TEAS V prep from 09/2012

[jspenz]

Okay, so I figured i would go ahead and write a recent update about the TEAS V which I just took yesterday. In my weeks preping for the exam i frequented this blog to get advice from other students and relieve some of my anxiety. I think it's now my turn to pay it forward and let you know about my experience... sooo here goes!

First let me say that I am a 4.0 student with no less than a 100% average in all my science classes... and i've worked hard for that. So following suit I tried to study study study for this exam to ensure than my hard work hadn't gone to waste. I purchased the TEAS V study guide and i bought both of the online practice tests. And i worked through them everyday for about 3 weeks... seeing where i was weak and i also used other websites for practice problems on areas where i was weak.

-----------side note: my school only used the MATH AND READING portion of the tests-----

I read on here that the practice online/book tests were easier... and in my experience: FALSE!!!!

I found that the actual test used things very similar to the online practice tests as far as format, but that was it!! And I did think that the test was much much much harder, but there are different versions too... so keep that in mind. This is purely my experience!

READING SECTION:

So i love reading... and im obviously not THAT bad at reading comprehension or i think my grades would reflect that. I am a very grammar/english based person.... BUT NOTHING COULD HAVE PREPARED ME FOR THE READING SECTION! I scored higher on the practice exams than i did on the actual exam. On the practice exams i had a 90% average and understanding directions and such was my highest score... on the real exam, the directional questions pulled my grade waaaaay down (mind you i still did score at the average for my program) but here is why i think it went down the way it did:

So lets take for example that fun little map in the reading comprehension section of the TEAS v study guide book... The practice test may ask something like :what is the closest park to I-50... and you just look at your key and ta-da you see its nurse park! Simple, right?! well on the real exam it was the same type of format like the map for example, BUT theres about 12 different interstates/highways. Then it gives you 4 different options like which of the following is correct type of thing... so for example: a person going south-west on I-4 will pass through RN park driving to the lake. Which doesn't seem sooo bad right? Well remember you will be tracing 4 different routes, and dont forget your time limit!!

Or say for example the contex clue questions... in the study guide book you might have a question like "that girl STIFFED me for the check" what does STIFFED mean? well the test would be more like a whole passage that uses one word MULTIPLE times over and each different time its used it has a number correlating to a different dictionary meaning... then it wants to know which is used correctly. Same format, but like 10 times harder!

MATH:

Oh, math... WATCH YOUR TIME!!! THIS CANNOT BE SAID ENOUGH! The math questions were probably equally as hard or slightly easier than the practice exam questions. I would say that the math section of the study guide was very good! I am not a verying mathmatically inclined person, so i expected to have lower math scores... BUT i really really really studied and I actually did 10% better on the math section than the reading... i was also above my program average!!

Many of the things you see in the math problems seem to be implemented into word problems, lots of conversion and such... mainly what i want to say about this is WATCH YOUR TIME. Oh and make sure your not over-thinking simple questions... i ALMOST did this!

So in conclusion:

I wouldn't just accept what other people are saying about the practice exams being harder... because i wish i wouldn't have though "oh im making like a 78% on this but everyone says that scored 10% higher".

I believe that you should probably get the study guides/ practice test... i dont think its the best, but it will slightly familarize you with the material and if you have been out of school for a long time you will def need to brush up on some things....

Prepare your self to expect the unexpected!!!

------------------------------AND REMEMBER-------------------------------------------------

THIS EXAM DOES NOT DEFINE YOU!!! GOOD LUCK!!!!

[tikyut]

Wow...thanks for the update. I took the online practice with no preparation today and scored 56% :-( but that's OK. I wanted to have an idea of my weakness before opening the ATI book. Now I know what to focus on.

[amac77]

from my experience...practice...practice...practice. i was a teacher for years and had to prepare students for the math and reading TAKS. i know it's 3rd grade but it's the same idea. the reading is tricky. i would've never thought that i would need scratch paper on a reading test but you will. jspenz is right about the directions questions being confusing. also, on the questions where you have to draw inferences look for evidence. the answer will not be specifically stated but there will be information to support the correct answer. don't guess unless you are out of time. i got a 93 on the reading...that's all my school required. i did the online practice test, then i did all of reading section in the book and both practice tests, then i did the second online practice test. hope this helps anybody getting ready for it.