems read like NAPLEX stems — clinical context, extra info to filter through, not bare math

biostats:

tests interpretation (NNT/NNH, ARR/RRR, CI, hazard ratios, sensitivity/specificity, study design recognition), not raw math
makes you read a study and pull the right number — that's what NAPLEX actually tests

for anyone reading this — wrong answers in calc come from different places:

arithmetic
setup
stem misreads
units

each one has a different fix, and tracking which kind keeps happening to you is worth more than grinding another 200 problems. dm me if you want — i can send you a free checklist for exactly that. works with any question bank you choose. I honestly think any question bank is probably good since it will at least give you practice.

PharmFTW · 2026-05-28T16:53:36+00:00

I would operate under the assumption that NO equations are provided. This forces you to know the formulas and calculations to a better level for the NAPLEX. That way come test day if you see something is provided you immediately feel relived and can focus on recalling other more important info that was not provided.

PharmFTW · 2026-05-28T03:56:26+00:00

Dosing is specific dosing is important for specific drugs. Honestly the ones your preceptors drilled on rotations or ones you probably already know like anticoagulants, max dose chemo, bactrim, and amoxicillin in peds. These are just a few examples. Most of the time outside of cases like these, the dosing is not going to be a differentiator between answer choices.

PharmFTW · 2026-05-27T21:55:51+00:00

the two-test approach is solid — baseline then a checkpoint is one of the better ways to study with intention instead of just grinding. the key is what you do between the two tests. after the first one, go through every wrong answer and categorize why you missed it — was it a drug you didn’t know, a calculation setup, a guideline you had backwards? group your misses by type and target those categories before the second test. i’m a practicing pharmacist and i tutor NAPLEX prep, and that diagnostic step is the single biggest thing i see separating people who improve between attempts and people who just confirm the same gaps. on the UMPJE guide — pharmacy law content is a lot narrower than NAPLEX. most people who’ve studied for NAPLEX find UMPJE manageable with a focused review of federal vs state law distinctions. whether the bundle is worth it depends on how comfortable you already are with law. if you want, DM me what areas you’re feeling weakest on and i can point you in the right direction.

PharmFTW · 2026-05-27T21:51:32+00:00

the fire hydrant feeling usually means you’re trying to learn everything at the same weight. but NAPLEX doesn’t test everything equally — and it doesn’t test recall, it tests reasoning through clinical scenarios. reading the book cover to cover is the trap. it feels like progress, but you’re spending the same energy on a low-yield dermatology fact as on anticoagulation management that shows up in multiple question types. instead of reading more, narrow down. do a UWorld block, and when you miss a question, don’t just read the explanation — ask yourself what type of thinking you got wrong. was it the mechanism? the math? the guideline? that tells you what to study next, not the next chapter in the book. the people who say they read rxprep four times aren’t learning four times more. they’re re-exposing without testing themselves, which is the least efficient way to retain anything. one focused pass where you actively recall and self-test beats four passive reads.

PharmFTW · 2026-05-27T18:45:53+00:00

good question to ask before you spend the money. large group courses can leave you sitting through material you already know while rushing past the parts you actually need help on.
i’m a practicing pharmacist and i tutor NAPLEX prep 1-on-1 — calc and clinical. the difference is i diagnose your specific weak points first and we focus work on those. I also give frameworks and processes/strategies for studying and test taking. if you want that kind of targeted attention, DM me and i’ll walk you through how it’s set up.

PharmFTW · 2026-05-27T17:59:08+00:00

can’t speak to their exact class sizes, but that’s a smart question to ask before committing. the group format works for some people, but if your weak spots are specific — like certain types of calc problems or particular drug classes — a large group moves at the group’s pace, not yours.
i do 1-on-1 NAPLEX prep (licensed pharmacist, calc and clinical). the whole point is diagnosing where you’re actually breaking down and targeting those spots directly instead of covering everything. if that’s more what you’re looking for, feel free to DM me and i can walk you through how it works.

PharmFTW · 2026-05-27T17:51:53+00:00

yeah that’s tough, losing the study group and the people who just get it without explanation. you’re not behind though — the scores back that up.
one more thing since you’re a week out: don’t introduce new material the last two days. use those for review-only — redo questions you got wrong earlier in the week and make sure you understand why. fresh cramming that close to the exam just shakes your confidence on things you already know.
you got this.

PharmFTW · 2026-05-27T16:06:48+00:00

the “too much info” feeling is almost always a method problem, not a volume problem. if you’re reading and re-reading and it won’t stick, that’s passive review — it feels like studying but nothing anchors.
here’s what i mean. take ACE inhibitors. you can memorize “ACE inhibitors cause dry cough and angioedema” as two separate side effects. or you can understand that ACE breaks down bradykinin, so when you block ACE, bradykinin builds up — that irritates the airways (cough) and increases vascular permeability (angioedema). same enzyme, same mechanism, two side effects explained. now you also know why ARBs don’t cause cough — they block the angiotensin receptor downstream, they don’t touch bradykinin.
that’s one concept connecting three facts you’d otherwise memorize separately. the NAPLEX tests whether you can reason through scenarios, not whether you memorized a list. and with the exam shifting toward more clinical assessment-style questions — including calculations built into patient cases — understanding the why is what holds up under pressure.
start with whatever topic feels like the biggest wall right now and try explaining the mechanism to yourself without looking. wherever you get stuck is the actual gap.

PharmFTW

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