TEAS Science & Math Tips

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I just wanted to pass on my experience with the TEAS test. I took the test 3 weeks ago after having just 2 ½ weeks to study for it and having not been in school for 20 years. I read a lot so I felt I would be okay with the English & Reading but when I looked at the Math section of the ATI TEAS Study Guide I flipped out. It was so difficult - not only was I terrible at Math in High School but there were things I had never even seen. I was certain I was going to fail the Math portion of the test. I used the Study Guide, and took the TEAS sample tests from the Test Prep Review website and the biggest help of all came from the website, Math.com. IT HELPED ME SO MUCH, especially with fractions and percentages. You should also know how to convert Celsius to Fahrenheit and vice versa. I am convinced that it was because of this site that I passed the Math. I couldn't believe it. However, I failed the Science part and I had to come back the following week to retake it because that was the last testing session for 2009. To study for the Science part, I used the ATI Study Guide, the McGraw Hill Nursing School Entrance Exam book (got it from the library- it was very helpful) and the Internet (Wikipedia and children's physics and chemistry websites) because I needed concepts broken down REALLY SIMPLY. The Science part of the TEAS was very hard for me but I passed it by studying REALLY HARD and just reading everything about Life Science, Human Body Science, Chemical & Physical Science and General Science(all the Topics in the ATI Study Guide). I also took out Kaplan's and Barron's Nursing School Test books from the library, plus a GED book but I found McGraw Hill's to be the most helpful. Some of the things you need to know about are independent variables, rock formation, tectonic plates, the nervous system (parasympathetic etc.), eukaryotes, the periodic table, velocity and hydrogen bonding. Bottom line, I passed the Science this last Monday and cried because I couldn't believe it. I will start Nursing School on January 4, 2010. These last 3 weeks have been excruciating, - the Math & Science sections of the TEAS test were not easy (for me anyway) but if you study, you can pass it. I found this website (Allnurses.com) to be very comforting and very helpful regarding tips. Read all the posts relating to the TEAS, as many as you can - it helped me a lot. I just want to say thank you to this site for all the helpful information and for giving me more confidence. It was inspiring to read about all the people who passed in spite of the test being difficult. I am one of them. It can be done - good luck to all!

Yeah, Congratulations! Your hard work has paid off. I really appreciate your words of wisdom pertaining to ATI and the TEAS exam. I am considering attending ATI and wondered if you knew when the next round of testing will be done and when they will be accepting students for the next class? Not that you would know exact dates, but some kind of time frame so I can prepare for it. Thanks and good luck on your new endeavor!

Hi JBaker:

Thank you for your kind words - I am definitely psyched! Unfortunately, I can't answer your question regarding ATI. I believe ATI is the maker of the TEAS test and they sell a Study Guide that goes with the test. I didn't know they have a school as I will be attending nursing school in Florida. However, this is their website and it seems as if they do scheduling for the test - http://www.atitesting.com/. Good luck!

I'm an idiot. There is a school with the same initials ATI and it wasn't until hours later (after I sent the e-mail to you) that I realized the ATI you were talking about was the company that designed the exam. Thanks for responding so promptly though and forgive me for taking up your time.

I didn't know there was a school either - no apology necessary. Good luck JBaker!

I just wanted to clarify my error. There is a school in our area that uses similar acronyms in their name so I thought you were saying you got accepted into this school. ATI (the people that make the Teas exam) don't have a school. I just wanted to clear this up in case I wasn't clear in my last post.

Hi kveban,

I urgently need your advice. I am planning to take the TEA test in less than a month and I have been just going all over the TEA book studying. I feel weak on my Math and English. I feel like I will be rushed on the time! I dunno how to prepare, please explain for me how to plan ...I am totally wasting time and feel so worried. I am just studying all over the place. My school only allows the test to be taken ONLY once:(

See the manual book is not prepared like the real test. The manual book has questions all over the place and there is no way for me to time it like the real test. For example, the actual science test might have 50 questions but the manual has 40 question for anatomy,40 questions for Chemistry...and such. It is not like the real test. I dont see any way to practice my timing.

For that reason, Yesterday i just bought the online practice test. But i realized I can only take it twice once it is started. Then how can i go back and re-do the questions for more practice? This is a total waste of my money! why didnt they allow us to use it again and again at least? Please give me advices on how i can practice my timing for math. I am very slow when doing test questions. ALso my english is another weakness, I always get wrong doing the English grammar part.

How can I prepare if i have 25 days from now...how many hours approximately shall i study daily?

Please help

Thanks, David

hi david:

i totally know how you are feeling. there is a website called www.testprepreview.com. you can take teas practice tests for the english, science and math on that site. you will be able to tell which areas you need to focus on by the ones you keep getting wrong. i was always poor in math and literally had to learn 4 years of high school math in 2 weeks. the site www.math.com helped me so much! go to homework help and it will teach you about fractions, percentages, decimals, etc. practically every topic you need to know. it also gives tests after each lesson and the tests are quick and fun. i was actually starting to enjoy it. also, you will have to know the difference between average, median & mean and how to figure it out. also how to find the area of something and you should also know how to convert celsius to fahrenheit and vice versa. a friend of mine tutored me for a few minutes on those things. i used the internet to study and kept looking up everything i didn't understand. as far as the english, i honestly didn't study much since i'm pretty strong in that. i did the sample tests from the ati study guide and did so well that i decided not to focus on that. i also used the mcgraw hill nursing exam book (got it from the library) which helped me with the science so maybe it would be helpful for the english & math. i learned about it from reading other posts, which brings me to my final suggestion - on this website, do a search on "teas" and read as many other posts as you can, even old ones. a lot of people have taken the test and have listed many, many tips on what to focus on, some very specific. as far, as the timing on the test, this is the breakdown:

  • reading 50 minutes 40 questions
  • mathematics 56 minutes 45 questions
  • science 38 minutes 30 questions
  • english 65 minutes 55 questions

total testing time is 3 hours and 29 minutes

like i said, i hadn't been to school in 20 years. i studied at least 4 hours a day, every day, sometimes more. i failed the first time but passed it the second. i'm sorry you only get one try but just buckle down and discipline yourself and study as much as you can and take many practice tests. see if you can get the mcgraw hill book from the library to help you with the math & english. i told myself i would study as hard as i could so that if i failed i wouldn't beat myself up because i would know if my heart i tried my best. hope this helps! good luck, david!

hi david:

i totally know how you are feeling. there is a website called www.testprepreview.com. you can take teas practice tests for the english, science and math on that site. you will be able to tell which areas you need to focus on by the ones you keep getting wrong. i was always poor in math and literally had to learn 4 years of high school math in 2 weeks. the site www.math.com helped me so much! go to homework help and it will teach you about fractions, percentages, decimals, etc. practically every topic you need to know. it also gives tests after each lesson and the tests are quick and fun. i was actually starting to enjoy it. also, you will have to know the difference between average, median & mean and how to figure it out. also how to find the area of something and you should also know how to convert celsius to fahrenheit and vice versa. a friend of mine tutored me for a few minutes on those things. i used the internet to study and kept looking up everything i didn't understand. as far as the english, i honestly didn't study much since i'm pretty strong in that. i did the sample tests from the ati study guide and did so well that i decided not to focus on that. i also used the mcgraw hill nursing exam book (got it from the library) which helped me with the science so maybe it would be helpful for the english & math. i learned about it from reading other posts, which brings me to my final suggestion - on this website, do a search on "teas" and read as many other posts as you can, even old ones. a lot of people have taken the test and have listed many, many tips on what to focus on, some very specific. as far, as the timing on the test, this is the breakdown:

  • reading 50 minutes 40 questions
  • mathematics 56 minutes 45 questions
  • science 38 minutes 30 questions
  • english 65 minutes 55 questions

total testing time is 3 hours and 29 minutes

like i said, i hadn't been to school in 20 years. i studied at least 4 hours a day, every day, sometimes more. i failed the first time but passed it the second. i'm sorry you only get one try but just buckle down and discipline yourself and study as much as you can and take many practice tests. see if you can get the mcgraw hill book from the library to help you with the math & english. i told myself i would study as hard as i could so that if i failed i wouldn't beat myself up because i would know if my heart i tried my best. hope this helps! good luck, david!

thanks for great information. here more questions.

1/ do you advice i take the online ati test before i start studying? as you know, i can only take the test twice and shall i take it one time and study again and take the second time?

or study now and take test one and test two just before the test day?

2/ you said you studied 4 hours a day. how did you study? please explain? did you do the study part first on the ati manual and do the practice second?

did you take the online test first and then studied where you lacked?

3/ what was something hard for you on the test day? i am worried of being short on time on math mainly...

did you had enough time for all? did you get breaks in between of your tests? or straight 3 hrs?

how then shall i practice on taking straight 3 hrs test? shall i time myself .. since it will be tiring if i don't practice the timing now

hi davo:

i didn't buy the online ati test, just the manual, so i don't know anything about it except that other people have found it helpful. i studied at least four hours a day by reading, reading and re-reading and taking the practice tests from the ati manual, mcgraw hill's nursing exam book and the teas practice tests at www.testprepreview.com. i usually did the practice tests after each section i read and yes, i took tests and then studied where i lacked. i also used the internet to look up things i didn't understand. on test day, the math and science were very hard for me. but again, i used www.math.com to study and was able to pass the math. i don't think you should spend more than a minute or so on each question judging from the total time of the math section and the amount of questions. breathe and read each question carefully. there are no breaks in between the test, not even to go to the bathroom, to prevent cheating. but each section has a timer at the top of the screen to let you know how much time you have left. i glanced at it frequently. sometimes if you're spending too long on a question, you just have to make an educated guess and move on or you'll run out of time. start by eliminating all the wrong answers then guess on the others. i'm sorry i couldn't answer all your questions but i hope this was helpful. hope all is going well with the studying. - karen

ps: my family members first suggested that i get a tutor from the local college to help me with the math but i decided to just study on my own. it ended up working out but the tutor was not a bad idea.

pps: when you search this website for tips, type in "teas" or "teas tips" or "teas science" etc. you'll access more message boards that way and get more tips.

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