Tips for HESI entrance exam

11 Posts

Hello AN community,

This is my first time posting here on all nurses. I wanted to post a helpful topic because I have a feeling I'm going to be on here constantly asking questions very soon. I just applied to an ADN program in my area. The main factor for getting in is the HESI entrance exam. You can't just pass it. You have to do really well to be competitive.

I took it at the end of October and my scores were:

Reading Comprehension: 98%

Grammar: 94%

Vocabulary and General Knowledge: 94%

Math: 96%

Biology: 92%

Chemistry: 96%

A&P: 76% :sniff:

I was so annoyed with my A&P score because it was my favorite prerequisite course and I made an A in A&P 1 and 2!

My main study tools:

1. The Elsevier HESI Admission Assessment Exam Review editions 3 and 4, I actually liked the 3rd one more because it has more practice questions.

2. McGraw-Hill's 3 Evolve Reach (HESI) A2 practice tests, this book was great because it has tons of practice questions, with explanations in the answer key.

3. HESI A2 pocket prep, fantastic app with 100 practice questions in each section.

Ok, let's break down each section:

Reading Comprehension 55 questions

I think I overstudied for this section because it was not nearly as difficult as I thought it was going to be. The Elsevier study guide and the McGraw Hill books were the most helpful. I just read the passages and answered the practice questions. The answers on these were basically common sense. I thought the app practice questions were way too hard. Time is precious so don't beat yourself up if you're using the app and not getting these right.

Grammar 55 questions

The most helpful book for me in this section was hands down the McGraw Hill book. Almost every question in this section read, "What makes this phrase incorrect?" There were also a some that read, "Which word makes this sentence grammacitally correct or incorrect?" I wasted a ton of time studying indirect objects and direct objects, pronouns, and adverbs! The practice questions in the McGraw Hill book mimicked the test questions the best, and if you get a question wrong it has explanations in the answer key.

Vocabulary and General Knowledge 55 questions

I think the app is the easiest and most convenient tool for this section. The Elsevier study guide and the app mimic each other, so I don't think you need to do both. The McGraw hill book did have some words that neither the app nor the Elsevier book had. If I could go back I would use the app and the McGraw Hill book and call it good. I honestly thought I would score higher in this section, but of course there were some crazy words I had never seen. Make sure you know the medical terms inside and out.

Math 55 questions

Again the most helpful book for this section was the McGraw Hill book because of the shear amount of practice questions, and if I did not understand how to do a question I could look in the answer key and there was an explanation. I think the app goes overboard for math. There are a ton of fraction, percent, ratio and proportion questions. I did have one or two military time questions. I had NO Roman numeral questions, so again I wasted time studying. I had maybe 3 conversion questions. I would just memorize the conversions (english to metric). I made flash cards for them and went over them until I knew them by heart. The Elsevier book is helpful but, if you get a question wrong there is no explanation in the key.

Biology 30 questions

The Elsevier study guide and the app were the most helpful here. The questions in this section were very broad, big picture questions. The McGraw Hill book's questions were way too specific and in-depth.

Chemistry 30 questions

Again the Elsevier study guide and the app were the best. The McGraw Hill book was not helpful for this section. Again, with big picture questions. I disliked Chemistry when I took it, but did well in this section. :wideyed:

A&P 30 questions

I do not know what happened to me in this section, but I obviously didn't study well! If I could go back I would study the Elsevier guide more because I used the app more often. I found the questions to be very specific and it has been about a year since I have taken A&P. So, my advice isn't relevant here.

I studied off and on all summer. Then studied very intensely all of September and October. I took the test on Halloween.

Well, I hope this helps those of you who haven't taken the HESI yet.

I submitted my application last week and should be hearing back by the end of this week. I am so nervous!

Good Luck and happy studying to all of you!

Disclaimer: I'm positive there are spelling and grammatical errors in this post. Please forgive me. :cat:

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Haise

5 Posts

Dec 19, 2017

Can you tell me how you did well on grammar?

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EdVedder

11 Posts

Dec 29, 2017

Sure, I really felt the McGraw-Hill's 3 Evolve Reach (HESI) A2 practice tests was the most helpful book. It has a ton of practice questions with explanations in the answer key. I also used the HESI A2 pocket prep app. Good luck!