Multiple Choice Tricks

gkaby · 2015-03-30 07:27:44

I know I am not the only one who does this stuff on multiple choice exams - I asked my brother and he does the same stuff:

Of course the normal technique of:

I eliminate 0-2 answers usually just by them obviously being the wrong answer.
That could bring a question down to a 25% chance or 20% chance to a 50% chance.

Sometimes there is a question that I do not know. Just by eliminating the things I know are wrong allows me to find the right answer.

There is the trick where you bubble in all one answer if you are about to run out of time. This is if you have not even looked at the question. If I have looked at the question I will not put a random answer.

There is the risky trick (that usually works) where I look at the answers and choose the combination of most common traits in the answers.

eg

a blue 1 whale
b green 2 whale
c red 2 shark
d blue 2 whale

based on this I will guess blue 2 whale

if it is something where if the test taker will have the potential to know part but not all of the question, I would say this is a good option.

eg if the answer is actually red 2 shark, rather than blue 2 whale, and the test taker knows either that red, or shark is right they will instantly know the right answer without knowing the actual full answer. though, of course, having the questions arranged the other way(eg the answer is blue 1 whale) will basically give it away(whether or not test taker actually knows anything).

of course I do not know the reasoning behind the decisions made by the test makers. and the reasoning I am using is probably flawed

but in what i do know: most tests will have the layout be that the most common characteristics can be combined into the right answer.

sometimes tests will have it so that there are 2 that have an equal number of most common answers.
this would leave the possibility of getting it right at 50%, still better than 25% (if you do not know the answer at all)

however there has been one instance where a chemistry professor of mine did the opposite (eg the answer would be red 2 shark)
I do not know if this was applied consistently
perhaps the best option would have an equal number of them
but I still think from the test taker perspective in most cases blue 1 whale will be the right answer

there was also one time on a chemistry test where I did not know a value for a formula or something like that and i reverse engineered(or something) it out of the test questions or something by comparing the values needed to get each answer for a given question with the values needed to get each answer for another question. I choose the value that gave a correct answer in both questions and whatever i chose those 2 answers that had that value necessary
also that would allow me to answer other questions that need that value but I dont think there were any

pls post ur multiple choice tips and tricks

tentacleTherapist · 2015-03-30 07:34:03

gkaby wrote:

This is if you have not even looked at the question.

My exam trick is called "reading the question before you start answering". I also have another one called "actually revising for tests so you know what to answer".

Miasmic, Minimania, gkaby, Onjit

gkaby · 2015-03-30 07:36:34

that is if i spent too much time on previous questions and have an unknown yet surely short amount of time left with like 5 answers left

i will not accept those as tricks but i will accept those as tips!!!!!

Kamekthemagician · 2015-03-30 08:49:38

That trick doesn´t work usually in exams, there is another method for answering right the questions: Study

Also I´ve seen exams where the correct answer was blue 1 whale or red 2 shark.

ILoveBaconYUM · 2015-03-30 08:50:58

I've always wondered if in one of those multiple choice, check the correct box, questions if you could tick all of them and get it right. It's not like they say you can't do that... I think.

Also, revision is for the weak.

Minimania · 2015-03-30 08:52:01

I know a trick it's called magic

Kamekthemagician · 2015-03-30 10:09:42

ILoveBaconYUM wrote:

I've always wondered if in one of those multiple choice, check the correct box, questions if you could tick all of them and get it right. It's not like they say you can't do that... I think.
Also, revision is for the weak.

I always revise my entire exam´s answers, and it is a good thing you can do just after finishing the exam. Thanks to that I could correct sometimes a word with bad grammar, or add a bigger answer to a question.

Just do it if you have at least 5 or 10 free minutes. In some subjects like history, I hardly ever revise the exam, because I have no time, and I usually write 3 complete sheets.

The best thing you can do in exams is this:
- If the exam is short and it is not long enough, read all the questions first, so you know what will you answer in the next question.
- Answer firstly only the questions which you know the correct answers. If you get stuck, pass that question or, when you notice the time, you will have no time for all the exam.
- Answer secondly the questions which you doubt. You can mark the possible answers out of the question so it is easier for you.
- Look at questions you don´t know the answer and try to remember where did you see the answer of that question when you studied (if you studied xD). if you don´t remember, you can do two things:
1. Revise the entire exam, maybe you are nervous and you don´t remember the answer until you calm down..
2. Use the time you have to think, think... and cross the fingers so the answer maybe comes.

Slushie · 2015-03-30 13:22:00

If the teacher/professor tells you there's a typo in one of the answer choices, the answer is probably the choice with a typo.

Example:
If the choices were
a. 472
b. 552
c. 346
d. 286

And the teacher/professor tells you that choice C should be 364 and not 346, you should pick C.

Also, sometimes you can find the right answer just by looking at the wording of the answers and trying to imagine yourself as the test maker to guess which answer is most likely correct. I can't think of an example for this right now.

gkaby

Different55 · 2015-03-30 13:31:37

Keep past questions in mind. I can't tell you how many times I've seen the answer to questions inside later questions.

Shadow · 2015-03-30 13:44:04

We have negative markings for wrong answers in MCQ format so people dont try tricks.

Kamekthemagician · 2015-03-30 16:01:54

Shadowboy wrote:

We have negative markings for wrong answers in MCQ format so people dont try tricks.

Correct answer: 3 points
No answer: 1 point
Wrong answer: 0 points

or

Correct answer: 2 points
No answer: 0 points
Wrong answer: -1 point

Creature · 2015-03-30 16:48:49

If Math: Choose the most aproximatelly answer.
If Portuguese/English: Remove what i'm sure its wrong and answer the one that looks making more sense.
If others: Same as Portuguese/English, but answer the answer I think its most complex.

Pingohits · 2015-03-30 20:58:35

my teachers are evil

they give me open response

and they make me explain

gkaby · 2015-03-30 21:47:08

pingohits sry that is severely off topic we are discussing multiple choice test tips no free response or open response tips

Xfrogman43, Bobithan

Sybil · 2015-03-30 23:06:42

gkaby wrote:

pingohits sry that is severely off topic we are discussing multiple choice test tips no free response or open response tips

have you ever seen a beaver? i heard they're rly cool

Zoey2070 · 2015-03-31 00:01:30

if you are 100% clueless, just go with C. C is the most common answer. i read it somewhere... xkcd maybe?

Sybil · 2015-03-31 02:06:46

Zoey2070 wrote:

if you are 100% clueless, just go with C. C is the most common answer. i read it somewhere... xkcd maybe?

on some of my homework i guessed c and it was correct lmao

Ratburntro44 · 2015-03-31 03:57:58

My secret cheating strategy is that I learn everything in the book before the test so I'll know the answers to all the possible questions beforehand and just have to put them down once I get the test. Still haven't been caught.

ILoveBaconYUM

Kamekthemagician · 2015-03-31 10:33:47

Pingohits wrote:

my teachers are evil
they give me open response
and they make me explain

Did you think all the exams would be tests when you only needed to pick a explained answer? In your life you´ll find lots of exams where must write entire pages to answer only one question.

ILoveBaconYUM · 2015-03-31 10:47:40

Zoey2070 wrote:

if you are 100% clueless, just go with C. C is the most common answer. i read it somewhere... xkcd maybe?

Hmm, strange. I feel like the most common answer is A.

rgl32 · 2015-03-31 11:19:27

Kamekthemagician wrote:

Did you think all the exams would be tests when you only needed to pick a explained answer? In your life you´ll find lots of exams where must write entire pages to answer only one question.

I kinda disagree on this, if you are able to write a response in a short amount while it is still completely correct, then why don't you? When I was in high school, There was only one or two exams that I actually had to write a lot to explain everything which took up a few pages, but everything else you can usually knock out in a few sentences if you word them correctly, and this hasn't changed since I've been in college. The worst thing people teach is filler space, which is bs, just get straight to the point, it helps people understand things better. The only exception I have seen on this is English/writing classes (which is kind of obvious) where you are basically required to write long wordy pages of things, which sucks.

ILoveBaconYUM

Pyromaniac · 2015-03-31 12:56:57

Wow, offtopic section has really gone downhill. Have we really sunk this low?

ILoveBaconYUM

Slushie · 2015-03-31 13:55:16

It seems like a legitimate topic of discussion to me.

skullz17

Kamekthemagician · 2015-03-31 16:24:28

rgl32 wrote:

Kamekthemagician wrote:
Did you think all the exams would be tests when you only needed to pick a explained answer? In your life you´ll find lots of exams where must write entire pages to answer only one question.
I kinda disagree on this, if you are able to write a response in a short amount while it is still completely correct, then why don't you? When I was in high school, There was only one or two exams that I actually had to write a lot to explain everything which took up a few pages, but everything else you can usually knock out in a few sentences if you word them correctly, and this hasn't changed since I've been in college. The worst thing people teach is filler space, which is bs, just get straight to the point, it helps people understand things better. The only exception I have seen on this is English/writing classes (which is kind of obvious) where you are basically required to write long wordy pages of things, which sucks.

The less you write in some subjects, the less points the teacher gives you...

rgl32 · 2015-03-31 16:44:35

Kamekthemagician wrote:

The less you write in some subjects, the less points the teacher gives you...

Well that is completely depends on the teacher, but just saying, if you write about something and give sufficient evidence supporting what you are writing about, or even a lot more evidence than what they are expecting, and don't get enough pages, then it should still be valid. But I am well aware that is a complete opinion and also know some teachers who are strict on page length, and then it boils down to if you care enough for a grade to add filler regardless of how well you know the material.
Now back to multiple choice, I think it depends on how many answers there are, usually if there are 4 you can eliminate 2 almost just by looking at them, and then it becomes a 50% guess sometimes, anything more than that, there are usually little clues in the question directing you what the correct answer usually is, and I agree with different on looking at the other questions, you can usually get quite a bit right if you look and see answers in other questions.

Official Everybody Edits Forums

#1 2015-03-30 07:27:44, last edited by gkaby (2015-03-30 07:28:03)

Multiple Choice Tricks

#2 2015-03-30 07:34:03

Re: Multiple Choice Tricks

#3 2015-03-30 07:36:34

Re: Multiple Choice Tricks

#4 2015-03-30 08:49:38, last edited by Kamekthemagician (2015-03-30 08:50:38)

Re: Multiple Choice Tricks

#5 2015-03-30 08:50:58, last edited by ILoveBaconYUM (2015-03-30 08:51:22)

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#6 2015-03-30 08:52:01

Re: Multiple Choice Tricks

#7 2015-03-30 10:09:42, last edited by Kamekthemagician (2015-03-30 10:11:44)

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#8 2015-03-30 13:22:00

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#9 2015-03-30 13:31:37

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#12 2015-03-30 16:48:49

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#19 2015-03-31 10:33:47

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#21 2015-03-31 11:19:27

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#22 2015-03-31 12:56:57, last edited by Pyromaniac (2015-03-31 12:57:25)

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#24 2015-03-31 16:24:28

Re: Multiple Choice Tricks

#25 2015-03-31 16:44:35, last edited by rgl32 (2015-03-31 16:49:47)

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