|
COUNSELOR'S CORNER
Jeff Credille, Counselor
jdcredille@itawamba.k12.ms.us
Telephone: 662-282-4276 (work)
===============================================
To apply for MTAG, go to
http://www.mississippi.edu and click on Financial Aid. Then
click on
Applicants Apply Here - Online Web Application.
MULTIPLE CHOICE TEST-TAKING STRATEGIES
Multiple Choice questions usually include a phrase or stem followed by
three to five options.
Read the directions carefully.
 | Know if each question has one or more correct option. |
| Know if you are penalized for guessing. |
| Know how much time is allowed since this governs your strategy. |
Preview the test.
| Read through the test quickly and answer the easiest questions first. |
|
Mark those you think you know in
some way that is appropriate. |
Read through the test a second time
and answer more difficult questions.
| You may pick up cues for answers from the first reading, or become more
comfortable in the testing situation. |
If time allows, review both questions
and answers.
|
It is possible you misread
questions the first time. |
Answering options:
Improve your odds—think critically.
|
Cover the options, read the stem,
and try to answer. |
|
Select the option that most closely
matches your answer. |
|
Read the stem with each option. |
|
Treat each option as a true-false
question, and choose the "most true." |
Strategies to answer difficult questions:
Eliminate options you know to be
incorrect.
|
If allowed, mark words or
alternatives in questions that eliminate the option. |
Give each option of a question the
"true-false test."
|
This may reduce your selection to
the best answer. |
Question options that grammatically
don’t fit with the stem.
Question options that are totally
unfamiliar to you.
Question options that contain
negative or absolute words.
|
Try substituting a qualified term
for the absolute one, like frequently for always; or typical
for every to see if you can eliminate it. |
"All of the above"
|
If you know two of the three
options seem correct, "all of the above" is a strong possibility. |
Number answers
|
Toss out the high and low and
consider the middle range numbers. |
"Look alike options"
|
Probably one is correct; choose the
best, but eliminate choices that mean basically the same thing, and thus
cancel each other out. |
Double negatives
|
Create the equivalent positive
statement and consider. |
Echo options
|
If two options are opposite each
other, chances are one of them is correct. |
Favor options that contain
qualifiers.
|
The result is longer, more
inclusive items that better fill the role of the answer. |
If two alternatives seem correct,
compare them for differences, and then refer to the stem to find your best
answer.
Guessing:
|
Always guess when there is no
penalty for guessing, or you can eliminate options. |
|
Don’t guess if you are penalized
for guessing, or if you have no basis for your choice. |
|
Use hints from questions you know
to answer questions you do not know. |
|
Change your first answers only when
you are sure of the correction, or when other cues in the test cue you to
change. |
Remember that you are looking for the
BEST answer, not only a correct one, and not one which must be true all of the
time, in all cases, and without exception.
| 
