Dos and don’ts for MC exams

Studying effectively is one thing, but multiple choice exams also require an effective approach. So let’s start with an important question. What are the two most common mistakes made during multiple choice exams? 1. Not reading the question properly; 2. Changing the right answer. Well, that’s actually not too bad if you think about it because we can all read well. And we can also leave an answer as it is. But we’re not quite there yet. What else can you do to improve your chances in a multiple choice exam? We’ve come up with a step-by-step approach. Get an overview. Answer the easy questions. Check your progress. Answer the difficult questions. Review your answers. Get an overview.

See how many questions there are, but don’t read the questions just yet. So you can roughly estimate how much time you have per question on average. Make also sure you leave sometime at the end for the final check. Now start with easy questions first. For the time being, leave aside the questions you don’t know. You will tackle those later on. Answering the questions that you know first will give you a confidence boost. And answering questions gets your brain in gear to retrieve knowledge. Read the question carefully and reformulate it. What exactly is being asked? To know that, you have to read the question carefully. And this helps you to really understand the question. Cover up the answers.

If you’re allowed to, jot down notes about the question. This helps get your brain in gear to actively retrieve the knowledge from your memory. Read the question again, and work out the answer for yourself without looking at the options. If you think you have the right answer, take a look at the possible answers. A number of things can happen now. 1. Your answer isn’t in the list of options, annoying. But then you may not have read the question properly, or you followed the wrong train of thought. You can find the right answer by reading the question and all the answers carefully. 2. Your answer is similar to one of the options. You’re on the right track.

But, again, read all the answers carefully so that you can make the right choice. 3. Your answer is there. Great, but the same principle applies. Read all the answers carefully to check that you have indeed made the right choice. Go on this way until you have answered all the easy questions. Now it’s time to check your progress. How many difficult questions are there to be answered? And what time is left for them and the final check? Knowing this will give you an idea how to divide the upcoming time. Now you can move on and start answering the questions that you found more difficult.

By working through the easier questions first, you’re more likely to be able to recall other bits of information from your memory that you didn’t quite have at your fingertips in the beginning. There’s nothing wrong with having to think hard. That’s the whole point of exams. Now is the time to really use your head for what it’s made for, thinking. Don’t doubt yourself. Just concentrate on each question and carefully consider your answer before moving on to the next one. Answer all the questions. Guess when necessary unless there is a penalty for incorrect answers. Have you answered all the questions? Then you’re almost there. At the end, check the whole exam one more time. Check that you haven’t missed any questions.

And check any questions you were unsure about. And can you remember what to do now? Don’t change a right answer into a wrong answer. So be careful if you change any of your answers. Your first answer is often the right answer. Now it’s over and done with. Time to relax.