Retaking the TEAS

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To All you Nurse Awesomes out there.

I just felt inclined to create a thread on the topic of retaking the TEAS. Coming from someone who has struggled to not only pass the TEAS, but also getting the score that I want. I wanted to shed some light in this area from my experience and give some of you hope. Warning this is for people who are really serious about becoming NURSE AWESOME.

First: If you have to retake the TEAS for whatever reason, then who cares. Use that fuel to keep you focused on what you want. There's no limit as to how many times you can take it. Use this to your full advantage, of course don't get complacent and say whatever I have next time. Try to make the next time your 'this is it test'.

Second:DON'T COMPARE YOURSELF TO YOUR PEERS, ESPECIALLY THE ONES DOING BETTER THAN YOU. THERE WILL ALWAYS BE SOMEONE ELSE DOING IT BETTER THAN YOU AND SOMEONE ELSE DOING IT BETTER THAN THEM. It's an endless cycle, therefore, don't pay no mind to that. They don't live your life. DO YOU.

Third: Put your game face on study that ATI manual cover to cover. I mean READ every single page front and back and back and forth not once, twice, but five times if need be.

Forth: Get organized.

-Make an outline off of the headings on every section of the manual and bullet point the headings. This will help guide you to know what you do and don't know. Check it off when you feel confident in that area of study.

-I suggest tackling the science first since it's the most weighted section on the exam. The TEAS manual is really all you need. If you still don't feel confident than go to youtube and make yourself a playlist of all the videos for science. Play your playlist every week. Oh and make flash cards too. Know details like, what happens in meiosis 1.

-If your not good in math especially without a calculator and small amount of time. Then all I can say is do your best and practice problems as much as you can. This is a resource that helped me in the math, I got it from Amazon. It has a bunch of practice that is otherwise hard to find in the internet for the specific Math questions asked on the TEAS. It's called, "Davis's Basic Math Review for Nurses" by Vicki Raines. EXCELLENT EXCELLENT.

-Tackle the Reading and English Usage by making flash cards go on quizlet and search for these sections and make the flash cards based on that. Go over the flash cards every night. You might wind up with 300+ cards so make time for it in the evening.

-Practice questions will cement what your trying to learn by getting them wrong and retaking it again. I suggest an app called TEAS pocket prep, not the McGraw Hill app because I think the questions are easy and easy doesn't help you prepare. Plus the McGraw Hill app has the same questions as the 5 Practice TEAS test book by McGraw Hill.

-One last thing I can't stress enough is BUY the online praise exams from ATItesting.com. They are harder questions. The harder the better prepared your are for the actual TEAS exam. I didn't now this at first and made the mistake of buying my book from amazon, not knowing that you can pay $100 and get the book plus 2 practice exams, that can take twice each. It's a great deal. They also sell the practice exams separately or together without the book.

I know there are people that go on here looking for encouragement and don't find it because some put them down for not passing the exam the 2nd, 3rd,4,5,6,7th time. Don't be discouraged sometimes we go through trials for different reasons. And maybe it's to prove YOUR ARE NOT A QUITTER. Maybe some of them that have passed on their first try wouldn't have the guts to keep trying, because maybe there hearts are not truly in it and got lucky on the first time. I hope that by putting myself out there, it can give some of you a voice that otherwise wouldn't have one. Please feel free to comment and share your experiences with your peers. Encourage one another. #BeNurseAwesome.

P.S. Have you realized when someone gets attention for their career and their work is because of the fact that they struggled and had obstacles and failures along the way to get to where they are and still make it. Those are the kinds of people that stand out in society. But again that's not to say that the people that didn't have struggles and failures doesn't mean that they won't make it either. That's not my point. The point is you are against all odds and still made it. TO BE THE ULTIMATE NURSE AWESOME YOU CAN BE.

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"There's no limit as to how many times you can take it."

Please be careful when making such broad generalizations. Schools differ in their requirements and just because your school allows retakes does not mean somebody elses will. Case-in-point... the school to which I am applying to specifically says in BOLD, CAPITAL, LETTERS:

RETAKES OF THE ASSESSMENT ARE NOT PERMITTED.

Regards,

Chris

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Thanks @Loyalweim for your disclaimer. Yes, you are right depending on your school you can retake the test.

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When you retake the exam, do the official scores they give you to download include all attempts?

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Great post :)

Be careful when purchasing the Very Recommended ATI online tests. The two tests do not change questions, even when purchasing them again. I would recommend 1 test version for Each ATI attempt.

Don't just read the reading section. Write down all Terms and draw a box around it, then write an explanation in your Own words, underlining the important information.

I went from a 69% to a 100% doing this.

Look for shortcuts on ALL math items in the ATI book. Was the mathematics author aware this is a timed test? (:

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Great post :)

Look for shortcuts on ALL math items in the ATI book. Was the mathematics author aware this is a timed test? (:

Great advice here guys... I have posted here before that there are many shortcuts that can be applied for the math section. If you struggle with completing the math in the time permitted then you are missing some key math concepts.

Regards,

LW

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Yes it does. So, you and people that see your results can see how many times you have taken it.

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When you retake the exam, do the official scores they give you to download include all attempts?

I believe you get individual reports for each exam, but each report shows the # of attempts on it. I just looked at my report from last year and it says Attempt # of #. So Attempt 1 of 1 or 4 of 6, etc. But the results are just for that specific exam attempt.

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Thank you so much "2bNurseawesome"...I really needed to hear/read your post. Off to retake the Teas V and already resked it. I cannot thank you enough.

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