5 Strategies To Ace Your Multiple Choice Exam (You won't expect the last one).
How I get straight A's in my exams, coming from 3.9 GPA student.
Hi, Ahmed here! and each week I share actionable ideas about studying strategies, college life stories, and job search advice for students and fresh graduates.
Today's topic is one of my favorites because exams are almost like the final boss in college that we want to fight and win each semester, knowing how to do so is crucial because all the work you’ve done in the semester depends on it.
Expected reading time: 4 minutes.
Hope you enjoy it.
Let's face it: multiple-choice exams can be stressful. It's tough to figure out the right answer when you have so many options staring back at you.
Picture this: You're sitting in a packed lecture hall, staring at that sheet of paper. Your mind starts racing as you read the first question. Should you choose A, B, C, or D?
Considering that you already chose D as the answer for the previous question, you're now left with only A, B, or C for this one. (My mind came up with this one during an exam lol)
Your minds will start forming crazy hypotheses to logic your way to an answer that you don’t have any valid reason to choose.
It might be correct in the end, but there are better ways to approach it.
Here’re 5 Strategies. Let’s dive in.
1. Elimination.
Have you ever been to an ice cream shop and faced a huge number of flavors, not knowing which one to choose from? Have you ever ended up buying the same flavor every time?
This phenomenon is called "Choice Overload."
Our minds become overwhelmed when we are presented with too many options and struggle to make a decision.
In her TED talk, Sheena S. Iyengar discusses the study on Choice Overload and provides examples and ways to reduce it.
One way to overcome this is by reducing the number of options, and it has worked like magic for me.
When faced with a difficult question, there are always obviously incorrect answers. Start by eliminating them and any answer you are confident is wrong.
Reducing the choices will improve the likelihood of choosing the right answer.
2. Double Check.
Have you ever come across a familiar question and hastily picked the answer you thought was right, only to realize later that you fell for a tricky wording?
When we find a familiar question, we may be tempted to skim the answers and pick the known one.
I can't recall how many times I fell for this trick. Professors often play with words, using terms like "Not" or "Except" to trip you up.
Take a moment to carefully read the question and review your chosen option.
Always Double-Check.
3. Ask the professor for help.
It's hard to answer a question when we don't fully understand it.
But most students, when they don't understand a question, would:
Not bother to ask the professor.
Choose an answer based on an assumption.
But guess what? You're missing out on a great opportunity. Just ask your professor!
They genuinely want to help you succeed, but you’ve to do it the right way.
Just pointing to the question and telling them that you don’t understand won’t cut it.
Try these tips and you’ll get more answers when asking them.
Start by telling them what you understand of the question and your logic in approaching it.
Tell them which specific part you don’t understand, so they can address it.
In most cases, they will give you insight that you can use to answer or, at least, eliminate one or two choices.
4. Find Clues.
This could be your last resort if you absolutely have no idea about the answer.
Skim through the questions and find any questions that relate to the one you're struggling with.
These questions could give you clues such as similar topics, shared keywords, or even complementary concepts.
As you go through the related questions, pay attention to the options provided. You might find that some choices are consistently incorrect or unrelated to the topic.
This observation can help you eliminate one or more choices from the question you're struggling with, increasing the likelihood of selecting the right answer.
5. Don’t 2nd guess.
Avoid doubting yourself unless you have a good reason.
While you're reviewing your answer, you may be tempted to go with your gut.
90% of the time, when I did so, I got it wrong.
Trust your knowledge and reasoning unless you have new information or clues from other questions.
That’s it! Thank you for sticking to the end. 👋
Sincerely,
Ahmed Amin
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