HESI A2 Scores for Accelerated BSN Programs

**Renny** · Nov 28, 2019

Hi! I am also applying to an accelerated BSN program for 2020 but not UCC. Your scores are impressive, do you mind sharing your study tips, guides, materials, anything you got please?

alpinegirl, EMT-B · Nov 28, 2019

1 hour ago, faith_b said:
Hi! I am also applying to an accelerated BSN program for 2020 but not UCC. Your scores are impressive, do you mind sharing your study tips, guides, materials, anything you got please?

Hi Faith! Thank you! When do you take your exam? What sections are included on yours so I can give more specific tips?

The first thing I used to study was the following book. It is made by the same company that makes the actual exam, so you will see a lot of test questions that are similar to the material covered in this review book. (you will probably be able to find it cheaper than the site I'm linking here!):

https://evolve.elsevier.com/cs/product/9780323353786?role=student&dmnum=03983&gclid=EAIaIQobChMI2InByICM5gIVjMJkCh06tw5wEAQYASABEgJKevD_BwE

The second thing I used was the quiz app I'll link below. This is also made by the same company who makes the exam (Elsevier), and I found the style of questions very similar to the actual test. There are thousands of practice questions, and you can customize your practice tests by eliminating any categories you don't need practice with or that aren't included on your school's exam (for me, the only category not included was physics). The app is entitled Hesi A2 Pocket Prep. I think it costs 15-20$, but I thought it was worth it. The app also goes over why the correct answer is right, and why the other answers are wrong. I actually practiced questions for about 5 months, just several dozen a week, and then a lot the few days before the test.

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.pocketprep.hesi

There are several things that seemed to play a prominent role on the test and in the practice questions that weren't covered in the review book. Examples are joints in the A&P section and microscopes in the biology section. If you look through my post history, I gave someone some really good tips for the math section. Knowing your conversion units is key to passing that section. Again, let me know what sections you have to take or if you have questions about those, so I can give more specific tips.

Information about the test itself. You get to CHOOSE the order of the categories! And you get to see your score after each one, so you know immediately how you did. I would recommend starting with sections you feel confident on, so that your scores encourage you. I'm sure it would be pretty disappointing to start with your worst subject, get poor results, and then have to keep going with the rest. Also, note that the test time is overall time, not timed for each section. So, it's okay if math takes you an hour and vocab takes you 15 minutes. You do get little white boards or scratch paper to write notes on. And the math section does have an on-screen calculator.

It's not an easy test if you've been out of school for a while. Start studying at least 1-2 months ahead of time. It may be worth scanning over important concepts in your biology, chemistry, and a&p textbooks if it's been a long time! Good luck, and let me know how it goes ?

**Renny** · Nov 28, 2019

7 hours ago, alpinegirl said:
Hi Faith! Thank you! When do you take your exam? What sections are included on yours so I can give more specific tips?
The first thing I used to study was the following book. It is made by the same company that makes the actual exam, so you will see a lot of test questions that are similar to the material covered in this review book. (you will probably be able to find it cheaper than the site I'm linking here!):
https://evolve.elsevier.com/cs/product/9780323353786?role=student&dmnum=03983&gclid=EAIaIQobChMI2InByICM5gIVjMJkCh06tw5wEAQYASABEgJKevD_BwE
The second thing I used was the quiz app I'll link below. This is also made by the same company who makes the exam (Elsevier), and I found the style of questions very similar to the actual test. There are thousands of practice questions, and you can customize your practice tests by eliminating any categories you don't need practice with or that aren't included on your school's exam (for me, the only category not included was physics). The app is entitled Hesi A2 Pocket Prep. I think it costs 15-20$, but I thought it was worth it. The app also goes over why the correct answer is right, and why the other answers are wrong. I actually practiced questions for about 5 months, just several dozen a week, and then a lot the few days before the test.
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.pocketprep.hesi
There are several things that seemed to play a prominent role on the test and in the practice questions that weren't covered in the review book. Examples are joints in the A&P section and microscopes in the biology section. If you look through my post history, I gave someone some really good tips for the math section. Knowing your conversion units is key to passing that section. Again, let me know what sections you have to take or if you have questions about those, so I can give more specific tips.
Information about the test itself. You get to CHOOSE the order of the categories! And you get to see your score after each one, so you know immediately how you did. I would recommend starting with sections you feel confident on, so that your scores encourage you. I'm sure it would be pretty disappointing to start with your worst subject, get poor results, and then have to keep going with the rest. Also, note that the test time is overall time, not timed for each section. So, it's okay if math takes you an hour and vocab takes you 15 minutes. You do get little white boards or scratch paper to write notes on. And the math section does have an on-screen calculator.
It's not an easy test if you've been out of school for a while. Start studying at least 1-2 months ahead of time. It may be worth scanning over important concepts in your biology, chemistry, and a&p textbooks if it's been a long time! Good luck, and let me know how it goes ?

Thank you so much! The topics covered will be HESI A2 Admission exam (consisting of Reading Comprehension, Anatomy & Physiology, Math and Vocabulary sections)

**Renny** · Nov 28, 2019

And yes I did see your post history and have saved and written down the tips you posted. I know this is a far reach but do you happen to know anyone/alumni of Arkansas State University ABSN program or of there is a thread about current application cycle for the Arkansas State University ABSN

**Renny** · Nov 30, 2019

Thank you so much! The topics covered will be HESI A2 Admission exam (consisting of Reading Comprehension, Anatomy & Physiology, Math and Vocabulary sections)

alpinegirl, EMT-B · Dec 15, 2019

Hey Faith,

Sorry it took a little while to get back to you; I've been finishing up finals this week for my last few pre-requisites. Unfortunately, I don't know anyone from the program you're referring to. I haven't been able to find a thread yet for UCCS yet either, even though admission letters went out earlier this month. We'll have to see as it gets closer! When is the program's start date?

If you haven't taken the exam yet, here are the tips I can give you for your sections:

-Math: This is covered pretty extensively in my post history...mostly a lot of ratios and dimensional analysis conversions.

-Reading Comprehension: Basically, they will have you read a passage or paragraph and answer 3-5 questions about it. None of the passages are difficult to read, and some were fairly interesting. The questions were strange though. Sometimes, it seemed that there was more than one right answer. My best advice is to know your grammar well, and really make sure you understand the passage and what the question is asking.

-Vocab: Almost every question just gave a definition and asked you to pick the correct word out of four multiple choice options. I would go over the words in the vocabulary section of the book I recommended, as some of them were definitely on the test. Make sure you have a basic understanding of medical terminology as well.

-A&P: My best advice is to read the HESI A2 Prep book and answer all the practice questions on the app. This should prepare you well. Additional topics I would study that are not in the book include: types of epithelial tissue, more detail on mitosis/meiosis than the book gives, layers of skin, basic origin/insertion/actions of major muscles, brain structure and each parts' functions, hormones and what part of the brain secretes each one, and eye/ear parts and functions.

Hope that's helpful. Looking forward to hearing how it went for you ?

**Renny** · Dec 29, 2019

Thank you so much! Will definitely follow up on my scores after I take the exam

On 12/15/2019 at 2:32 AM, alpinegirl said:
Hey Faith,
Sorry it took a little while to get back to you; I've been finishing up finals this week for my last few pre-requisites. Unfortunately, I don't know anyone from the program you're referring to. I haven't been able to find a thread yet for UCCS yet either, even though admission letters went out earlier this month. We'll have to see as it gets closer! When is the program's start date?
If you haven't taken the exam yet, here are the tips I can give you for your sections:
-Math: This is covered pretty extensively in my post history...mostly a lot of ratios and dimensional analysis conversions.
-Reading Comprehension: Basically, they will have you read a passage or paragraph and answer 3-5 questions about it. None of the passages are difficult to read, and some were fairly interesting. The questions were strange though. Sometimes, it seemed that there was more than one right answer. My best advice is to know your grammar well, and really make sure you understand the passage and what the question is asking.
-Vocab: Almost every question just gave a definition and asked you to pick the correct word out of four multiple choice options. I would go over the words in the vocabulary section of the book I recommended, as some of them were definitely on the test. Make sure you have a basic understanding of medical terminology as well.
-A&P: My best advice is to read the HESI A2 Prep book and answer all the practice questions on the app. This should prepare you well. Additional topics I would study that are not in the book include: types of epithelial tissue, more detail on mitosis/meiosis than the book gives, layers of skin, basic origin/insertion/actions of major muscles, brain structure and each parts' functions, hormones and what part of the brain secretes each one, and eye/ear parts and functions.
Hope that's helpful. Looking forward to hearing how it went for you ?

Thank you so much! Will definitely follow up on my scores after I take the exam

HESI A2 Scores for Accelerated BSN Programs

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