Time Management on the test

[augurey]

Does anyone have suggestions on time management for the test?

The other night I took test A from the atitesting website. There were 150 questions which I completed in 1 hour 50 minutes. I did well enough (for the school's acceptance score, but not so much for what I'd want for myself) in 2 of the sections, very poorly in the other 2. I know I made a lot stupid mistakes because I was too anxious about the time.

So I know I need to slow down, but obviously not slow down to the point where I run out of time. I scored best in the reading section, but my head pretty much just spun because half my mind was on the time and the other half trying to read and had difficulty taking the information in. I worry that if I just focus on the reading, I'm going to waste too much time.

I'm also worried about the time in the math section. I am a little bit slower at math, but I've done a lot of practice problems since and have already improved my time. Plus the fact that I've got the formulas down better.

Is there a good method for time management while taking the test?

[akulahawkRN, ADN, RN, EMT-P]

First, slow down. Read the question, breathe slowly, answer the question in your mind and then read the answers. Then re-read the question. If the answer you came up with doesn't appear in the list or the answers don't seem connected with the question somehow, then you misread the question. On the actual TEAS exam, they figure about 75 seconds per question. Most of the time, that's a LOT of time, even for math questions. This exam isn't adaptive, so you'll get a standardized exam. You'll also find that the ATI practice exams are pretty close to what the actual exam will be like. They will not likely be identical to what you'll get though.

Since this exam will go the full length (unless you run out of time), you can give yourself some more time per hard question if you answer the "easier" questions as soon as you know the answer. Sometimes I'd get about 1/2 way into working out the answer and the actual answer becomes apparent even though I'd not finished the problem.

The TEAS V is one of those exams where you can easily use some common test taking strategies to help you eliminate answers and point you to the correct one, so don't forget to learn some of those. This exam is doable.

[augurey]

I tried this when I retook practice form A, and I did notice a huge difference. My scores significantly increased. Although, that may have been just because I took it the first time a few days prior.

I took practice form B this evening and did pretty horribly. I did find that some answers came to me very easily while some took a little longer to get to. My science score was 1.2% below where I need it to be, and the rest were above. I think a big part of my problem this evening was allowing myself to get too frustrated too easily meanwhile getting distracted with hearing my daughter crying upstairs.

I actually took longer on the practice test this evening.

I really need to try and focus on your points tomorrow. I already feel flustered and, well, certain to fail, which I guess I really shouldn't be going into this like that.