Was is worth while to study the TEAS-V (ATI manual)

Nursing Students TEAS

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I just bought the ATI study guide. Anyone used this and found it helpful? I am getting so many mixed signals. Some people are telling me it's not worth studying because it's your over all general knowledge, and others say it's great to study.

My A&P professor told me to plan on taking it twice because most people do. I'm in community college and our TEAS-V is important in ranking. Average scores they say are upper 60's and 70's.

So was it worth your while to study?

Specializes in ICU.

It has helped me so far to recognize my weaknesses and work on them. I now know that I need to brush up on my chemistry before taking the test. I took a practice test and did very well on everything except that. I scored an 82% on my first practice. So once I do that I should score in the 90's.

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ATI was the key along with McGraw Hill. Once I received my score and acceptance letter, you best believe it was every ounce worth it!!

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Thank you all! I am just beginning to get into the ATI manual (long holiday) and reading comp is my strongest subj, and I am still finding out things I don't know or didn't remember. So just in the first 15 pages I am seeing great things! I plan to take the TEAS-V two times anyways unless I really like my score.

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The ATI manual was worth the money. Read it cover to cover. They are basically giving you an idea what to expect on the test. I used two other book. They where helpful but they gave more information then necessary. I found that to be a waste of my time.

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Specializes in NICU.

I didn't purchase the ATI prep and I wished I had! I used McGraw Hill's 5 Practice TEAS Tests book and it was a wonderful resource but the science in my practice test did not match up with the emphasis on general chemistry that my actual TEAS test had. I definitely used all the information I got from the McGraw Hill book but I was lacking in review for my basic chemistry topics such as chemical equations, common reactions, what ions are formed in common reactions, and super basic periodic table stuff. If I could do it over, I would purchase both the ATI preps and the McGraw Hill book. One thing that took me aback was that you can't use a calculator on the math portion! I had been doing all my preps with a calculator and when I had to do it the old fashioned way with a pencil and paper I found that I had forgotten how to do super basic stuff like multiplying numbers with decimals and I felt super dumb and frustrated. It eventually came back to me in time to ensure my answers were correct but it was stressful because of the time limit. I highly suggest doing all your prep in identical conditions to your test.

All that being said, I got an 84% on my science and a 90% on my math so its possible to do well without the prep but it took a whole lot of brain power to muster up those answers out of the cobwebs up there.

Good luck everyone!

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I studied from the ATI manual and the McGraw Hill due to the mixed suggestions as well. It is worthwhile to study!! When I went to take the test, I found that a lot of the test was just reading the questions carefully (what are they asking), don't over-think a lot of the questions and go with your first best answer (I used my best guess on a few). I passed into the 90 percentile. It was stressful with time limit, but trust your own abilities, take a deep breath and do your best!! You can do it and I'm wishing you good luck!!

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YES! I ordered a study pack from ATI which included the book and either 2 or 3 online simulated tests. It was around $100 and I almost didn't buy it but I'm so glad I did. I studied a few hours per day (M-F) for 2 weeks. I didn't take the online tests until the very end of studying.

I scored a 99th percentile on the TEAS, 1st try.

One of the best things I did was scheduled the test 2 weeks after my Spring semester ended but while my kids were still in school. I just pretended that studying for the TEAS was my job for those 2 weeks. It totally paid off.

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i bought the study manual for the test of essential academic skills (TEAS) version V. Is this a good book to study from before i take my TEAS test?

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I just took the TEAS V about... I dunno, 2 hours ago (1/31/14). Did pretty solid, 91.3% -- 99th percentile.

Paid Resources:

Official ATI Teas V Guide -- Important!

McGraw-Hill 5 Practice Tests -- Not as important (weak on science) but great for Reading, Math, English

Official ATI Teas V Pre-Test (Form A) -- THE ABSOLUTE LIFE SAVER FOR ME, OMG, A++++, RECOMMEND AGAIN!

I had been out of school for about a year and a half. So I was not in that "academic" state of mind. I started studying on 1/7/14. Started with doing one of the McGraw-Hill practice tests "raw" (no studying at all). Scorred 88%-91% on Reading, Math, and English. Science I got a 67%.

I studied the next week only on science. Took a pre-test roughly a week later. Same scores on Reading, Math, English (still didn't bother to find out what a "theme" was in reading or Roman Numerals on math). Science went up to about 72%.

Took a third practice test about a week ago 1/23/14. Same scores on the other three subjects, science went up to a 77%. All I had done in this time was read the ATI manual, taken McGraw-Hill practice tests, and spent about 2 hours watching youtube videos (Khan Academy, Some other dude w/ glasses, and some other dude named 'Tyler').

I was feeling pretty good. Figured I was w/in striking range of the scores I wanted to get. I had an 87% average total about a week ago according to the McGraw-Hill test.

Fast-forward to last last. I paid the $42 for the official ATI Teas Pre-Test (my 4th pre-test). I found that McGraw-Hill practice tests did a real good job of preparing me for English, Math, and Reading. I got roughly 90% on those 3 subjects.

Science section last night (taken around 11pm last night)....... 40%. 40%!!!! I was freaking out! It was 1:00am and my test was 12:30pm today. I studied the hell out of that ATI pre-test. I clicked on ever answer on the science section, wrote down the reasoning for every choice (why it was correct / why it was incorrect). The questions on the science section for the official Teast pre-test were significantly different. On the McGraw-Hill exams there was a lot of physical science questions and the official Teas V pre-test was much more weighed towards life science.

I spent 2:00am until 5:00am watching youtube videos for every topic I missed on the science section. I didn't know my ass from a ionic or covalent bond when I first started. I woke up at 9:30, drove down to the testing center around 11:00am, and crammed in all the information I could about DNA, cell parts, and chemistry into my head for the next hour.

The ATI manual/book is perfect for cramming (I don't recommend it though, but #yolo, amirite?). It does cover all the topic on the exam but it does not cover them in the depth that you need to know on the exam. For instance, the book will say "DNA is made of nucleic acids" it'll only briefly mention what nucleic acids are composed of but it's difficult to understand the "whys" and "whats" of the topic. I order to learn the topics in depth more, the youtube videos really helped.

Long story short... yes, buy the ATI manual. If you're worried about the price, the extra two hours of overtime you put in at work will save you lots of hours of studying later. Pay for the official practice test too! Literally, if you click through all the answers on the practice test and retain part of the explanation you'll get a good 5-6 questions correct. (Ex. "Oh yeah, this is exactly like that question on the pre-test that tried to intentionally trick me!)

The ATI pre-test is harder than the actually Teas test... but not by much. The questions are almost exactly the same, but the practice test makes the answers a lot more ambiguous. (ex "Wow, if I had to guess 3 of the 4 looks pretty good.") On test day, the guessing is more like "Well... only two of these seem reasonable." However, there's actual pressure during the real exam, so it's kind of a wash.

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The ATI Manual has essentially everything that you need to know in it. I would start with that. If you need extra practice on the Reading, Math, or English and Language sections then McGraw Hill has a TEAS specific booklet that has five additional practice tests. The science section is tricky. I would recommend making sure you know the topics addressed in the ATI science manual section very well (beyond just memorization). I was consistently getting in the 70s on all practice tests (ATI and McGraw) that I took for that section but ended up only missing one question on that section on the actual test. The McGraw Hill sources that I looked at for the science section had a lot of superfluous information that is not covered on the TEAS but was good for the other three sections.

Ignore anyone who tells you not to study. This test is a factor for nursing school admissions and the makers of the test even provide you with a study manual. Why wouldn't you study?! I found the ATI study manual to be an extremely accurate indication of what topics are covered on the actual test. I studied it for two weeks, took the test and did well, and do not need to spend money taking it a second time. Buying the ATI manual is worth it.

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