The most important thing is that you learn the material that's in the EC study guide (which you can order through the mail, or download from the EC website if you haven't already). In my experience (which is only NC1 and NC2, mind you), you can get most of what you need from the study guides (Chancellor's, TCN, etc.), but they are the CONDENSED version of what you'd read in the text. The study guide has the "need to know" vs. the "need to know AND nice to know" you'd find in the full text. There were some things on NC1 that weren't really covered in the Chancellor's guide, so for NC2, I supplemented my studies with readings from the Kozier's textbook, and felt really prepared for the test. And that seems to be working for me ... so we'll see. I'm studying for NC3 -- I'm taking it July 31st. Still reading my Chancellor's guide, and I'll probably do my first EC practice test on Thusday.
There are 160 questions on the Excelsior exams. At the beginning of the test, there is a message about some of the questions being "experimental" and thus they don't count, but you don't know which ones they are and you should try to do your best on all of them.
Whatever!
Another thing -- I highly recommend the Excelsior practice exams, which you can register for and take online after you've registered for the actual exam. The practice exams are $60, but you get two of them (called "Form A" and "Form B"), each with 100 questions. When you're done with the test, you get the rationale for the correct answer for each question, as well as the reason the other answers were incorrect. Really valuable information in there. Excelsior recommends you take one earlier in your studies so you can see which areas need reinforcement, and then take Form B later in your studies so you can make sure you know your stuff.
Each question tells you the subject area it's from (such as Med Safety, Biological Safety, etc.) so you can go back and re-study certain areas if you find you're missing lots of answers in that area. Also, expect to score somewhat low on the practice tests, and still do well on the exam ... I got an 81 and and 82 on the NC2 practice exams, and I got an A on the test.
I also don't think it's a good idea to ONLY read notes and nothing else and hope to pass the exams, as some people do ... some people do that and pass, some people do that and fail.
I guess the bottom line is that independent study/distance learning is a highly individualized process, and it might take you a test or two to really find out what works best for you. And it all comes back to learning what's outlined in that EC study guide.
Good luck! Hope all that babble was somewhat helpful.
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