Tips & Tricks for Mastering Multiple Choice Tests
Multiple choice tests are a big part of schooling and evaluations at all levels, from elementary school through college and beyond. But for many students, these tests are overwhelming and nerve-wracking. The best way to set yourself up for success in any exam situation is to study and prepare, but there are some helpful strategies you can take into your testing day to help you be more likely to do well on this type of test.
7 Tips for Doing Better on Multiple Choice Tests
#1: Read the Question Carefully
It doesn’t matter what strategy you use; if you don’t carefully read the question to find out what it’s asking, it’s unlikely that you’ll land on the correct answer. When you read a multiple choice test question, it’s important to look for words like “not” and “except” and “all but” because these sneaky phrases can completely change which direction you’ll go with your answers.
Assuming you’ve read the question correctly, here are some strategies to help you land on the correct answer.
#2: Eliminate obvious wrong answers
In most multiple choice tests, it’s easy to find 1-2 possible answers that are obviously incorrect. If the correct answer doesn’t stand out at you, approach it from this direction instead. Eliminating those answers that are clearly wrong can help you narrow your choices to be more accurate in the answers you select.
#3: Look for positive statement
Most of the time, correct answers will be a positive statement instead of a negative one. If there is a “not” or “isn’t” or other negating word in the answer, it’s more likely to be incorrect so carefully evaluate your other options.
#4: If two answers say essentially the same thing, both are likely to be wrong
If you have two potential answers that are essentially saying the same thing but using different words, there’s no way that they can both be correct so it’s likely that they are both wrong and you can eliminate them. Just read carefully to look for subtle differences!
#5: If you have two answers that are exact opposites, only one can be correct
Sometimes multiple choice tests will provide answer options that are direct opposites. In this case, only one of them could be correct. If you see this pattern in your answer choices, it’s helpful to look at these side-by-side to determine which one is a potential correct answer or if you can eliminate them both entirely.
#6: Eliminate (or carefully evaluate) extremes
Most of the time, answers that use extremes (like all, never, always, or every) will not be correct—however, you should still evaluate them carefully. If it comes down to two options and one contains an extreme, however, it’s likely that you can eliminate it.
#7: Answers with more information are often correct
Correct answers on multiple choice tests often have more information than the wrong answers. As you evaluate your answer options, look for the one that answers the question most completely. There may be one that is close, but an answer with more information will beat it out just about every time!
The exception here is if the question is asking about an overall message or general theme — in that case, answers with more information may be too specific.
