4/22 PASSED NAPLEX 2ND ATTEMPT!
After 3 weeks of waiting, I finally got my official PASS result in the mail this weekend!!!
For context: I graduated in 2021 and burned out almost immediately after pharmacy school. A lot happened during my last 2 years of school — lost a loved one, the pandemic, and everything that came with it. I wasn’t residency or fellowship-bound, did not interview for or secure a job during my final year, and honestly started questioning whether I even wanted to pursue pharmacy at all.
That being said, I studied on and off since grad. I took my first NAPLEX attempt in 2022. The week before the exam, I got really sick and barely studied. I took it anyway and failed. After that, I completely stepped away from pharmacy and avoided anything related to it for years.
Fast-forward to 2026: I started studying again in January, entirely through self-study using only RxPrep book and UWorld Q bank. The first 6 weeks were roughhh. I genuinely had to relearn how to study and rebuild my stamina. I focused on consistency over intensity: 1–2 chapters a day, short quizzes, weekly math review, spaced-repetition/revisiting old material, and repeating high-yield ladders often. I averaged about 6-8 hours everyday. Seems overkill, but I def needed the extra hours especially in the beginning.
The last 4 weeks were when everything finally started clicking. Two weeks before my exam, I scored a 68% on PPP and an 82 on the Pre-NAPLEX. I also lived on this subreddit during that stretch, and honestly, reading everyone else’s experiences helped me more than anything else. So thank you to everyone who shared advice and encouragement!
My final 2 weeks were heavily focused on repetition and pattern recognition:
- Daily math, biostats, and Foundations 1 & 2
- High-yield review (first-line therapies, dosing, therapeutic ranges)
- TOP300 brand/generic flashcards
- Correction logs from PPP exams and 125-question UWorld random sets
I also kept a running “brain dump” sheet with formulas, acronyms, conversions, and dose equivalencies that I rewrote every morning and night. By exam day, I knew it so well that I didn’t even do a formal brain dump beforehand — I just wrote things down as needed during the test. This probably saved me some time as well as not stress myself out from the first minute trying to regurgitate my brain dump sheet.
More importantly, I walked into the exam with a process instead of trying to memorize everything:
- Age/pregnancy status
- Chief complaint
- PMH
- Abnormal labs
- Allergies
- Previous treatment failures
- Weight-based dosing
- Renal function
- DDIs/adverse effects
Even when time felt tight, I stuck to the same process — just faster and more efficient. I think that’s what kept me grounded during the exam. The last 50 questions flew by for me, while the first 2/3 of the exam felt like I was barely on pace. Still, I finished with over an hour left, including double-checking every math problem.
So for anyone who’s been out of school for years: it’s absolutely doable.
And for recent grads: I know the burnout is real. But trust yourself, trust your system, and keep moving forward. You already earned the degree.
The hardest part of the NAPLEX is preparing for it (and waiting for the results afterward lol).
Now onto CPJE… see you all again soon!