Multiple-choice exams are devils in disguise. At a glance, you’d think they take less time to solve, and the choices make it easier. However, having the choices will do you no good if you haven’t studied well.
In this guide, we’ll show you how to study for multiple choice exams, even if you don’t know anything about the curriculum!
In This Guide
How to Study for Multiple Choice Exams in 5 Steps
If you still have the chance to do some studying before your upcoming test, this guide should be able to help you. We’ll give you some tips that’ll guarantee you a satisfactory grade!
Start Early
Your mates can start late all they want! When it comes to exams, nothing beats studying early and repeating it. Taking notes during your lectures will help you have a reference when studying. Plus, participating in class will help stick the information into your brain.
It’s always better to start taking things seriously from the first day. That way, you’ll always be ready for any surprising exam. This method is especially helpful for multiple choice questions because you’ll only need to review what you already know. As you know, multiple-choice exams are always about the details, and studying early will make sure you know all of them.
Define the Content
Multiple-choice exams aren’t like regular essay ones; studying everything in the book won’t guarantee that you’ll know how to solve each question. Rather, caring about the details will get you what you want. However, caring about the details without defining the exam’s content will just be a waste of time.
The first thing you should do is ask about study guides. They’ll save you a ton of time studying through all your books. Secondly, you should ask about all the information and make sure it’s getting tested.
For example, some teachers will plan for a simple exam that’s knowledge-based. On the other hand, some teachers will require that you memorize the dates, names, and detailed info that usually skip your mind. You’ll want to clear that with your teacher before you start studying.
Plan Your Schedule
Planning a schedule is usually a wasted effort because you end up procrastinating all the time and ruining it, right?
If your answer is yes, then you’ve been planning your schedules wrong. Their purpose is to help you find all the extra hours you have, not determine the time you’ll spend studying. That way, you’ll be able to make the most of the time you have, rather than study everything at the last minute.
When planning your schedule, start two weeks before your test, so you’d have enough time to study and revise. Additionally, it’s better to plan for short bursts of studying daily; these are more efficient for multiple-choice exams.
Create Notes of Everything
With multiple-choice exams, notes are your go-to studying method. Go through everything the teacher has given you during class, including quizzes, assignments, and class notes. The exam’s content will probably be hiding in those.
Create a note of every notable piece of information you pass by, and take care not to miss any detail. Also, take note of every question you answered wrong in your quizzes or assignments, so you can find the right answer for it.
Lastly, organize all the notes and study them. You’ll especially appreciate this method if you don’t have enough time to go through all the books.
Study in Short Bursts
Your teacher will probably tell you to study all day and things along that line. However, that’s not the way to go with multiple choice exams. As previously mentioned, short bursts are your way to go. Meaning, study for 30–45 minutes with full focus, then take a 10-minute break. Then, repeat until you’re done.
This method is much more efficient than studying for four or more hours in a row. Staring at the books for too long will only get you bored faster, and you’ll forget what you studied.
How to Pass a Multiple Choice Test Without Knowing Anything
While I can’t stress how important it is to properly study for your exams, I get it. Things happen, and sometimes you don’t. We’ve all been there.
If your exam is tomorrow and you haven’t studied properly, it’s too late to carry out the regular studying methods. Instead, we’ll show you some tricks that’ll help you tackle the exams with the least losses.
Pick/Don’t Pick the Odd One Out
We’ve all come across a multiple choice question that has ‘all of the above’ listed in the answers. More than often, this will be the right answer. If you have doubts that the question has more than one correct answer, go for this odd choice.
On the contrary, the answer ‘none of the above’ will likely be wrong, so make sure not to fall into that trap. Additionally, funny or humorous answers are usually wrong too.
Look for the Longest Choice
Teachers usually don’t bother with the wrong choices. However, they often put too much effort into making the right answer longer, thinking they’re misleading the student. This is your cue; when you see an answer longer than the rest, there’s a high chance it’s your winner.
Check the Sequence
Three A’s in a row means that the fourth won’t be an A. This rule was dictated by students who don’t study for exams, but it’s more than often right.
There’s also the rule that says any two following questions will have different answers.
It may not help you much if you haven’t solved anything. Nevertheless, it may come in handy if you have two answered questions and an unanswered one in-between. The answer will likely be different than the one above and the one below, so you’ll have two answers ruled out.
How to Study for (and Pass) Multiple Choice Exams, Even Without Knowing Anything!
For a lot of people, multiple-choice exams are more challenging than regular ones. However, that’s not necessarily true. As long as you know your ways, you’ll be able to tackle the exam. What’s essential is that you focus on the details, and you know the content that the teacher will likely include.
Leave the rest for luck!