Hello friends!

Your girl here has been running in circles, stressing unnecessarily trying to figure out what the first blog post for this blog should be. I have plans to put out various different post so honestly does it matter what the first post is about? No, but I am a perfectionist and you deserve only the best! 

 So what better way to kick off this blog than with the first post I ever wrote?! 

Its hard to believe that it’s been almost 2 years since I wrote this post. I can still remember sitting down in front of my laptop looking for study materials, reading countless websites for studying advice, and growing a bald spot because of the unnecessary stress I was putting on myself. 

Thinking back on it, I'm 100% positive that I stressed and freaked out more than I needed to. But at the time, how could I not stress? I HAD TO TAKE THE KAPLAN ENTRANCE EXAM! 

Have you ever heard of the Kaplan nursing entrance exam?

No? 

Me either! I didn't even know it existed until that day.

And of course, life just loves to throw lemons so when I tried to look up study tips most of what I found was information that outdated, vague, or both. After digging deeper I ended up with 4 useful websites and 2 YouTube videos. 

…

And that my friends is how this post came into existence. After finishing the test, I MADE SURE to write down my experience and studying tips. 

To help prevent another soul from stressing and over-studying, I've broken down the test by section and provided a few areas to help focus your studies!

Reading Section

Let's just get the bad part over first. If you are weak in English this is probably the part where you start calling me ugly names or reach to exit the site.

The sad truth?

There’s not much studying you can do for this section.

But wait! Before you roll yours and click away, I do have good news. It’s very similar to the SAT and every other standardized test you’ve taken before. You read a passage, answer a question, viola! 

To be fair though this section was a little harder than I expected. English has always been my top subject but I still struggled through the questions. The questions aren’t hard. The questions themselves are straightforward. Rather it’s the answer choices that make you start tugging at your hair. There are many times, you'll probably find yourself reading, re-reading, re-re-reading the answer choices because they all sound correct.

Luckily if you decide to retake the test the passages seem to be randomly selected from a limited selection so chances are high that you’ll see the same questions again. I retook my test and only 4 questions where different. On the other hand, a major problem is that if you do decide to retake the test you won’t know the correct answers since the test doesn’t tell you what questions you got wrong.

How to Study: Practice using the Kaplan book, The Pre-Nursing Licensure, or the TEAS study guide

Math Section 

My weakest subject but somehow I got a 93 in this section. This section is straightforward so I’m going to tell you right now EXACTLY what you need to study:

• Conversion from Fraction – Decimal - Percentage
• Mixed numbers and improper fractions (How to add/subtract/multiply/divide and convert to the opposite)
• Add/Subtract/Multiply/Divide Fractions
• Ratios
• Basic algebra such as [X+5=25]
• The metric system and how to convert

That’s it.

I’m not even joking.

If you study all that, you will have no problem acing this section. But a piece of warning for you is that while the questions are easy some of the word problems can require critical thinking. The test phrases the questions in a way make you critical think, and some are questions related to nursing such as drug dosages.

How to study: My most valuable resource for this section was the Pre-RN math section. This book goes into detail and does a great job of breaking down all the topics. There are many practice questions to help quiz you along the way!

Writing Section 

Another section that is nearly impossible to study for. Luckily this section also relies on basic knowledge and grammar. If you survived high school or English 101 then you should have no major issues. Sadly, just like the reading section, multiple answers may appear to be correct. The questions will you a short writing passage, then ask you where to insert or delete a sentence, edit punctuation, or fix grammar mistakes.

Honestly, this one just comes down to just choosing what sounds correct to you.

How to Study: This is one section that the Kaplan Entrance Exam study guide is useful for! Quizlet is also great!

Science Section 

I was surprised by how easy the previous sections on this test where but once I got the science section I was rudely reminded that a test can never be so easy. This section is one where I found myself singing Carrie Underwood’s “Jesus take the wheel”. The questions are all physiology questions. No anatomy. So unless you just finished A&P, you might want to go refresh. Some example questions: 

What is the route of blood flow through the heart?

What happens during an asthma attack?

Aging changes which sensations?

What hormones are primarily responsible for fluid balance? 

The questions ask about in-depth body processes like which hormone does this, what is the function of a B or T cell? Questions like that.

Since the test has a big pool to draw questions from I recommend studying all these systems deeply:

•  Cardiovascular system 
•  Electrolytes 
• Gastrointestinal system 
• Immune system 
• Neurology 
• Renal system 
• Hematological system 
• Homeostasis
• Respiratory system 
• Sensory system

(Know your common hormones such as LSH, ADH + Know about the SA and AV node)

How to Study: Khan academy and notes from previous A&P classes will serve as the best resources.

Happy studies!