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No matter how hard we prepare for exams, there’s always that one question which we don’t know how to answer.  When faced with such question, we have no choice but to guess the letter of the correct answer. What’s interesting about guessing answers is that it can be done in an intelligent and well-thought-out manner! To increase your chances of guessing the right answer, it pays to know the following tips. These tips, however, apply only to multiple-choice exams[1]:

  1. Learn to cross out choices which you know are definitely incorrect.

    Simplest and most straightforward tip: If you manage to eliminate two out of four choices, you already have a 50% chance of guessing the right answer, which is already pretty big.

  1. Be aware of words used and content.

    Choices like “all of the above”, “none of the above”, “always true”, and “never true” are usually wrong. Moreover, if a question offers four choices, and three of those choices are similar in theme and word usage, the odd one out is most likely the correct answer. Lastly, if two choices appear to be the opposites of one another, both are usually wrong.

  1. Scout for context clues.

    Sometimes, you’ll encounter questions that give away answers to other questions. Let’s say you encounter this question: “In what year did Emilio Aguinaldo declare independence?”. Later on, this other question pops up: “In the 1898 declaration of independence, where did Emilio Aguinaldo wave the flag?”. Right away, we would know that the answer to the first question is 1898. Whether this is done intentionally or unintentionally by the test maker, always be on the lookout for these kinds of questions.

  1. Remember to answer questions based on your lecture/reading, and not from outside knowledge.

    Accept questions at face value. Never argue with the question and its choices. Unless the test maker says so, one of the choices will always be correct.

  1. None of these tips work all the time.

    Do note that relying solely on these tips is not recommended. Use these only if you are totally clueless about the questions. More importantly, do not guess your way through your tests. Have the self-discipline to study beforehand to avoid having to make a guess. Always remember that nothing beats actual preparation!

Remembering these tips will come in handy, especially for the UPCAT, ACET, and DLSUCET, which are known to be in multiple-choice format. As further preparation for these tests, you may want to consider enrolling in AHEAD Tutorial and Review Center’s review programs. Our review programs promise to equip college applicants with the skills they need in order to ace these tests and subsequently get into the university of their choice. For more details, visit https://review.ahead.edu.ph/.

Also, you may visit http://www.lacitycollege.edu/services/learningskills/test/Guessrule.html for more tips on how to make intelligent guesses!

[1]http://www.lacitycollege.edu/services/learningskills/test/Guessrule.html