Evidence-based strategies, clear plans, and smart practice that fit your life.
Before any of the studying, one administrative question decides everything else: which exam does your programme require, and what does it want you to score? Applicants routinely spend weeks on the wrong exam because a friend at another school sat a different one.
The two that matter
ATI TEAS 7 is the most widely required. Four sections, 170 questions, 209 minutes, a percentage score with a per-section breakdown. Roughly six in ten programmes use it.
HESI A2 is the main alternative. Your school picks which sections you sit from a menu, so the length and the time limit vary between programmes. Typically a cumulative percentage plus per-section scores.
A few programmes use other tests, and a small number require none at all and admit on GPA and prerequisites. Some accept either the TEAS or the HESI, which is the one case where you actually get to choose.
What scores look like in practice
There is no national pass mark for either exam; your programme sets it. In broad terms, ADN programmes tend to ask for the low to mid sixties on the TEAS, BSN programmes the seventies, and competitive programmes noticeably higher. The HESI is commonly set around 75 to 80 percent cumulative, often with a separate, higher bar on Anatomy and Physiology.
Ask a second question while you are there: does the school screen on the score or rank on it? If it screens, clearing the minimum is the whole job. If it ranks, every extra point competes against other applicants, and the effort calculation changes completely.
When to sit it
Work backwards from the application deadline. Leave room for one retake inside the cycle, which usually means a wait of thirty days or so plus time to actually study differently. Sitting the exam at the last possible date removes that option entirely, and the retake is the thing most people end up needing.
What to do in your first week
- Confirm the exam, the sections and the minimum score in writing.
- Sit one timed section from each subject without studying, to find your weakest.
- Write down the topic of every question you missed. That list is your syllabus.
- Book the exam with a retake window still inside the deadline.
Then pick your plan
If you have six weeks, use the six-week TEAS plan. If you have two, use the two-week version. If your school requires the HESI, start with the HESI A2 format and scoring guide. And if you are still not sure which exam is which, TEAS against NCLEX clears up the most common mix-up of all.