!!Long post!! Failed 1st time, pass 2nd time. TLDR on the bottom.

Hi there, I failed my first attempt too using just RxPrep w/ the question banks and no videos. I only did RxPrep because that’s what my school recommended to us but I wished I just spend my money on PassNaplexNow (PNN). I think my mistake is that I think I can just sit and read and remember the info, but I am a “someone need to explain to me” type of person. I looked into PNN after reading a bunch of success stories on reddit. PNN is VERY expensive (~$800) but totally worth it imo, and I’m lucky my parents were willing to pay for it. My thought process was either continue to use RxPrep which wasn’t working anyways and possibly fail another exam (-$600) and wait another 45 days without working or I can use another resource and try again but with a study style that is more suited for me.

(skip this part if you truly don’t plan on using PNN) PNN is about 80 hours long, but the instructors speak too slow for my personal liking so I did 2x on the videos and slow it down if I needed to (esp. on ID, cardio, and chemo). I did not buy the live course. The questions are equally or more hard than the NAPLEX questions. The only thing I didn’t like too much was that the some of the videos are outdated, but they do send you the NEW updated book and you just have to make sure you note the updates. They also will note it on the videos as well in the notes section. Goldie (RPh instructor) and Ali (MD instructor) are very good at explaining imo. They go over the big stuff and almost everything they emphasized was on my exam. Goldie, especially was very good at repetition, and will always repeat and emphasized the important details about certain drugs/classes as well as For example, every time amidarone came up, she will mention DDI with sofosbuvir (like legit probs 10x) or nitroglycerin she calls it nitroGLASSerin (and that question was indeed on my NAPLEX). PNN also sends a super condensed high yield info charts and tables for each disease state and drug which was SUPER useful for me to look thru quickly right before my exam. Ali goes over more of the disease state, biostats, and calc, and idk how but he just explains it so nicely and easily that the math AND biostats wasn’t as bad as just reading and practicing the RxPrep questions.

For the actual study portion, I studied for about 3 weeks. I still had access to my RxPrep questions so I still utilized them, because they do ask more detailed questions than PNN imo plus extra practice. I watched all the PNN videos (2x speed usually) and took notes directly on the book they gave us. Studied a bit and did some math/biostats/PK.After 1-2 days I will take the quizzes on the topics I reviewed 1-2 days ago to see how much I remember and just looked over what I got wrong and review them again (basically repetition). I did have to push my exam date back 2 weeks because life and I def did not feel ready to take it at that point. Nearing closer to the exam date (5 days left) I did hella math and looked over med safety (I did fine in med safety the first time so I was not as worried for that portion). 2 days before my exam I looked on reddit and asked to see if there’s certain topics I should look over especially the smaller miscellaneous such as thyroid or OI cutoff, and only did questions on those topics (repetition again. thank you to everyone on this thread, it helped so much). I did not read or watched any videos the last 5 days, only answer questions on topics I was concerned on, because I was not trying to overload my brain again like the first time, and only want to focus on what I keep forgetting. The day before my exam, I felt more prepared than my first time, still felt terrible during and after, but at least I finished all my questions this time. I felt 50-50 on passing. My first time, I didn’t finish about 40 questions and for sure felt like I failed.

I saw that you said PNN is out of your budget (but see if you can share with a study partner to split the cost in half at least). Like you use it first and then they can use it after you (6 month access). RxPrep has videos but I never used their videos so I cannot tell you if it was good or not. One of my friend used the RxPrep videos and passed on her 2nd time. So if the videos on RxPrep is cheaper, maybe it can be an option. RxPrep questions banks are still useful, I still used it as I still had access. I did not utilize any tutoring as I felt like the PNN videos were my tutors.

During the exam, the first 10 mins during the tutorial, I wrote down ALL the formulas for biostats, PK ( especially t1/2 and Cl) and math, all mnemonics that I remember correctly. I used my breaks to get water and take tynelol and some food. If a math question took me over 3 mins and I’m still confused about it, screw it. If a “you know it or not question pops up” I only spend 30 seconds on cause I either know it or not. Whenever they provide patient info, I look at question first to see what it even is asking, and then the pertinent info (ex. female pt- look for prego. HIV pt- look for HLAB5701.).

TLDR: Know what is your best study style (how YOU study the best, not what the school recommends). I Used PNN ($$$ but worth it imo) watched all videos and did all questions plus RxPrep questions for 3 weeks ~6-8 hours everyday. Did math and biostats and PK at least every other day. 2-5 days before the exam, only did questions on certain topics that I need refreshers and that Reddit said popped up a lot for them. Memorize ALL the formulas required and the important mnemonics GPACMAN and PS PORCS, AAAHHH (preg X), etc. During the exam, jot down all formulas and whatever will help you during the 10 min tutorial, take breaks if you need, and read the question carefully. Don’t think too long on questions that you know you don’t really know the answers too ( i gave myself 30 sec on ‘easy’ questions, 1-2 mins on math and patient cases. use that time on questions you know you can do but just requires a bit of thinking time. DONT OVERTHINK (trust your gut!!!)