AFNurse2b13

First off, congrats on passing your TEAS! I'm curious if you have thought of contacting their admissions office and posed the question to them. I'm confident that most schools must keep on hand information about their previous admission statistics. See if you can get something out of them (or find online) what the average TEAS scores are for those that were selected. Also check for previous admission prospects here on Allnurses. A lot of prospective students create a forum to talk about upcoming admission dates and TEAS scores, etc. Perhaps you can get an idea of the TEAS scores from students in the forum. My personal advice (if you cannot find the statistics you are looking for): If you can afford re-taking the TEAS, then get the study materials (check on-line for older and affordable books), pay for the exam, practice the areas where you didn't perform your best, and re-take the exam. Also, try reformatting your thought process: Is it better to pay $XX dollars for the exam, or will you be content with not making it and having to wait another 6 months before you can re-apply. Good luck!

I will always be confused by this ridiculous notion. Hey... it's getting real difficult here, and things are not going the way I planned... maybe I should just quit...” Absurd. To some degree I can understand where you are coming from... but I would have to assume that this is the only recourse for this school to prevent losing their accreditation. I know for a fact that it is not. The school could address the poorly prepared teachers. The school could fully endorse the use of ATI as a legitimate resource for supplementing our education (instead of having multiple faculty talk against ATI and downplay the importance). I could go on with a list of what I think are solutions, but I am interested in finding out if there are other schools with this problem. I'm interested in starting a dialogue about the lack of quality education in Nursing and the over-reliance on standardized tests (like ATI). Neither of those two goals were addressed by your comment.

I felt this same way when I started my BSN program! The anxiety goes away, and eventually you will realize that everything were are worrying about wasn't the end of the world. I freaked out about everything! Not having classes posted, not having the right book, feeling like I wouldn't be a good student, etc. Everything sorts itself out in the first two weeks. What you are feeling is completely normal, and it is exactly what ALL of my cohorts felt when we started. A little anxiousness never hurt anybody, and it is good to keep you on your toes. But try” not stressing over it! Very little you do in the first two weeks will get you kicked out And congrats on making being accepted!

Couldn't agree more. I'm currently doing a Focused Assessment right now :) Thanks for taking the time to share your insight.

I completely agree with PHS and others on here! Take your practice exams and then use your focused reviews to gather additional details You got this! Keep up the great work!

Zombiologist Do you know how extensively the ATI tests were weighed within the courses? (ours is going to be 15% for each class... that's quite a lot when you consider that the program is only supposed to be supplemental...) Also, do you know if it strongly influenced a positive correlation to their NCLEX pass rate?

Thanks for your insight! I understand exactly what you are saying. Big stakes testing has been the trend for a while now, and its use is only increasing. But plenty of nurses have passed the NCLEX prior to the use of standardized testing. Additionally, I'm not opposed to standardized testing, just questioning the broad use of it in relation to our curriculum. You are right about not being forced into this school. But what do you do when policies change a year into a 1.5 year program? If they wished to force the use of ATI on the students, that should have been knowledge made available to us before we spent any money applying for the school (as our admissions information now fully discloses) And you are absolutely right about leaving... Sure I could quit after spending a year in this program. But as an active member of Student Government, Student Council, and multiple committees, I believe I have a duty to resolve these questions to make our school better. Also... would you seriously just leave your school after paying all this money? Our school losing our accreditation (as I understand it) has no affect on me graduating, nor being able to sit for my NCLEX. That only affects future students. And thanks for clarifying the ATI/NCLEX relationship. I was told by our faculty that the reason we chose ATI was because they write the NCLEX. I suppose I never bothered to verify that. Thanks for your comment!

I completely understand and see where they are coming from. If it were my job, I would also do anything possible to fix the problem. I can fully empathize with their position. I was more curious about how other schools have addressed these problems, and if so, are there other methods at our disposal that perhaps haven't been thought of? Thanks for your thoughts :)

If you are reading this, then the tutorial for ‘new members' was right when it suggested to pick a vague and catchy title! Situation: This topic is really about the incorporation of standardized testing within a school's curriculum. (there have been other threads about this topic, but most of them are old, or closed) Background: I am a BSN student who's current school is changing their curriculum to incorporate ATI as a part of our grade (15%). Eventually, this will include an exit exam that must be passed prior to graduating from the program and taking the NCLEX. We were admitted to the school without consenting to pay for these additional programs (ATI), and it was a big shock when we were informed about this during orientation (and not during admission). My school has since corrected this oversight, and all newly admitted students must agree to purchase ATI, and they must agree to purchase the mandatory ATI Live Review (the total negotiated costs for these programs is about $1000 and broken up in two separate payments). Assessment: Our school is implementing these changes (largely because of ATI lobbyist”) due to the severe drop in NCLEX pass scores over the past 5 years. We are currently on probation with the BON, and we are about to lose our accreditation! I am not opposed to ATI (or similar programs), but I take strong issue with the lack of faculty experience. It is my opinion that the teachers of this school are HIGHLY unprepared to educate students and prepare them for the NCLEX (many of them being first time teachers). Therefore, I have a problem with implementing standardized testing into the curriculum, WITHOUT addressing the poorly prepared teachers and their poor teaching abilities. Recommendation: I personally think we should adhere to the BON's recommendation of: Not using these programs as High stakes testing” where passing is needed for graduation or program progression Not patterning curriculum changes based solely off testing criteria Additional Info: I am not afraid of passing ATI, nor do I believe that it will negatively affect my GPA. (I am an A-B student, who has maintained a level 2 on almost all my ATI exams ... darn Pharm ATI!!) I personally LOVE using ATI, but I feel conflicted about how our school is trying to cover an arterial bleed with a bandaid. Obviously using ATI to increase our board scores is an interim fix”, but it doesn't address the poor education we are receiving! Questions: Should mandatory testing be such a large part of a curriculum? Is there a conflict of interest between a company (ATI), who writes the NCLEX, also lobbying our school (and preventing the free choice of using other programs) and making each student pay almost $1000 to use their program? What can be done to address this disturbing trend in education? Are we the only school with these concerns? I'm in Florida, what other states have these problems? What has been done to address them? Thanks for your time!