Multiple Choice Exam (MCE) Test Taking Tips

GENERAL TIPS

1. Get organized with materials to study prior to the test.

2. Set aside time to study, and avoid all-night study sessions.
3. Allow yourself the full allotted time to take your test.
4. Use any references or resources that are authorized for the test.

TEN STEPS TO REDUCE TEST ANXIETY

1. Prepare for the exam ahead of time. Cramming is a big culprit of test anxiety.
2. Get plenty of rest and sleep the night before the exam.
3. Don't forget to eat the day of the exam, preferably something nutritious.
4. Avoid arriving too early or late to the exam.
5. Avoid last-minute studying; remember that you are already prepared.
6. Avoid listening to others or discussing the exam with others while you wait for the
exam. The anxiety of others can rub off and suddenly, you begin to doubt
yourself.
7. Don't forget to breathe! Take deep breaths to help you relax. Don't worry, nobody
will notice!
8. While you are taking deep breaths, replace any negative thoughts with positive
thoughts. For example, you may find it useful to repeat positive statements to
yourself such as the following: "I am relaxed," "I am prepared," or "I am a good
student." Make up your own!
9. Don't get bogged down and worry about questions you don't know; move on.
Later, the answer may come to you or you may get clues from other exam
questions.
10. Reward yourself when you are finished with the exam.

(Retrieved from http://www.add.devry.edu/StudyTips.html)

TIPS FOR MULTIPLE CHOICE TESTS

1. Read the question, and then try to guess the answer before you look at what's there.
2. Begin the elimination process immediately. If you can write on the test, strike out the
wrong answers so if you have to come back to this question, you will not have to
process the wrong answers again.
3. Be careful you don't read too much into questions. You can try to second-guess the
test preparers, get too elaborate, and ruin the answer.
4. Underline key words.
5. If a question deals with any sort of cause and effect that has several steps in it, draw
or write down the steps very quickly using abbreviated words or symbols. This helps
you see any missing pieces.
6. If two choices are very similar, you must look at other qualifiers such as "always"
versus "sometimes." If only one or two words are different, one is possibly correct.
7. If two choices are opposite, one of them is probably correct.
8. Don't go against your first impulse unless you are sure you were wrong.
(Sometimes you're so smart you scare yourself.)
 Multiple Choice Exam (MCE) Test Taking Tips
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9. Check for negatives and other words that are there to throw you off ("Which of the
following is not...").
10. The answer is usually wrong if it contains "all, always, never, or none.”
11. The answer has a great chance of being right if it has "sometimes, probably, or
some."
12. When you don't know the right answer, look for the wrong one. Start the elimination
process rolling.
13. Don't eliminate an answer unless you actually know what every word means.
14. Read every answer (unless you are wildly guessing and there is no penalty).
15. “All of the above.” Remember that you are to choose the best answer. Even if you
choose (B) and (B) is a correct answer, it gets nuked by “(E) All of the above” if
every other answer is also correct.

Adapted from: Fry, R. (1992). “Ace” any test. Retrieved from

http://www.hou.devry.edu/asc_guide.html#test