UPMC and the PSB (panic!)

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**This is a duplicate of a post that I just posted in the Pre-Nursing Student forum...but wanted to post it here as well as I know the UPMC schools all use the PSB exam and I thought I might get more responses here**

Hello All,

I am taking the PSB RN test at the end of August for Mercy SON...and I'm panicking about it! I have been out of highschool for (ahem...) 21 years. I do have two bachelors degrees, however, so it's not like I'm not used to studying, etc...or that I haven't been exposed to a lot of vocabulary in my life.

I have been studying for weeks already for this test. I have the Barrons Nursing School Entrance Exam book, the McGraw Hill Nursing School entrance exam book and I purchaed the ebook from Mo-Media. All have been helpful in their own ways. I am doing ok on the practice tests...but without time limits. I'm afraid once the time limits kick in I will be a mess.

Also, I am not doing well on the analogies portion of the practice tests...(i.e...dog is to puppy as cat is to kitten, etc...). That is a really easy example..but some of them are confusing! For example..one of them was Sun:Mercury::Sun: (Earth, Venus, Jupiter, or Neptune). I chose Neptune because Mercury is the closest to the sun, and Neptune is the furthest. But no...the answer was Venus...because it was the NEXT closest one to the sun. Another example; Trout:Fish::Bull: (snake, pig, cow, sheep). I chose Cow because a bull is a type of cow...but the answer was snake, because a bull snake is a type of snake. How the heck am I supposed to know what they are looking for??? There are also a lot of those questions in the book that assume you know other things...like who wrote some obscure play or Italian musical terms. How on earth do you study for something like this? They could literally ask anything.

I'm doing fine on the math and reading comprehension. Science will be fine as I at least have a direction to study...but the vocabulary and the analogies have me worried.

So, for those of you who have taken this LATELY (Because I think they changed this test in 2009), please tell me how hard you found the PSB-RN exam. Are the books accurate portrayals of the exam...or are the books harder? Did anyone find a book that was MORE like the PSB than other books (since the books are used for multiple exams).

I am truly in a panic..and that can't be good! I need to score in the 65th percentile in order to even apply to my school of choice. Not 65%...65th percentile. I don't even know what raw score would = the 65th percentile.

HELP! (and thanks :-) )

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For what it's worth, the comprehensive raw scores or composite percentages on these kinds of standardized tests tend to be lower than the corresponding percentile percentages. For example, my raw score on the TEAS was 90.6 which correlated to the 99th percentile. My composite percentage on the NET was 86 which corresponded to the 97th percentile.

While I don't know what raw score on the PSB RN test would equate to the 65th percentile, I would strongly suspect that it's lower than 65%, probably (and this is just a guess since the "cutoff" is 65th percentile) around 50%. It sounds like you're spending time with the review books - that's a good thing. For almost all standardized tests, the reviews tend to be more involved and difficult than the actual test is.

So relax (I know this is easy for me to say) - I'm sure you'll do fine, especially if you are taking the time and effort to prep for the test. I was certain I didn't pass the NCLEX when I took it, to the point that I was sure the PA BoN was playing a cruel joke on me when I checked the website the next day and found that I had an active license. Yet another example of the test being easier than the review.

Good luck with your test and with your applications.

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http://www.psbtests.com/psb-theme/images/site/RegisteredNursingSchoolResults.pdf

More detailed info about the PSB

http://admin.psbtests.com/Uploads/SiteResources/NSAEspecimenquestions2011.pdf

PSB sample questions

http://admin.psbtests.com/Uploads/SiteResources/sampleQuestionAnswers2011.pdf

PSB sample question answers

I took it years 4 years ago and did very well. I also used prep books and prepped a lot since like you, I had been out of school for a long time!

Good Luck!!!

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Thanks for the replies. I am taking the test August 19th...we shall see. I've been studying a lot. The Barrons book and the PSB secrets book have me feeling pretty good...but the one Petersons book I bought has me in a panic about the science. But 2 out of 3 is pretty good, I guess! It's difficult because the prep books cover so many of the different nursing entrance tests, yet from what I've been told, the PSB in general is easier than some of the others...

I suppose time will tell if I've prepared enough! I sure hope so...

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hello i came across this post as i am in a panic too. ive been study the dictionary for vocab words. i am retesting this week i need the pass the science section. any suggestions??? i thought i did extremely well but apparently not. The book doesnt seem to help. PLEASE HELP :banghead:

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