HESI tips

Students HESI

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I said i would make a post about the HESI after i took it to help people out and try and help people not make the same mistakes as i did

I got an 88% which is not as good as i wanted, and I know what I should have done differently.

First of all, dont over dramatize this test. The more you make yourself overwhelmed and nervous, the worse you will do on the test. I was breaking out in hives I was so nervous, and it showed on my score. I really wish I would have just remained calm and focussed because the test honestly is not bad. The first section i did was reading, then grammar, math, vocab - these are the only ones i had to take for my school

BIG mistake - take the easier sections FIRST because you will be distracted and nervous when you first sit down and taking the sections that are harder for you will only make it worse. My scores went up as I went from section to section because I started coming to my senses.

Math:

This was the easiest section and no... im not a "math genius" haha - i just studied what was in the evolve hesi a2 book that i got from my school

- this book totally prepares you for the test - i 100% recommend getting it

- the book is not meant for you just to read it and stop there - take the information and practice it, the things that you have a hard time with - find practice worksheets online and practice doing the problems

- you have to know how to convert gallons, quarts, pints, cups, and ounces - if you dont know how to do this, google it. youtube it. or check out itunes U. Also know how to move up and down the metric system - from base (meters, liters, gram) to the left and right (KHDBDCM)

- know how to work proportions x/6 = 5/9 or x:5::6:8

- know how to get from percent to decimal, decimal to percent, and decimal to fraction

- know how to add, subtract, multiply, and divide fractions - and reduce, find the common denominator

all of these things are really easy once you remember how to do all of it - just refresh your memory and practice and you will do great - i got a 98

Reading

I have always managed to just wing this section in all big tests - and manage to do well.

NOT THIS TIME. I made a 76 - the required score to apply was a 75 - YES very close and it brought my score down down down. I was so upset about this.

- the articles were not hard to read or to understand - think it was because i chose to do this section first because i knew it would take up the most time - well it took even longer than usual because I had to reread and reread because my mind was just thinking a thousand other things

- i would save this section for the end because as you take the test you get more and more focussed and when you read, you NEED to be super focussed

- the questions were: words from the article -- what is its meaning, authors purpose, summary of the passage (the hardest for me)

- i would definitely practice doing this -- just find articles and ask yourself these questions

- become an active reader - pay attention to the words the author is using

grammar - i got an 88

- i took the information out of the evolve book and took it further

- subject verb agreement - i googled it and tons of practice sheets came up and they helped me a lot!!!

- take each thing the book covers and go make sure you actually know how to do it because things that you think that you know how to do might get you.

- make sure you definitely practice misplaced modifiers and look for this on the test - they will get it. I know you think its easy but some can be quite tricky

- know the common mistakes people make - misspelled words, punctuation, affect and effect, can and may, could and might, prescription and perscription(wrong), direct object, indirect object, lie and lay, aid and aide, further and farther, bring and take

- googel hesi grammar and there are a lot of practice tests, and flash cards - id look through these

vocabulary - i got a 94

i was really scared of this section and if you arent good at vocabulary - you should prepare as much as you can

- i knew all the words out of the evolve book - i would say that about half of the words came from here

- i googled hesi vocab and made flash cards for all the extra words i found

- maybe i went over the top but it helped and it was worth it because a bunch of these works were on the test

- in the back of the evolve book, there are more vacab words - dont forget to learn these too

- you can do good on this if you prepare and just try to get as many vocab words in your mind as possible - that is the only way to prepare for this section

Another really great tool is the hesi evolve app - i think its like $25, but it is worth it!! A bunch of stuff came from this app. I was very glad that i bought this app.

Good luck -- remember to not stress out and make yourself so nervous you cant focus on the test

Think positive thoughts and just be prepared

You can do it

laura1129

35 Posts

Wow thanks for the post! I take mine the 16th. After reading your post in quite nervous for the reading section. I need an 80 to pass each section. I have to take math, reading, grammar and vocab. I am studying for the book but im quite concerned about the sections. I have all the vocab word memorized but im sure other words will show up. Also, the grammar and reading seemed pretty tough. What else would you suggest ?

RNtobe17

151 Posts

Wow thanks for the post! I take mine the 16th. After reading your post in quite nervous for the reading section. I need an 80 to pass each section. I have to take math, reading, grammar and vocab. I am studying for the book but im quite concerned about the sections. I have all the vocab word memorized but im sure other words will show up. Also, the grammar and reading seemed pretty tough. What else would you suggest ?

Don't be nervous. Just practice as much as you can.

Like I said, it wasn't hard... But I made it hard on myself from being so nervous and shaking and I couldn't concentrate.

There isn't enough time for you not to be concentrating and have to reread and Reread the passage.

I would search google for help on finding the main idea in a passage, the authors purpose, and how to find the summary. Usually when you type that into google there will be practice sheets on it. I would do those and just practice. That's the only way to find out if you can really do it.

For grammar, it covers everything in the book. So if one of the topics in the book gives you a problems then go find some practice sheets for it online. That's what I did and it helped a lot! The grammar was mostly common sense things. (Ex. Like a or an. An follows a vowel.. So (an apple) Every now and then there would be a harder one.

This test really isn't hard, it's stuff from like 8th grade which for me was bad because I didn't make good grades in 8th grade. Haha.

laura1129

35 Posts

Alrighty hopefully it goes well!

I got a 95% when I took it at the school. Is super easy, studied for only a week or so.

RNtobe17

151 Posts

I got a 95% when I took it at the school. Is super easy, studied for only a week or so.

Great for you! I studied for months and thought it was pretty difficult. I guess everyone is different.

I'm a super super nervous big test taker. I have a 4.0 on prerequisites so I'm no dumb person. I just get so nervous when it comes to tests that determine my whole future. I'll get better though.

Congrats

Thank u, it was two years ago.

slycherry

5 Posts

Thanks for all tips, wish me luck :)

DerAustin

5 Posts

I didn't study at all for the HESI exam, I just assumed it was a general knowledge test and went in and took it without researching it or anything at all.

I ended up getting an 88% cumulative score, which I was pretty displeased with because I've scored in the 90s in every general knowledge type assessment I've ever taken.

What really brought me down is not knowing how to convert all the different units in the math section like grams/meters/gallons/pints etc. I think I got an 82 in the math section which is really what brought my cumulative score below the 90s

Beyond that, I made a few mistakes in the reading section by instead of selecting the answer I thought was logically correct, selecting the answer I thought they wanted me to give. There were quite a few questions like that where there was 1 answer I initially thought was right, but then would see another ambiguously acceptable answer that seemed more "politically correct" or like it was screaming this is what they want even though it doesn't appeal to my logic, So I went with those and missed a few.

RNtobe17

151 Posts

I didn't study at all for the HESI exam, I just assumed it was a general knowledge test and went in and took it without researching it or anything at all.

I ended up getting an 88% cumulative score, which I was pretty displeased with because I've scored in the 90s in every general knowledge type assessment I've ever taken.

What really brought me down is not knowing how to convert all the different units in the math section like grams/meters/gallons/pints etc. I think I got an 82 in the math section which is really what brought my cumulative score below the 90s

Beyond that, I made a few mistakes in the reading section by instead of selecting the answer I thought was logically correct, selecting the answer I thought they wanted me to give. There were quite a few questions like that where there was 1 answer I initially thought was right, but then would see another ambiguously acceptable answer that seemed more "politically correct" or like it was screaming this is what they want even though it doesn't appeal to my logic, So I went with those and missed a few.

That's cool. I wish I would have done better too. I studied hard.

I'm really good in math so I wasn't worried at all. I got a 98.

I would have scored in the high 90's if my reading score wouldn't have been so terrible. :(

RNtobe17

151 Posts

Thanks for all tips, wish me luck :)

Good luck. You'll do awesome.

laura1129

35 Posts

How long were the reading passages ?

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