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NEW April Date Available!

TEAS Exam® Version 5.0

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2012 SCHEDULE
HOW TO REQUEST SCORES

Entry to our Traditional BSN and Accelerated BSN programs now require TEAS Version 5.0.

The School of Nursing offers the TEAS (Test of Essential Academic Skills) exam year round.  The exam is open to anyone, whether you attend CSU San Marcos or not. Students can take the TEAS exam at any location it is offered.  Please carefully read all of the information below. It will be time well spent if you plan to take the TEAS exam at CSU San Marcos!

How To Sign Up and Pay to Take the TEAS Exam at CSU San Marcos

Step 1:  PAYMENT: 

Option A: Print out this Web page and take it to the Cashier's Office, located in Cougar Central, on the 3rd floor of Craven Hall, to pay the $60 test fee. 

Option B: Mail in your payment to the Cashier's Office:

     Cal State San Marcos
     ATTN Cashiers
     333 S. Twin Oaks Valley Rd
     San Marcos, CA 92096

Please include a note with your contact information and the test date that you want so we may contact you with confirmation.  It is recommended that you contact Laura Romero at lromero@csusm.edu or 760-750-7550 prior to mailing in payment to ensure there are spots available.  We will hold a spot for you for up to five (5) days.  If payment is not received by then, we may give the spot to another student.  Please see Step 2 below regarding ensuring we receive your payment.

The $60 fee is NON REFUNDABLE, and you must be pre-registered and pre-paid before your test date. Our University's Cashier's Office is not able to accept payment online for the exam.  Also, please be aware that our University does not accept VISA.  Please contact CSUSM's Cashier Office at 760-750-4490 for other  payment questions.  No drop-in testing is available on the test day, nor do we accept payment at the door. 

Step 2:  TO SCHEDULE TEST:  Bring your receipt from the University Cashier's Office (see office location in right column on TEAS Web page) to the School of Nursing, on the second floor in the PPH building, located at 120 Craven Road, Suite 201, San Marcos, to schedule your TEAS exam.  Please park in patient parking; all other areas of the lot require a permit.  Space is limited to 48 students per test date; the exam will be held in the Computer Classroom #222 at the School of Nursing.  No individual exams will be given.  If you mailed in your payment, you will receive an email or phone confirmation that we received your receipt.  If you do not receive any confirmation, it is your responsibility to contact the Cashier's Office at 760-450-4490 to verify that they received your payment and sent your receipt to us.  Then email Laura Romero at lromero@csusm.edu to confirm that she received your receipt from the Cashier's Office.  We can not be held responsible for the Cashier's Office failing to send us your receipt, so please contact them if you do not hear from us within a few days from mailing in your payment.  We will not issue refunds for payments received late.

Step 3:  ACCOUNTS:  You will need to set up an ATI Testing account, prior to the day of the exam. Choose 'CA State San Marcos TEAS' to set up your account via the ATI Testing Web site. If you have not already created an account through ATI testing, please do so prior to your test date at http//www.atitesting.com.

Please remember to know your ATI account log-on and password on the day of the test.

REQUIRED ITEMS:   Bring a photo ID (current driver's license, California Identification card, passport, or government identification) displaying the same first name and last name by which you registered for this test and a photo that looks like you.  IF THIS DOES NOT MATCH, YOU WILL NOT BE ADMITTED TO THE TEST.

RESTRICTIONS:
 * No Aids (calculators, dictionaries, books, etc.) will be allowed in the testing room.
 * No backpacks or papers will be allowed.
 * No cell phones or pagers will be allowed in the testing room.
 * No food, drinks or snacks of any type are permitted in the testing room, but you may step out at any time during the test
 * No visitors will be permitted in the testing area, and no childcare will be available.

TEST SCORES:  Your official test scores will be available upon completion of the test.  You can access your test scores via the ATI Testing Web site (www.atitesting.com) at any time after the exam.  If you are applying to our Traditional BSN nursing program at CSUSM, your scores will be sent electronically to the School of Nursing at no charge to you, provided you have taken the exam at CSUSM.  If you are applying to the Extended Learning Accelerated BSN program, that office will require a computer printout  of your scores.  You can request that copies of your TEAS scores be sent to other universities by visiting ATI Testing's On-Line Store.  You must order and pay the fee to have your scores sent to other universities, if you take the test here at CSUSM.

RESOURCES: Visit the ATI (Assessment Technologies Institute) Web site for more information about the TEAS exam  http://www.atitesting.com/global/students/teas.aspx. We currently offer version 5 of the exam.  For our Traditional BSN program and Accelerated BSN programs, we will only accept version 5 or later, effective immediately. 

REFUNDS: Unfortunately, we are not able to issue refunds for the exam if you have already pre-paid.  We will, however, allow you to reschedule to take the exam at a later date, should an emergency arise.

APPROPRIATE ID IS REQUIRED TO BE ADMITTED INTO THE EXAM!

Exam Testing Schedule
The following is our schedule through June 2013.  We offer the exam year-round at our School of Nursing and will update this Web site with the latest test dates.  Testing will be held at the School of Nursing. 

PLEASE NOTE:  Our computer lab can hold up to 48 students.  If a minimum of 15 students do not sign up for a test date, the test MAY BE CANCELED.  Students who have already signed up would be notified should a test date be canceled.  This has occurred very rarely.

During the months of January through May 2013, if any of our test dates fill up then we will do our best to offer a second TEAS exam that month.

NOTE:  ALL OUR TEAS EXAMS ARE CURRENTLY VERSION 5

TEAS EXAM SCHEDULE FOR UPCOMING MONTHS

WHO NEEDS TO TAKE THE TEAS EXAM
All Traditional BSN and Accelerated BSN applicants for CSU San Marcos must take the TEAS exam (Test of Essential Academic Skills) and must receive a minimum composite score of 71.0% in order to be considered for entry into either of these Nursing programs.  For Traditional BSN Applicants, we do NOT ACCEPT PAPER COPIES OF TEAS EXAM SCORES; we only accept scores that we receive electronically directly from ATI Testing.  If you take the exam at CSUSM, we receive your scores automatically by ATI Testing, for our Generic/Basic BSN applicants.

WHAT DOES THE TEAS EXAM COVER
This exam includes the following four sub-tests:

• The MATH sub-test covers whole numbers, metric conversions, fractions and decimals, algebraic equations, percentages, and ratio/proportion.
• The READING sub-test covers paragraph comprehension, passage comprehension, and inferences/conclusions.
• The ENGLISH sub-test measures knowledge of punctuation, grammar, sentence structure, contextual words, and spelling.
• The SCIENCE portion of the exam covers science reasoning, science knowledge, biology, chemistry, anatomy and physiology, basic physical principles, and general science.

WHEN IS THE BEST SEMESTER TO TAKE THE TEAS EXAM
If plan to apply for admission to other Nursing programs, please be sure to first check on how many attempts other nursing programs may allow for the TEAS exam. We limit students to a maximum of three times to take the TEAS here at CSUSM. You can, however, continue to take the exam at other locations, if you wish.  Generally, though, a student's score will diminish, instead of increase, after three attempts at the TEAS exam.  We will use your highest composite score, if the exam is taken more than once.  Many students do better by taking the exam more than once.  It is recommended that you take the exam near the beginning of your final semester in which you will complete any final science courses needed for the Pre-Nursing Core, and then take the exam a second time as you are about mid-way through the final semester of such science course(s).  This exam can be taken wherever it is offered; numerous other Community Colleges and CSU Nursing Programs require and offer this exam on their campuses.  Locally, Palomar College, Grossmont College, Southwestern College and San Diego State University also require and offer the exam.  

HOW TO REQUEST SCORES
For Traditional BSN applicants to our Nursing program: If you take, or have taken, the test at CSU San Marcos, we receive your scores automatically from the ATI Testing Service; therefore, you do not need to request that your scores be sent to our School of Nursing by ATI Testing. We have access to your scores on the same day that you take the exam here.  If you take the test at another location, you will need to request to have your test scores sent to us electronically from ATI Testing. WE NEED TO RECEIVE YOUR SCORES ELECTRONICALLY FROM ATI TESTING IF YOU TAKE THE EXAM AT ANOTHER SCHOOL.

For Extended Learning, Accelerated BSN applicants: You will only be required to submit a computer printout of your exam results from the ATI Testing Web site.

What is the Deadline for CSU San Marcos to Receive Your Scores
For the Traditional BSN program, the deadline for us to receive your TEAS Scores will in May 2013 (exact date TBD).  Please refer to the Extended Learning Web site for their deadline for receipt of TEAS exam results for those who are applying to the Accelerated BSN program.

Time Limit for Exam Results
At CSU San Marcos, for the Traditional BSN program we only accept Version 5.0 or higher of the TEAS.  For the Accelerated BSN, we only accept TEAS scores that are not more than three (3) years old, from the date of beginning a Nursing program here.  For example, if you are applying to enter the Fall 2013 Nursing program, we will only accept scores from Fall 2010 or later.

STUDY MATERIALS
ATI Testing sells study materials and practice online exams on their Web site (www.atitesting.com).  You might also try to purchase a used TEAS Study Review book online. We are currently offering Version 5 of the TEAS exam.  For help in studying for the various exam components, you may also benefit from purchasing a used basic book of Mathematics, and/or General Science, etc.  Some of the material on the TEAS exam dates back to information that you learned in Middle School.

To Register for the Exam, follow the instructions at the top of this Web page.