Hesi entrance exam 6/8/17

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Hi, friends!

I just finished my HESI entrance exam and pretty happy with my score!

I received a 94.5% overall and wanted to give a few tips on how to prepare and what to expect...

Topics I needed for the school I am applying to:

-Math

-Grammar

-Reading Comprehension

-Anatomy & Physiology

I studied for about 2 weeks for the exam and used the following resources:

-Evolve Elsevier Admissions Assessment 4th edition -- I read through this a few times through the 2 weeks. The day before my exam I took the practice exam in the book as well as the two online exams.

-Mometrix HESI A2 Secrets -- I only read the grammar & A&P sections once. I found it to be VERY similar to the Evolve booklet. I also took the practice questions/exam the day before.

-Pocket Prep HESI A2 app -- THIS IS GOLD. This app is what I used for most of my studying throughout the 2 weeks. You can create your own comprehensive exams, or just focus on one topic at a time. Whether you get a question right or wrong there is a short explanation as to why the answer is correct and why the other options are incorrect. SUPER useful especially for A&P and grammar. I would usually test myself 50-100 questions every night before I went to bed on 1 topic... altering topics every night. The app is ~$14, but 100% worth it.

-Anatomy & Physiology -- If you need to brush up on your anatomy like me... this was a good tool. It has great links for every type of learner. I just looked through the powerpoint slides for a review, then I took the practice quizzes it provided.

The exam itself was not nearly as bad as I thought it would be. I found all the practice exams I took were much harder.

For Math:

  • I had 55 questions
  • Lots of fractions & ratios
  • I'd estimate about 10 questions involved conversions and military time
  • A few word problems
  • Study recommendations: Evolve booklet has everything you need to know. Do the practice questions it provides and if you feel confident with those, you should be good!

For Grammar:

  • I had 55 questions
  • Lots of "Which of the following is not grammatically correct?"
  • This pertained to commas, apostrophe use, subject-verb, etc.
  • Study recommendations: Evolve OR Mometrix booklet to review grammar rules. Pocket Prep app for practice. I did roughly 30-50 questions every other day to brush up on this.

For Reading Comp:

  • Again, 55 questions
  • Passages ranged from short to long... about 4-5 questions for every passage.
  • Lots of finding the main idea of the passage & understanding what a specific word meant in the passage.
  • Study recommendations: Practice. Practice. Practice. Use the app and the booklets. I wish I would have gone over this more because this was my lowest score and took me the longest to finish.

For A&P:

  • I had 30 questions
  • Some questions were very basic anatomy and some were pretty detailed physiology
  • I had questions from almost every system...
  • Study recommendations: I studied this the most. I went through every question on the app probably about 3-4 times. I took the practice exams through both booklets multiple times & took quizzes on the bio corner website. Because there are fewer questions on this one, I feel like there should be more emphasis on study time as you can't afford to get many questions wrong.

If you can, open up your availability a day or two before your exam. I did not spend hours upon hours studying every day because I, unfortunately, don't have the time with work & school. Use the app at least once a day... even if it's just a few questions before you go to sleep at night. Review anatomy chapters - I usually looked at 1-4 chapters a day depending on how much time I had. Buckle down the week before and start going over the other resources. 2 days before the exam I got up earlier than usual and studied for a few hours before school/work. I took off work and skipped class (whoops) the day before the exam and that is when I took all of the booklet practice exams to see where I stood. I hope this was helpful to you guys. Let me know if you have any questions and good luck!

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Thank you so much for the tips. I am taking the hesi next month as well.

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