To anyone who needs help with TEAS V

Published Nov 30, 2013

45 Posts

Hey everyone,

I took the TEAS V this week and got a solid score! Prior to registering and taking this exam I looked at this forum to see what others have said as well as their input. Now that I've taken it I'd like to give back by sharing my experience. I know there are better threads that outline the TEAS V review but it can't hurt to share right?

1) Buy the ATI book and the 2 practice assessments A & B from the online website. The ATI book will help familiarize you with the content you are expected to know on the exam. There are two comprehensive exams at the end of the book with corresponding answer explanations. However, these two exams are significantly easier than the online practice assessments and the real exam. Nevertheless, it will help drill in some content and get a feel for pacing yourself. The online practice assessments are your friends. They are most representative of the real exam, and provide feedback on the topics you need to review! Others have said the McGrill book with the 5 TEAS V exams is good as well but in my honest opinion the ATI online practice assessments are more difficult and better indicators of your performance on test day. You may purchase the mcgraw hill book or another source if you want more practice questions to help solidify content.

2) The ATI manual doesn't go too in depth with the science section. It will outline topics you need to know and cover them on the surface. I found I needed to go over some scientific reasoning problems and just review chemistry a little bit. I took higher level science courses and the TEAS V usually asks more fundamental questions; questions you typically see in high school bio and chem classes. You just need to familiarize yourself with the basic content again. If you are weak in this section I highly recommend supplementing your review with other sources. There are other threads on this site linking other resources such as khanacademy. You can also study from an a.p science book (bio or chem) if you feel you are weak in certain areas. On my exam I found myself spending a little more time on the scientific reasoning section. Usually these questions didn't give me a problem on the practice exams but they were slightly harder on my exam. Be able to deduce the proper way an experiment should be carried out and if an answer choice helps to improve an experiment or further support the hypothesis being tested.

3) Math section just takes practice. You don't have a calculator so get comfortable answering long algebra problems quickly but efficiently. Try to answer shorter problems in a minute or less. 2 minutes is too long and that should be reserved for longer problems. If you're confident enough you can even work backwards on some long division or manipulating fractions (after you have added/subtracted them). When you have answered a lot of practice problems you can start predicting what the answer may be. For long division you could even look at the answer choices and use a number from the answer choice to figure out the quotient very quickly. Sometimes there are big numbers to divide by and you don't want to sit at the exam and think "hmm okay how many times does this number go into this number..okay multiplying this number by 2 doesn't work, now lets try 3, or maybe multiply by 7". It sounds like trial-and-error but I only recommend this for those who are very strong in the math section. If not, stick to regular process of answering problems.

4) The reading passages on the real exam are longer than the practice questions. I know people who have ran out of time on this section because they spend too much time reading slowly, looking at the question and looking back at the passage to re-read it and search for the correct answer. Don't do this. If you focus you should be able to read the passage carefully once, and only skim it again quickly if need be to answer questions. Everyone has a different approach but this is what helped me the most. If an answer choice was something never mentioned in a passage or is not in line with the author's thinking then it is most likely the wrong answer. Be able to mentally switch gears from paragraph to paragraph. One part may discuss a problem, another may discuss a solution. Be able to critically think quickly and connect ideas in your head as you read through a passage. Think of the passage holistically as well. If you read for the sake of reading you will find yourself constantly re-reading the passage slowly. What I found more time consuming were the "better-buy" questions. If you are confident you could do the calculations in your head you can go for it but I suggest doing the calculations on the scrap paper you are given.

5) Informational Source comprehension on the real exam was very straightforward, there were no surprises. If you're given a label, map, letter, email, chart, just look at it carefully and pay attention to what the question is asking. Most mistakes occur because you rushed the question.

6) The english section I didn't study as much. I only used the ATI manual to familiarize myself with it and scored well on it. You can use purdueowl or another source to help supplement your english review.

7) Make a schedule for yourself while studying. Everyone juggles different roles such as school/work/relationships..etc. Even if you study for an hour a day be sure it is quality study time.

8) When taking practice exams be sure to time yourself, and take it in a place with no distractions. Treat it like the real-exam. The real exam has an additional 20 questions, most of which are experimental. As a result the real exam is longer, and each section is longer. I almost ran out of time on the math because I got stuck on these two questions. Don't panic, there will be questions that require more thinking than others, and also ones you may not know. Skip a question if you feel that you are taking too long. You can always come back to it later. For the other sections I had a good amount of time to review all of the answered questions. My proctor let me take a break between math and science sections just to use the bathroom.

9)When beginning your review a couple weeks before the exam, take a practice exam to see what areas you need to work on. Review those topics and be sure to review ones you are strong in as well. Then take the next practice exam. Nearing your test day, be sure to re-take these exams, as they will help establish your pace and help you think how the test-makers want you think.

Most of all, focus and be confident. Get a good amount of sleep before the exam (7-8hrs), don't cram anything the night before as it will just pressure you. Eat a solid breakfast on exam day. When answering questions, have good posture, don't slouch back, it promotes lax thinking. If you put the work in you will be fine. A lot of schools let you re-take for a 2nd or 3rd time but aim for doing well the 1st time. It should motivate you enough to study and take the exam seriously.