Kaplan Pre-Nursing Entrance Exam

I wanted to share with others how I studied for the Kaplan Pre-Nursing Entrance Exam. I took the exam in October and got into my nursing school for Spring!!! Nursing Students Pre-Nursing Article

Kaplan Pre-Nursing Entrance Exam

My grades on the Kaplan were:

Overall Score = 81%
Math = 93%
Reading = 82%
Science = 60%
Writing = 86%
Critical Thinking = 81% (not a section on test, but they give you this score based on how you answer questions)

I studied for a month doing practice questions everyday for about 1-4 hours a day. I was in school as well (and worked), so I would have to set time aside to study for this exam. The more questions you do, the better you will get. Do not get discouraged if you get many wrong as you are studying because I found that the test was a lot easier than the questions from the Kaplan practice guide.

The Kaplan Pre-Nursing Entrance Exam book gives you way too much that you do NOT need to know. The test is broken down into 4 sections with certain topics that you need to know.

Math: Conversions, Operations, Ratios, Word Problems (28 Questions in 45 min)***

A calculator is provided which appears on the screen.

Personally, the Kaplan book for me was completely useless for the Math portion. I liked using the NLN RN Pre-Entrance exam book (I had the book already from another test). But if you do not have this book, please review how to do proportions, adding, subtracting, division, multiplication, converting fractions to percent (& vice versa), adding & subtracting fractions, multiplying & dividing fractions, converting percent in decimals (& vice versa), mixed numbers & improper fractions. There was NO metric conversions on the test so don't worry about that. The word problems on the test were fairly easy and were proportion related for example: 75mg of a drug is prescribed and the medication is available as 100mg/mL, the nurse would have to give ______? To solve set up a proportion and cross multiply, then divide (answer = 0.75mL). One book that I did find extremely useful for the Math is Math for Nurses a Pocket Guide to Dosage Calculation 8th edition, I bought it on Amazon for around $8.00 and it really breaks down Math to make it easy to understand if you are having trouble. (I did chapters 1-4, they are really small chapters and perfect practice for this test.) You can also use it as help for your dosage calculations class we eventually must take.

Khan Academy and YouTube helped tremendously also in breaking each subject down.

Reading: Determining logic of a passage, Comprehending details, Drawing basic inferences, Identifying the purpose of a passage (22 Questions in 45 min)

I absolutely hate reading comprehension and I was surprised on how well I did. You must do as many practice problems as possible and really analyze why are you getting the question wrong. READ the question and ask yourself what are they asking for? I would read the question first and then go to the paragraph and look for answer. The Kaplan guide was okay for the Reading portion, but any other study guide that has reading comprehension will do fine. I almost ran out of time on this section and guessed quickly on the last 2 questions (please never leave any unanswered).

Science: Cardiovascular system, Electrolytes, Gastrointestinal system, Immune system, Neurology, Renal system, Hematological System, Homeostasis, Respiratory system, Sensory system (20 Questions in 30 min)

I was disappointed with my science score as I consider myself good at science with A's in A&P, chem, and biology. These questions on the test were not fair in my opinion and some I felt were nursing based. Anyway, I used Khan Academy and YouTube reviewing each subject. ***Please know: blood flow through heart, air flow through lungs, what system controls homeostasis, digestive system organ functions, what are the 3 components in the body water is held, where oxygen exchange occurs, primary function of circulatory system.

Take each system and write out what are the key functions of each. (Kaplan book again was useless in my opinion.) NO chem, NO biology, NO anatomy on test, ONLY physiology!!

Writing: Assessing passage development, Assessing paragraph logic, Assessing mechanics of writing (21 Questions in 45min)

Again another frustrating section for me and the Kaplan book DOES NOT have any practice questions on writing which sucks so I had to figure it out on my own. This section is hard to study for, but as I was doing the test I would ask myself does that make sense? I think I got lucky on this section. ***Please know: comma placement, apostrophe placement, subject verb agreement (reviewed on Khan Academy and YouTube).

Questions on the test also asked to place sentences in the paragraph which was confusing, I am going to place a link to a site that has a few practice questions that helped me with that.

W:LIT-1 | SAT Suite of Assessments

Overall I hope this helps anyone who is going to take this exam. I used a binder to keep my study materials together, whatever works for you. Take small breaks as you study and create a study schedule to help with time management.

Remember practice, practice, practice and you will be fine. Do not give up, if becoming nurse is your dream you will do it!

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finallyRNdreams

About finallyRNdreams

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So glad you posted this because it is hard to find much about the Kaplan test. I did buy the Kaplan review book, but it's not very detailed. Thank you again for this!!

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Thanks for sharing. I'm preparing to take the Kaplan soon and this is very helpful. Congratulations on your acceptance.

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I just took the Kaplan yesterday and I made 80 percent overall. I agree with 100 percent of what she said! I wish I would've seen this post earlier.. Good luck to you guys!!

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Hi! Any insight on how much neurology is on the exam? Wish I knew what parts to focus on a little better. The PNS, ANS Etc? The functions of each cerebrum lobe? I feel like neurology is a pretty broad subject

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Hi there thanks for the good info! I have taken the test once & the question about the 3 components still has me stumbled for the answer, I know there is the ICF & the ECF but what is the third? That question bothered me so much. Thank you

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Specializes in Med-surg, social services, education.

HI FinallyRNdreams,

Thank you for this helpful information! I failed this test twice only not meeting the benchmark in the math section. For me math has never been one of my strong points (I only went to Algebra II in high school, didn't fail but just never liked it); however, I found that the KAT book is not very helpful with the math section and I was looking for another resource. I believe my greatest weakness are the word problems. UGh!! I am planning to take it again in a month to give myself time. Thank you for your post!!!

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Thank you for sharing this! Super helpful. I'm taking the exam in September and haven't been studying much, trying to here and there but I also feel like I needed more direction.

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Thank you very much for all this extremely helpful information, Dear!

Good luck and all the best too you! ;)

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I'm taking my exam next month oct 27th to be exact...is there anything you can remember or recommend I study the most? Do you remember if there were dosage questions? or what systems they mainly focused on? It would be of great help, especially since it's hard to find any info on the Kaplan Exam! Thank you so much and I hope you did well!! ?

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Hi,

Did you take your Kaplan test? How did you do? I am scheduled to take it the end of the month. It has been several years since I have done my sciences and I am very nervous on that section. Any input would be greatly appreciated.

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Four questions

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