Retaking the Teas not feeling Motivated at all... Someone Help Me!

[NurseRee-Ree]

I am planning on retaking the Teas Exam again and I am not motivated at all. I feel like I will fail this test again and I need to pass the deadline for my school is April 1. For those who took it a second time and even the first what did you use to study. I've read a lot of threads that say they read the ATI book cover to cover. I am going to try to read the book cover to cover, my other problem is I am not working and I can not take the online practice test will that hurt me from passing the actual test? Please someone help me I need to get an 85% to pass. For the Science & Math what books/videos did you guys use. I am in desperate need of help I feel like giving up all together but I don't want to be a failure to my family and those who look up to me...

PLEASE HELP!!!

[Future#nurse]

Thanks NurseRee-Ree: Did u have to take the remedial exam to take the ATI test?

[SeattleJess]

Hi, everyone. I didn't find this post until now; I hope none of you need to read it because you all flew through your TEAS and have been accepted to nursing school. But for anyone who is coming along later with the same question....

I recommend getting the ATI Study Guide and the online practice tests, expensive as this is, because they are most like the questions you will find on the actual test. You can save on other study aides, but I wouldn't skimp on this one. I needed to train for the test. You get four practice tests - I took the first practice test cold and got a 78%. My actual TEAS score, after stud and practice, was 98%. (And this was with several stupid errors due entirely to test anxiety.)

Some of my errors were due to being rusty (long time out of school) but most, especially in the Reading sections, were due to unfamiliarity with the test. I have always tested high in reading comprehension and writing but struggled with the TEAS. This is because, IMO, much of it relies on subjective judgments. You need to know how the questioners think to get these questions. For example, study guide gives an example story that describes the emotions of a boy walking through a graveyard at night in great detail. Each paragraph describes a different emotion. Is the purpose of the piece "to entertain" or "to describe feelings"? The Study Guide says it could be either but only one is the correct choice.

Learn to diagram sentences. It's more effective than memorizing bunch of rules and there are many good online source for this. Learn how to spell the list of commonly misspelled words given in the study guide. (Pure memorization; test to find the one's you don't know an memorize a few each day.) The best one I found (for me) is

English Grammar Revolution: Grammar Made Easy

(It's about finding materials that make it fun, or at least less painful, to learn.)

For math, I used the online instruction at Khan Academy. It's free, it breaks the material down into doable sections, has great video explanations and you get unlimited practice. Plus, it's fun. You get silly little badges and a Dashboard to track your progress. Again, fun.

Khan Academy

Here's a TED Talk by Saul Khan that explains his learning approach:

Salman Khan: Let's use video to reinvent education | Talk Video | TED.com

LEARN HOW TO SOLVE ABSOLUTE VALUE EQUATIONS! There will be at least one.

Make your own study outline. The ATI Study Guide practice tests give the form and the reasoning of the questions but are easer than the actual test questions.

Review statistics and experimental design thoroughly. There were quite a few questions on this subject.

Test, find your weak spots, set up a study schedule for a little bit each day, every day. Try to get a one-page outline of each subject with only key words.

Stop studying two days before the test. Eat well, exercise and get enough sleep.

Practice, practice, practice makes (close enough to) perfect! You can do it.