Kaplan's Admission Test - What I studied...

[HelloWish, ADN, BSN]

I scored an 86% overall on the Kaplan, and I wanted to post what I used to study because I think my resources helped prepare me! I couldn't find much information about this exam, so I searched AllNurses and read every single post I could find. I honestly pieced together what I felt would be on the exam based on those posts, especially science!

I won't answer any specific questions about what is on the exam so as to avoid academic dishonesty.

I used http://www.amazon.com/Math-Nurses-Skill-Builder-Reference-Calculation/dp/1607149060/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1403044166&sr=8-1&keywords=kaplan+nursing+math - I think this may be enough to study for the math section unless you need more in-depth detail. Then I would recommend,

http://www.amazon.com/Daviss-Basic-Review-Nurses-Step-/dp/080362056X/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1403044187&sr=1-1&keywords=Davis+math+for+nurses, for more in-depth studying.

The above math guides more than prepared me. I haven't taken a math class in 15 years and it was always my weakest subject. I felt the math section was easy on the exam. There is no need to study the math in the Kaplan study guide, because you do not need to know anything except decimals, fractions, percent and proportions and basic dosage calculation using the above. Also, there was a calculator to use on the exam.

I took A&P II as the final pre-req right before the Kaplan exam so the info would be fresh in my mind. I really felt this was a good strategy! For about 3 weeks prior to the Kaplan exam, I studied for a couple of hours every single day over everything but really focused on science. If you think this is a lot of studying, it is and I studied knowing that learning A&P II for the long term would really help in nursing school! I studied the systems that are covered on the Kaplan and used my A&P book to read the review section and answer the questions at the end of each chapter. I really focused on the renal, electrolyte, cardiovascular, lymphatic, and respiratory systems. The science section contains questions based on critical thinking regarding the body systems. I think you really do need to understand and not memorize to answer these questions! I scored highest on the science section; maybe I missed 1 out of the 20 questions. I also worked the questions at the end of my A&P for Dummies Workbook and Barron's EZ Anatomy and Physiology! I read through the sections I was most rusty on like neurology and the sensory organs. I am not sure if this is available to all students, but my college gave us some sample Kaplan questions and some basic info about what is covered on the exam! http://www.nctc.edu/Libraries/AdminServicesRecordsRetention/Kaplan_Adm_Samples_final.sflb.ashx

I used the Kaplan study guide for reading comprehension and that was about it.

Finally, I googled practice SAT quizzes for writing and reading comprehension. http://sat.collegeboard.org/practice/. I also found some SAT practice on Khan Academy. https://www.khanacademy.org/test-prep/sat

I was really worried about the reading and writing section, because when I practiced I would miss about half the questions. I don't remember my score on these sections. However, I did feel the reading was a bit easier than the Kaplan study guide and that the writing was a bit easier than the SAT workbook. Also, I felt that some of the questions asked on the exam required critical thinking in the writing/reading section, not just grammar, syntax, or punctuation correction. I skipped the essay writing section in the Kaplan SAT books, since there is no essay writing on the exam.

It is important to get sleep before the exam! Sleeping consolidates any information you have learned. I read somewhere that is good to study a little bit right before you go to sleep. I did that for a week before the exam.

Good luck!