McGraw-Hill's Nursing School Entrance Exams Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)***3 star-rating refers to suitability of this book for the TEAS examination only. Otherwise, the quality of this book is quite adequate.
It seems that there is no one book that sufficiently prepares you for this test. This was one of three manuals I used for the TEAS exam, and probably the one I liked the most. I found it less detailed than the Kaplan's book-GOOD THING. I'd especially recommend it over the Kaplan if you are short on time. It is well-written, easy, and fits the TEAS better. However, it only prepared me sufficiently for the Math and English sections. Sadly, about 60% of its Science section I found useless for this test (applies to all books I'VE tried). And the most upsetting, about 6 topics necessary to pass the exam were missing in all books. You can't screw up more than 5 questions out of 40 per section. Someone told me that you could find the geography questions on various nursing blogs. I could not, but it's worth trying.

TEAS consists of English, Reading, Math and Science and is not hard. You'll be given enough time-I was able to bank at least 10 minutes per section, even though I was not rushing. If you were a decent student in high school and have a good recollection of it, you will probably do fine.
The biggest problem for me was not knowing exactly what to expect.
Math section is heavy on all sorts of conversions such as: decimals to fractions and percentages, Fahrenheit to Celsius, KGs to LBs and so on. Review graphs/charts and their purpose-when would you use bar graph or line graphs. Be able to solve equations such as "x-3=10". Review multiplication tables-you can't use calculators so do lots of simple addition, multiplication, subtraction such as 2359-219, 369*4469 and so on. Know how to calculate the area and peremeters of a circles, triangles, cubes, squares, know Pythagorean theorem, know how to compare different fractions with different bottom part (forgot the name), know some common percentages (25, 35, 75, 50)-this book has an excellent table-memorize it, otherwise, you'll be reinventing the wheel.
I was completely caught off-guard by 3 or 4 Geology questions. You will not find them in any of the books I've used! Also, some Physics questions caused surpirse. I imagine you can read up on that in some basic Earth Science textbooks but who has the time? Moreover, the book's Science section is unnecessarily deep. Aim for basic understanding of concepts. For Chemistry: know bonding, sub-atomic particles, isotops, acids. Don't forget to study the Mendeleev's Table-covered nicely in the book-know what columns and rows represent. It's useful to know some common element symbols (K, Ca, H and so on. Know basic genetics, alleles, phenotypes (mother is short, father is tall-what children are we expecting). Know how to calculate speed, average speed, mean, mode, velocity, electricity (basic), definitions of melting and evaporation. Know the difference between eukaryotic and prokaryotic cells, basic ecology-like who eats who in the animal chain (grass is the producer, mouse eats grass, hawk eats mice). Know some basic anatomy: stomach, mouth, trachea and so on. Know where South, West, North is on a map (that's easy!). Book covers plants well, memorize what "autotropism" is and some other definitions.
Reading Comprehension review in this book is much more extensive and way harder than was required on the test, but somehow I still managed not to do well on it.. Also, the vocabulary on the actual test was more basic than covered in the book. I found the exam's level to be closer to the GED tests. Also, many questions feature drawing conclusions from graphs and prescription labels presented. Passages are pretty short, but multiple questions are confusing. I found helpful, to pre-read questions before the passages. You will be asked to list main ideas. You really have to pay close attention, but you'll have enough time, so don't rush. Even though this section seemed easy, lots of people fail it.
I found the English to be the easiest section of all, and this book prepared me adequately. Be able to correct some common English usage problems (GED Books). Review basic grammar (especially, commas). Be able to find subjects and verbs. Study easy vocabulary such as "ambivalent", "biannual". Don't go into harder ones of SAT level (ex: aesthetic, zephir, taciturn). Know how to fix a run-on sentence. It's crucial to review all commonly misspelled words. This book did not help me with these sections at all. If anything, it made me more nervous by emphasizing hard vocabulary that turned out to be unnecessary. Again, I'd find a simple GED study guide with test samples in addition to this book, and you'll do fine.
Please know, if you finish each section with time left, you'll be given an option to go back and review that particular section. Be very careful with the reading section, as I changed many correct answers at the end :-(. The tester in the college I took this test never mentioned the option to review.
If I had 4 weeks to practice for the test, this is how I'd handle this knowing what i know now:
1. Study multiplication tables daily-at least 10 minutes and do lots of conversions: drill yourself till it becomes second nature: fractions to decimals and vice versa, decimals to percentages and so on. (This book or any GED book). Kaplan's also has some useful examples.
2. Study this books's Science and Chemistry sections. Should take about 1-2 weeks
6. Study this book's Basic Biology and Basic Physics sections. Alternatively, any pre-nursing test book-covers the same material 1-2 weeks.
3. Take many Reading comprehension tests daily, 20-30 minutes daily, mainly from any GED or SAT preparation manual, focus on short, no more than 2 paragraph passages-chart your improvements-you should see the improvements. Read the questions first. Go for main ideas. This book is ok, but GED books are better for this purpose. Aim to focus better as you read. Learn GED"s most popular vocabulary; unfortunately, it will be more than you'd need, but there is no other way. Also, online tutorials are great.
4. Learn frequently misspelled words. This book does not have it, get them online.
5. Practice GED format questions on how to correct wrong structure sentances: wrong tenses-this book plus any GED book.
6. Know where west, east, north and south are. Know vertical from horizontal. Know directions: clockwise, count clockwise.
be able to tell 90, 180, 360 degrees angles.
7. If you have some extra time, search online about origins of rocks.. Not too deep, just general ideas.
8. Improve your general focusing, and stress relief methods, if this is a problem for you. Good luck!

Click Here to see more reviews about: McGraw-Hill's Nursing School Entrance Exams


We want to help you succeed on your Nursing School Entrance Exam

We've put all of our proven expertise into McGraw-Hill's Nursing School Entrance Exams to make sure you're ready for this crucial test. Whether you're taking the NLN PAX-RN, NET, TEAS, PSB-RN, or C-NET-RN, this book gives you essential skill-building techniques and strategies developed by a team of renowned test-prep tutors. You'll get eight practice tests, skill-building drills, test-taking strategies, and all the facts about the current exams. With McGraw-Hill's Nursing School Entrance Exams, we'll guide you step by step through your preparation program-and give you the tools you need to succeed.

Inside you'll find:

8 practice tests
Skill-building drills with hundreds of practice questions
Strategies to help you master every question type
Scientific illustrations to clarify important concepts
Review of all subjects featured on the exams
Career and educational guidance from a nursing professional

Get 47% OFF

Click here for more information about McGraw-Hill's Nursing School Entrance Exams