Kaplan Nursing common mistakes
Kaplan Nursing · Understand the traps and how to avoid them.
Reading a passage once, then answering questions from memory of the general topic instead of returning to the exact lines that support each answer.
The Kaplan-style reading section rewards locating explicit evidence, but candidates used to faster tests assume the answer is obvious after one read; they confuse 'true in the real world' with 'stated in the passage.'
What to do instead
Adopt a two-pass routine: first pass gets the main idea and paragraph topics, then every question is answered by pointing to a specific sentence. If you cannot underline or cite the sentence that proves the choice, treat the answer as unsupported and re-scan the paragraph.
Choosing an answer that is too broad, too narrow, or too extreme for the question stem, such as picking a sweeping claim when the stem asks for the main idea of one paragraph.
Distractor writers deliberately make plausible-sounding options that overreach; candidates match on topic words rather than checking the scope of the claim against the scope of the passage.
What to do instead
Before looking at the options, state the answer in your own words and note its scope (whole passage, one paragraph, one example). Then eliminate any option whose scope or strength differs from your prediction, even if it contains familiar vocabulary.
Ignoring transition and contrast words (however, although, therefore, in contrast) and missing the author's actual point or tone.
Candidates skim for content nouns and skip small connecting words, but these words signal where the author shifts, concedes, or draws a conclusion, which is where inference and tone questions are built.
What to do instead
During the first pass, circle every contrast and cause-effect transition. For tone or inference questions, reread the sentence containing the transition plus the one before it and ask what the author is doing there (conceding, refuting, concluding).
Setting up word problems without defining a variable or writing an equation, then trying to compute an answer from the numbers as they appear.
Time pressure pushes candidates straight to arithmetic, but the exam's word problems often require a rate, ratio, or percent relationship that must be expressed symbolically before any calculation is meaningful.
What to do instead
Force one written line before calculating: 'Let x = ___' plus an equation or proportion. If you cannot write that line, you do not yet understand the problem; reread and identify the relationship (per, total, remaining, times as many) first.
Mis-handling unit conversions and rate problems, for example mixing hours and minutes, or converting mg to g in the wrong direction.
Candidates memorize conversion factors but not the logic of dimensional analysis, so they guess whether to multiply or divide, and errors compound through multi-step dosage or rate items.
What to do instead
Use unit cancellation on paper: write the given quantity as a fraction with units, multiply by conversion fractions arranged so unwanted units cancel, and check that the final unit matches what the question asks for. Do this even when the arithmetic seems trivial.
Applying the wrong order of operations or dropping negative signs and fractions when simplifying multi-step expressions.
Mental arithmetic on several operations at once overloads working memory; candidates evaluate left to right or lose a negative sign when distributing, and the answer choices often include the resulting wrong value.
What to do instead
Write each step on its own line, one operation per line, and parenthesize substituted values before simplifying. When distributing a negative, draw an arrow to every term inside the parentheses. Verify by substituting a simple number back into the original expression.
Confusing similar physiological structures or processes, such as the roles of the small and large intestine, or arteries versus veins, when answering science items.
Science content is memorized as vocabulary lists rather than as functions and systems, so candidates recognize a term but cannot distinguish it from a closely related one under exam pressure.
What to do instead
Study by function-and-contrast: for each structure write what it does, what it connects to, and one feature that distinguishes it from its closest lookalike. Self-test with 'which is NOT' and 'which best describes' formats, since those force discrimination rather than recognition.
Answering science questions from everyday intuition about the body or matter instead of from the scientific principle being tested.
Common-sense beliefs (blood in arteries is always oxygenated, heat always means higher temperature) feel correct and are not flagged as assumptions, so candidates never compare them to the rule the item is testing.
What to do instead
For every science item, name the principle in a few words before choosing (for example 'pressure-volume relationship' or 'dominant versus recessive inheritance'). If an option matches your intuition but not the named principle, eliminate it and re-derive from the rule.
Choosing an answer by how it sounds rather than checking grammar: subject-verb agreement across interrupting phrases, pronoun reference, and misplaced modifiers.
Candidates read options aloud in their head and pick the most fluent-sounding one; intervening phrases and inverted sentence order make incorrect agreement sound natural.
What to do instead
Strip the sentence to its core: cross out prepositional phrases and parenthetical clauses, then check that subject and verb agree and that every pronoun has one clear antecedent. For modifier questions, confirm the phrase sits next to the noun it describes.
Editing for style or word choice before checking sentence boundaries, so run-ons, fragments, and comma splices survive into the final answer.
Candidates equate longer, more formal phrasing with correctness and skip the mechanical check, but the exam's writing items frequently hinge on whether two clauses are properly joined.
What to do instead
Run a boundary pass first: for each clause, confirm it has a subject and verb, and confirm that two independent clauses are joined by a period, semicolon, or comma plus coordinating conjunction. Only after boundaries are clean should you compare wordiness and tone among the remaining options.