I wanted to share my experience taking the HESI A2 since I looked at many of these posts for guidance while I was studying. I had one month to study for this exam and after only scoring a 77 on the TEAS and got denied by my first choice nursing school I was a bit discouraged, but with a lot of hard work I PASSED the HESI! My scores were:
A&P: 100
GRAMMAR: 87
VOCAB: 97
READING COMP: 92
MATH: 96
These were the only subjects that I were required to take.
A&P: I was completely shocked by this score. Since this was the most difficult subject for me I took it first and actually called the proctor over to ask if that was my score because I did not believe that I did so well. There were a fair amount of questions that I did not know the answers to and had flat out just guessed the answer. Make sure you know about bones and how they rebuild themselves, what hormones do what, and parts of the brain, and the functions of the body systems. I had mostly used Pocket Prep (bought the full version for $15) along with the Evolve study book. I had also purchased Ready for the HESI, but I seemed to not need it due to I felt that I already knew the majority if the info in that book. If it has been a while since you took science or need more in depth learning then I would recommend it for only the A&P section. I spent most of my time studying for this section but then again I felt like I was guessing on a lot of these questions.
Grammar: This section was slightly tedious. Most of the question were in the form of Which answer is grammatically correct or Which answer is grammatically incorrect. Subject verb agreement and knowing the differences between like sounding words like lie and lay or its and it's was also a big part for this section. Practice practice practice!! Again pocket prep helped the most.
Vocab: This was an easier section. Most of the questions asked to choose the correct word that finished the sentence or asked for synonyms of the word given in a sentence. I used quizlet (HESI A2 words Flashcards | Quizlet) to learn and to study and test myself on this section. Again, went through all of the pocket prep questions.
Reading Comp: This was by far the most tedious section. The passages were a medium length and their were multiple questions being asked about each one. Most of the answers were out of the reading or asked about the author's main idea. It was easy, but annoying. I did not spend too much studying on this one.
Math: Conversions, fractions, and basic math. This was not a difficult subject, but make sure you know your conversion factors (METRIC & ENGLISH). There is a calculator you can use on the computer but make sure you click the numbers slowly because it does lag and can give you a wrong answer. Besides memorizing the conversions I didn't study a lot for this subject.
Overall, this test was a cake walk compared to the TEAS. I did have to study and brush up on some topics but the format of the test was easier. I did not run into a problem with time either. The clock counting down on the computer made no sense to me because it seemed like every time I looked at it I only had 3-4 minutes left but I never ran out of time so I don't know. Pocket Prep helped me the most and it is 100% worth the money. I took every single practice question and made note cards out of the ones I got wrong and from the explanations that they gave for answers of questions for things I were unfamiliar with. Don't over study either because your brain will be mush by the time you get to the exam. Good Luck to everyone and I hope this was helpful. Feel free to ask any questions.
