Guessing on Exams

[bphgravity]

Guessing the answer to an exam question is obviously a last ditch effort. In the event you are completely stuck and forced to make an educated guess, here are some tips:

1. If two answers are similar, choose one of them.
2. If two answers have similar words (perpetrate, perpetuate), choose one of them.
3. If two answers have opposite meanings, choose one of them.
4. Choose the longest answer.
5. If none of the above work, choose (B). Studies show that (B) is the correct answer 40% of the time, (C) is right 30% of the time, (A) 20% and (D) only 10% of the time.

For more tips like these, go to:


http://buycodecards.com/testtips.html

 

[Pierre C Belarge]

Most tests taken for licensing are multiple choice. I know there are some who are subjected to other tests, I say good luck.


The 4 answers for a multiple choice test are usually broken into 2 of the choices as not being close to the topic answer, and the two other choices are the ones to choose from. The best way to know this is to prepare oneself for the test by studying as much as possible.

Once you have narrowed down the 2 that seem to be similar and one is the answer, choose one. Usually by this time in the test taking process, you do not have much time left and you should take the least time necessary to answer any of the questions you are guessing on. Another hint is to take all of the questions you are guessing on and do them at the end of your test, wasting as little time as possible... do not hang on any one question.

By narrowing down the answers to 2, you have a 50% chance of guessing the correct answer, as opposed to 25 % if you guess out of all 4.
That is a pretty good percentage for guessing.

 

[don_resqcapt19]

But first make sure the test is scored only on the number of correct answers. The SAT is scored on the number of correct minus 1/3 the number of incorret. You are penalized for guessing. I don't know if this scoring method is used on any code tests.

As far as multiple guess tests go, the average person can get a passing score if he knows the answers to 35% of the questions and guesses on the rest.
Don

 

[infinity]

As Don said you need to know if incorrect answers are penalized with fractional point deductions. As with the SAT, the deduction is dependent upon the number of answers. For multiple-choice questions answered incorrectly, a fraction of a point is subtracted -- 1/4 point for five-choice questions and 1/3 point for four-choice questions.

 

[rcarroll]

In Colorado, you are not penalized for guessing on building exams. I agree with Bryan that answer B comes up more often ( I've counted ). On a personal note, I don't use the tabs in my book. I have found that in searching for one answer, I've found an answer to a question that I had skipped over. Ron