Teas V Tips - you need them I have them - 97th percentile!

[mgrenwic]

Hello,

I just took my Teas on August 16th.

I scored 97th percentile overall.

99th percentile in grammar and science.

I wanted to take the time to do a write up to help those looking to form a clear cut course of action to take in approaching the test. I will include a list of resources I used, websites, etc.

Materials used:

Overall:

TEAS V ATI Manual

- it is imperative you get this

- use this as a "skeleton" outline of all the topics you will have to know IT IS HORRIBLE representation of what you will need to know - mainly on the science.

McGraw Hill 5 Tests (2nd Edition)

- this is a good resource although it is not done is the exact style of the test

but it will provided the needed practice

Math specific:

MY GOD - I can not stress this point enough - the above link is a step by step presentation of the math portion of the ATI manual....step by step, page by page. THIS WAS ONE OF THE BEST RESOURCES I HAVE EVER USED TO PREP! Don't even bother going through the books way of approaching the math, his is much better. The more your watch his vids the funnier they get too. I enjoyed them and I scored far above average in the math portion. Also, he provides the needed speed tips/tricks you will need to complete the section in time.

PRICELESS.

Grammar Specific:

http://lessons.englishgrammar101.com/EnglishGrammar101/Module1/Lesson1-5.aspx

Excellent recap resource - on the left is the modules. Very good because it is interactive.

https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/599/01/

This was fantastic for me - really important because I had MANY questions about this topic on my actual TEAS

I also hired a tutor to go over practice tests with me. This proved to be invaluable as the book was HORRIBLE in explaining all topics covered. I used "wyzant" a tutor website to find her. She was an undergraduate and was $30 / hr. It was great b/c going over the test exposed her to all the material so she was able to really narrow down what we needed to cover.

One tip here:

In the back of the grammar section there is a list of the most commonly misspelled words - I recorded myself on my iPhone saying the word and then pausing about 10-15 secs. I would then play this back to myself and try to spell the words. THIS IS VERY IMPORTANT, I had at least 4 questions that covered this. I organized this by letter.

Reading:

This section I found to be difficult on the actual test, at least more difficult than was presented in the practice. I almost ran out of time on this section. There were quite a few LONG reads on my actual test. This is something you have to practice but if you find yourself just guessing the answer than that is an issue. I found myself just guessing a lot of the time and that was not good enough for me so.....I systematically broke things down.

Understand these:

Main point

- what is the overall purpose for a person to write the work?

- think of the main point as being described NOT in one word - but several

What do I mean by this?

John trains for a triathlon - the main point will 99% of the time be thought of in a sentence

Triathlon - this would be the way the Topic is presented

Topic

- think "single" words here like Baseball, Sports, Running etc....that is how you will pinpoint the topic - most of the time is can be uttered in a single word.

Theme

- think of your significant other being mad at you but you don't know why...what keeps happening is comments on what you are doing wrong, keeps coming up but is being presented to you in a variety of ways, nothing to specific - all with an underlining sentiment they are angry with you.

Supporting Detail

- this is just obvious

Once you are able to identify the above and have a good grasp of them, you will begin seeing a pattern in how they are presented in the text. Topic sentence, summary sentence...this can be dead give on the Topic/Main point.

What you have to do here is dissect the texts - look at where you are finding each of the above in the text - learn how to recognize this.

MOST IMPORTANT - the actual test was HEAVY on "drawing conclusions" - completely ****** me off, I must have had 4-5 of them. You can narrow it down to two usually but then it gets dicy. You need to have a good grasp of this concept.

Inference vs Conclusion (very important)

Inference - reading b/w the lines - NEVER stated in the text but is implied or possibly understood.

Conclusion - taking an idea to the next step - using what is in the text itself and pulling out what will occur next - WORDING IS VERY IMPORTANT HERE - answers will exclude themselves if you read carefully enough - watch out for them restating something from the text but it is slightly different then what was written.

The rest of the reading portion is just paying attention to the question - they like to present info that is long and you need to scroll down to find it - case in point was a question about West Hospital Outpatient - the text they give you has East Hospital at the top and buried way down was West - READ THE QUESTION - ATTENTION TO DETAIL

I was surprised how difficult this portion was so do not take it with ease. They actually had me doing math in this section as well - not easy - tons of info presented and you had to figure the best deal with multiple scenarios.

Science: Oh sweet science

-this section ended up being much easier than the ONLINE practice tests - more on that latter.

The ATI manual is pathetic when it comes to the science. Remember, the manual is a bare bones skeleton that you must add to. You need to understand ALL of the vocab in this section. If you are presented with a question with 4 answers, even if you know it, go and find out what each of the other answers are. That is very important.

Use KHAN ACADEMY or CRASH COURSE - or both. I like the CrashCourse guy because he is an ass and he makes me laugh.

Study the topic in the manual - make notes - then watch the videos on the topic and expand.

You need to UNDERSTAND the concepts, in and out. The problem is if you did poorly in your prerequisites then you are playing catch up - but it CAN be done.

Strategy:

READ IT:

I know this is played out but your MUST READ THE QUESTION!!!!

I can not stress this enough - I made several mistakes during practice tests b/c I would skim the question to save time and would miss a key detail.....this affected me in all areas of the test - read the damn question thoroughly

TIME IT:

Time yourself on each test - I used my iPhone

It got to the point where I couldn't even take the test without setting the timer.

THIS IS VERY IMPORTANT - it will develop in you a natural sense of your place in the test.

NARROW IT:

This might sound stupid but it really helped me, especially on the real test. On the real test the questions are presented to you without the A/B/C/D designation. I would right on my paper:

A

B

C

D

and I would cross thru the ones I knew were incorrect - this really helped me cut out the crap and get the question down to two answers. I did this for each question regardless of if I used it or not, some were so obvious but at least is was ready for me for the next question.

Once you have things narrowed down you can then ask yourself "why is this answer wrong"

Don't ask yourself "why is this right" it is easier to identify why something is wrong vs why it is right - the test likes to make you pick the BEST answer not necessarily the most CORRECT

PRACTICE IT:

I really put a lot of effort into this test. Looking back there are something I would do different. Don't spend to much time repeatedly studying the ATI manual. This is a waste b/c you learn more taking the practice tests then you do from reading the manual....YOU MUST SYSTEMATICALLY break down each test into topics etc and learn and expand on them!

I started with the McGraw Hills 1st. Don't get upset when you score low. Take that feeling and turn it into energy to learn where you went wrong. Mark these questions but do yourself a favor DO NOT WRITE ON THE TEST B/C IT SUCKS WHEN YOU GO BACK TO TAKE THEM

Write your notes and answers in a spiral and label what test it is etc....use these to then go back and review. As you proceed there will be a reoccurring themes/areas that you are messing up on. HONE IN ON THESE AND LEARN THEM - STOP STUDYING THE THINGS YOU KNOW.

ATI Manual vs ATI Online Practice

All I can say is - NONE - of the practice tests you take will be like the actual test. The one that is closet is the ONLINE ones from ATI

WORD OF WARNING

I had crushed every practice test up to the point I took the online test - it really took the wind out of my sails especially since I had only 1 week left. These online test were MUCH HARDER than the ACUTAL TEST.

My strategy (which paid off) was when I took the online tests I did screenshots and organized each question into 4 folders (sci/math etc) I then reviewed the topic of the question but I also took the time to find out information on the other 3 answers.

THIS MADE A HUGE DIFFERENCE and can help tie a bunch of topics together.

You can contact me at [email protected] for anything if you want to.

[ShirleyRex]

This is amazing. Thank you! I need to re-take the TEAS and needed a new study strategy. I scored 86% overall and really needed to do something different to get into the mid-to high 90s. Some of the things I was doing wrong are in your post above, so I just want to

second what you mentioned: don't keep studying what you know, don't just rely on the ATI manual, and DO buy the ATI online practice tests!

[sweet101]

Thank you for taking the time to write your post. I am retaking the teas in september and am so nervous!! Great job on your amazing score!

[SeattleJess]

Excellent! I especially liked your description of the reading comprehension test. I found that part of the TEAS V to be somewhat arbitrary and stupid - and therefore, the hardest. (Why not test the functionality of someone's reading rather than their ability to apply your characterizations? Oh, well....) Your description and rules would have helped me on this, my lowest scoring area; I'm sure they'll help others.

Congratulations and good luck to everyone getting ready to test.