I was so incredibly nervous to take the TEAS after being out of school for an entire decade! I decided to make a career change and go back to school to pursue nursing after realizing my first bachelor’s degree just wasn’t working out the way I had hoped in this job market. About four months ago, I finally admitted to myself that nursing was where my heart truly was, and I poured every ounce of my anxious energy into making that transition happen.
Naturally, hearing that I had to take another standardized exam after all these years made me want to pull my hair out. 😅 I had previously taken the MCAT years ago and, unfortunately, wasn’t accepted into medical school. After that, I shifted into medical data analytics and have worked in that field for the past few years. That experience really knocked my confidence, so going into the TEAS, I couldn’t help but fear I’d end up with a similar outcome.
When I finished my exam earlier today and saw my score, I absolutely cried. It wasn’t just about the test—it felt like I finally got a win after so many setbacks and moments where I questioned whether I was capable of starting over. I wanted to share the resources that helped me the most in case it can make someone else’s journey a little less stressful and help you focus on what was actually worth my time.
Mometrix Study Guide & Flash Cards — 6/10
Very detailed, but honestly pretty overwhelming when I was first getting started. I made it through the Reading and Math sections, but after that I couldn’t bring myself to keep reading every page. 😅 I ended up skimming the remaining chapters and focused more on answering the practice questions. Some of the questions felt a little awkwardly phrased compared to the actual TEAS, but it was still an okay resource if you want a lot of detail. However, this study guide derailed my studying by about 3 weeks because it made me feel inadequate. My most impactful studying was probably in the last week before my exam while using other resources.
Mometrix Free Online Practice Exam — 8/10
I actually liked this more than the book. It seemed a bit easier than the material in the study guide, but I felt like it was a decent representation of the actual exam experience and was helpful for building confidence.
Smart Edition Study Guide — 7/10
This was the only study guide I was able to make it all the way through. I really enjoyed the full-color layout and illustrations—it made studying feel much less intimidating. Since I’d been out of school for over 10 years, it was an excellent refresher and helped me rebuild a lot of the foundational concepts. That said, I do think it left out quite a few topics, and some of the concepts that did show up on the TEAS weren’t emphasized enough.
Nurse Cheung Videos — 10/10!!!
AMAZING!! Her teaching style paired with the visuals was absolutely perfect for the way my brain learns. She did such a great job covering all of the major concepts and high-yield topics without making it feel overwhelming.
I actually didn’t discover her channel until about a week before my exam, and finding her videos honestly felt like such a relief. They pulled together so many concepts I had been trying to piece together on my own, and I genuinely attribute a significant part of my preparation to her material. I would have purchased her study guide instead of Mometrix or Smart Edition, but since I found her channel so close to the exam day, I decided to watch her free videos for my first attempt. I fully planned on purchasing her study guide if I needed a second attempt!
Tyler DeWitt Videos — 9.5/10
Such a great resource! I watched several of his YouTube videos where he worked through practice questions and explained his reasoning step by step. I found that incredibly helpful because it taught me how to think through the questions instead of just memorizing facts. His practice questions felt very much in line with the style of questions I saw on the TEAS.
Archer Review Question Bank — 100/10 (The TRUE MVP!)
If I could recommend one resource to everyone taking the TEAS, it would be Archer Review.
The question bank was incredibly similar to the actual exam in both style and difficulty. You get access to over 2,000 questions, and I only used it for about four days before my exam. Even with that, I only made it through roughly 25% of the question bank, and it still made a huge difference. I was consistently scoring around 91% on the simulated tests where they pull up to forty-five questions from the test bank on whichever topics you select. For instance, if you wanted only reading, only math and science, all sections, etc. you could pull from whichever learning objectives you want!
Once you have a solid knowledge base, I truly think practicing questions like these is just as important as studying the content itself. Archer really teaches you how the TEAS asks questions, which was invaluable. Every question comes with detailed rationales for every answer choice, plus background notes that help reinforce the concepts instead of just telling you what’s right or wrong.
The interface is also very similar to the actual TEAS testing platform, so it almost felt like I was taking a mock exam every time I practiced. I seriously cannot recommend it enough. LOVE, LOVE, LOVE this resource, and I fully plan on using Archer again for the NCLEX once (hopefully 🤞) I get accepted into nursing school this application cycle!
I hope this helps 💕 best of luck to you all!