I just took the TEAS 6 this week and scored a total 86%, which personally I am disappointed, but from what I hear, I got one of the highest scores among the people I know who took it, so I am trying to be okay with it. I was trying to shoot for a 90/91 just because of the type of person I am. The program I am applying to has a 64% passing score, so I'm pretty sure I'm okay, and I have a 3.97 GPA with all prereqs being either an A or A+. What messed me up really was the English section - more about that in a minute.
Unfortunately, my grade breakdown was somehow disabled on the ATI site, so I can't get the exact number, but I'm going to try and recall as close as I can:
Reading: 85%
Math: mid-90-something
Science: 89.4%
English: 75%
The resources I used to study was mainly the official TEAS 6 book from ATI, but I did also use the Mometrix one if I wanted to read further about a section. I also used Khan Academy videos for things like genetics and general biology, in addition to just Googling things and reading up on different sites. Honestly the more you read something and expose yourself to the information, the easier it is that it actually sticks since you're reading it from different perspectives. I did also buy the practice test bundle - A&B - and do highly recommend it. It's a great resource for more practice and gives you an idea of where you stand and what you should really be focusing most of your time on. Oh, and I had the TEAS Mastery app on my phone and was always doing questions. I would even reset it and start over, repeating the questions many times. It was a wonderful resource that I also highly recommend.
Now, for the actual exam experience and some advice.
Reading
Personally, I found this section to be trickier, not necessarily harder, than the practice I had done prior to the official exam. In general, I'm pretty good when it comes to reading comprehension, but made enough mistakes apparently lol I was prepared for more "main idea and theme" questions, but honestly, that did not make up the bulk of my exam. I had some questions that more than one answer seemed possible and some of them required you to think about the text rather than be able to use the text to answer the question itself.
I didn't study more than skim through the main ATI manual for this section, so you should be perfectly fine and do better than I did if you actually take the time to familiarize yourself with the information in the book. The passages themselves were not long, but they were extremely boring - some more than others. I felt that there was enough time, but you do have to be able to pay attention to what you're reading the first time rather than rely on reading the text more than once. I had more than enough time to go back and double-check my answers, so if you feel as though there's a question/passage that you may want to spend a little time on, answer as best as you can, but move on and go back if you have time. Also, since this is the first section, your nerves can get the better of you. Try not to stress as you start the exam. I'm sure I made some mistakes just because it was the beginning and I was nervous.
Math
I found this section to be the easiest for me. I was good at math in high school, but forgot it all - it's been a few years lol -, but I was able to refresh my memory since it's really not much more than basic algebra and geometry. The calculator can be used for pretty much every single question in this section. However, be able to do some simple calculations quickly on paper or in your head only because time moves fast during this section and it takes time to key in every number.
Also be very careful as you type in your numbers since that can cause a very simple mistake and it's always possible that what you think is the answer is an option. You shouldn't run out of time unless you personally find math challenging, but practice is key. Know percentages and be able to write out proportions and solve them accurately and quickly based on the word problem given. Fractions and stuff are pretty simple because of the calculator. You can convert everything to decimals. However, know how to add, subtract, multiply and divide fractions, as well as know how to reduce fractions. Know how to put integers in order, both in decreasing and increasing order. Know your metrics, but the questions that expect you to have working knowledge of metrics are very simple.
I would say the ATI manual is all you need for the math section. Know the formulas for circles - area, circumference, etc. You will most likely have at least one related to that and you will not be given the formula. I had one on every practice test and had one on my official exam, so I can pretty much guarantee you'll have one, so commit those formulas to memory. I would also check out Khan Academy's videos on finding perimeter and area of different figures if you're not comfortable with geometry as a just in case you are asked about a shape other than a circle. For this section, I wasn't able to go through my questions twice. As I was checking my answers over, about halfway through I realized there's 3 minutes left, so definitely don't waste your time and try to move quickly, but be careful not to make silly mistakes. You can also write down on your scrap which questions you aren't 100% sure about and want to go back to to not waste time on questions you know you got right the first time.
Science
I also found this section to be relatively simple. It truly is all A&P I and II. I had 2 very basic chemistry questions on my exam and everything else was very basic anatomy and physiology. You will not be asked anything truly in-depth. I actually overstudied because I was scared that they'd ask about hormones in great detail for the endocrine system. They did ask about hormones, but it was more like what organ produces/secretes this hormone. I do not think the ATI manual really did enough for this section only because it tells you what you should know, but doesn't really go into detail. I'd even go as far as to say it tells you you should know more about stuff than you probably will not be required to know, but leaves things out for other things. For example, I was asked about what type of cell secretes a specific hormone, which the book did not tell me I should know.
Studying for this section, I mainly used the secrets book and Google as well as practice exams. This is the section you have more than enough time for. You have like an hour for this one and you really don't need it. I went back and forth over my answers probably 7 times just to ensure I didn't make a careless mistake or was really unsure about a question and still didn't run out of time. The truth about this section is you either know it or your don't. Process of elimination will only help so much because the couple questions I got stuck on really had 2 options I thought were possible because I just couldn't remember which one it was.
English
Now, this one was the worst, which I did NOT expect! I write very well. I know grammar and I know proper sentence structure. In fact, out of every practice test I took prior, I was scoring 90s. The difference? While studying, everything that I was usually faced with dealt with picking out the proper sentence or picking out punctuation. However, my actual exam had a lot of questions that would give me a sentence and then ask me what a word is functioning as: pronoun, adverb, preposition, conjunction, etc. I've honestly never been good with those and some of them were very, very tricky.
So, my suggestion is get very comfortable with being able to pick out a word in a random sentence and say what that word is. You will definitely have questions like that on the exam. The rest of them were proper sentence structure and things like that, which the ATI book I would say is enough to prepare you for. However, this is the section that kills most people, so definitely dedicate time to it unless you know for a fact that you're good with it. This is the one section you have no time to waste. With such few questions, you are given a very limited amount of time and it moves very fast, so try to be careful but move at a good pace.
It's really a hit or miss with this one IMO, but everyone I've spoken with has told me this is the section they did worst on and this is the section that dropped my grade down as well, again, unexpectedly. Some other points from this section are be able to pick out the word that is spelled correctly, so check out commonly misspelled words in the book if you're not good with spelling, and know prefixes, suffixes, and root words. That should have you covered for the english section.
Conclusion
If you have any specific questions, I'm glad to answer them ? I hope this helps some of you guys that are about to take the exam and I wish you guys luck! Number one thing is don't stress. Remember this test doesn't expect you to have the knowledge base a nurse has. It really is just testing your basic knowledge of these subjects to ensure you're capable of successfully completing the nursing program, which requires you to be able to turn a sentence into a mathematical problem that you then calculate, communicate effectively, have very basic knowledge with regard to A&P and chemistry, and be able to read material. Study and you WILL be fine ?
