Written by: Lia Colon
Southern Adventist University’s School of Nursing will now use the American College Test (ACT) instead of the Test of Essential Academic Skills (TEAS) to assess applicants.
Many students take the TEAS exam for the first time at Southern. The minimum score needed to pass the TEAS is a 65 on a scale of 100. Many students strived for 90s, but according to Nissa Haugen, director of Admissions and Progressions, it was uncommon and questionable when a student scored that high.
“If a student has already taken the ACT/SAT/R-SAT, which many have, they do not need to pay for an additional admission exam.”
The ACT, though, is an exam many students have taken, either to qualify for scholarships or to enroll in certain classes.
“Nursing is a highly test-based program, and so you need to have practice in testing to do better in testing,” Haugen stated.
Having practice on a particular test gives students the opportunity to score better, because they know what to expect.
According to Haugen, this is not the first time the school has changed its placement exam. The faculty changes it every few years to maintain strong, reliable and credible results. Members of the Admissions and Progressions committee, which includes representatives from the School of Nursing, made the decision to change tests because they saw more benefits in utilizing the ACT.
“If a student has already taken the ACT/SAT/R-SAT, which many have, they do not need to pay for an additional admission exam,” Haugen stated in an email to the Accent. The School of Nursing requires a minimum composite score on only one of the admission tests.
The change will allow students applying to the nursing program to use their scores from previous exams.
If a student has taken the ACT but wants to get a better score, the probability of placing higher when retesting is likely, especially for students who have taken the tests multiple times and are better prepared. Students are allowed to take the ACT a maximum of 12 times in one year, while the TEAS allows three attempts in a year. According to Haugen, the ACT is more accessible than the TEAS, especially for international students and student missionaries.
The change will allow students applying to the nursing program to use their scores from previous exams.
Haugen said when she first announced the change, many applicants feared that their scores might have been too low and were worried about whether they would be accepted into the nursing program. The Admissions and Progressions committee decided that the minimum standard would be a composite score of 18.
Prospective nursing student Zion Nerness said, “I feel that 18 is a very reasonable expectation to pass the entrance exam.”
Although placement tests are important, Haugen does not consider them the most important thing for prospective nursing students.
“I tell my students, ‘Focus more strongly on your science grades and your overall GPA regardless,” Haugen stated.
