I took the TEAS! Study Tips

Hey everyone! I took the TEAS 3 days ago. I scored a 78 (advanced) which for some may not be great, but the programs I am applying for require proficient or higher so I am psyched!

I remember searching frantically through this website just to get some more information on what to study/expect... So, I am feeling generous and I hope whoever chooses to read this will feel that their questions are answered. Here it goes and I hope this helps!

Reading (first section):

I thought this section was pretty hard honestly. Similar set up to the practice exams on the ATI website, however, the answers are less obvious. I remember constantly feeling tripped up between 2 answers. This section requires the most focus, and honestly kind of sets you in the right mindset for the rest of the exam because after it you will feel like you are micro-focused on everything. Anyways...I would recommend reading the question first, then reading the passage. Also - read the passage from beginning to end! I noticed a lot of questions asked about the tone of the passage (informative, entertaining, etc.), what type of writing it is (expository, narrative, autobiography, etc.) so be sure to familiarize yourself with that. The best way to do that is to take the 2 practice exams on the ATI website. Questions on the test are phrased exactly the same... the test also looks exactly the same so you won't feel freaked out. It was a great feeling sitting down at the computer on test day and being like whoa this is exactly the same format as the online tests!! For example, I don't think i would have realized that I can "flag" questions if I hadn't bought the ATI practice tests. That component is really helpful!

Math:

SOOO easy I thought...and I am not good at math! A lot of proportions, order of operations, solving for X/Y, converting. I noticed that half or maybe more of the questions could be solved by doing a proportion... I got a 90 on this section and i specifically remember thinking to myself wow this is so easy... and math is my worst subject!!

Science:

Obviously very A&P heavy, questions were more specific... Focus a lot on hormones, neurotransmitters, etc of each body system. The non-A&P stuff i didnt think was hard at all.

English:

THIS SECTION IS NEVER AS EASY AS YOU THINK!! And it wasn't for me! Focus on subject-verb agreement, word meaning (e.g. "sub" means under... so "submarine" means "underwater") What a simple vs. complex sentence is, being able to re-order a sentence so it is grammatically correct. Stuff you might think you know... but you don't ?

If you really want to up your score, it really wouldn't hurt to spend a lot of time on English. Say you're not great at math and it's been a while since you touched upon the science portion... Boost your English score! I ended up scoring the 2nd lowest and this section and was super bummed. Again... it's not as easy as you think!!!

Otherwise, here are some tips:

- Buy the ATI study manual. The TEAS is literally created by ATI so it makes the most sense to study with their manual!

- Buy the practice A and B exams on ATI. I cannot emphasize this enough... I got the Kaplan book on amazon, took their version of the online test and got a 62...and was like oh god... then studied for about a month, bought practice A and scored a 75, then practice B and scored a 77. I should have bought the package and saved myself some $ but I didn't realize I would have enough time to take both. I can honestly say taking those 2 exams boosted my score.

- After you take practice A/B and submit to review your score, you can't go back and review each question!!!! So I would take notes as you go or just be sure to review the answer explanation for the questions you got wrong. I did that for practice B because I didn't realize after taking practice A that there was no way for me to go back and review the questions/answers. *eye roll*

Not everyone takes the same exam obviously... I may have just been dealt a more difficult version. Regardless, my score increased a lot from the first time I even took a practice exam (Kaplan), to taking the first practice test A (75) to practice B (77) to the actual exam (78). I even thought the actual exam was a lot harder and I still got a better score, and it meant the difference between proficient and advanced (77 is proficient, 78 is advanced)!!!!

I hope this helps, and GOOD LUCK to those who have the TEAS coming up! You got this!!