haha, oh man, I am BAD at multiple choice tests

[deleted36260]

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[SomeDoc]

Do what you did for the MCAT. Same thing applies here. Eliminate and narrow down. Double check answers.

 

[MonkeyNuts!]

The detachment between what I know and what I am getting on the test is HUGE.

Ask upperclassmen what to study and what's on these exams. Or your TAs, who are probably upperclassmen as well. If they are grad students, I'd still ask them, but go with what your upperclassmen tell you.

If you're good enough to tutor, I doubt studying habits are your problem or test taking skills. Just a matter of recon and getting good intel.

 

[Pinkertinkle]

Use the force, if an answer feels right pick it and don't go over thinking things.

 

[Noeljan]

it is really hard after you are used to long answer/explanation questions (i was in the same situation of facing MC tests after two years of grad school which is all long answer). You will get better with time, and after you do you will realize it is actually way easier to get by on MC tests. Some advice, don't change answers, don't overthink things, go with your first answer. Also, there is only one right answer (usually) so if something jumps out at you as the obvious answer just go with it (instead of rationalizing reaons why the others could be correct). You will get better as you get more used to it, trust me.

 

[Slide]

Look at the questions you missed and see if there's a pattern to what you missed. This sounds more like a confidence/test-taking issue rather than a knowledge issue. Once you figure out why you're missing them, then figure out how good your first instincts are on "iffy" questions. I always second-guessed questions that I had hunches on, and that cost me quite a good number of points on my first block of exams. Once I got the confidence and self-guessing issue resolved, my grades then correlated my actual knowledge and performance.

 

[Non-TradTulsa]

My school had a session in Human Behavior class about "test taking strategies." I'd read up on it, or find someone at your school who is experienced in testing psychology and coping strategies - I'm sure there is such a person. I thought the "test taking strategy" session was ridiculous - before I went. I was surprised at how well strategies like "be highly suspicious of any answer that contains 'always' or 'never'" or "if you have no clue at all, pick the longest answer not in the 'a' position" worked.

Fact is, your life is going to be multiple choice tests from here on in - med school, USMLE, boards, everything. I have no doubt that you could know more about immunology than someone who scored higher than you - multiple choice tests don't accurately measure your true knowledge or your worth. Multiple choice tests are a game - and you need to develop an active strategy to get better at the game.

That's just how it is, IMHO.

 

[GoLakers310]

Many multiple choice exams in med school can be and SHOULD be definitely easier than many recall everything word for word type of exams during undergrad

 

[Non-TradTulsa]

Many multiple choice exams in med school can be and SHOULD be definitely easier than many recall everything word for word type of exams during undergrad

I agree that it's easier to have a term jog your memory than having to remember a certain word or name from scratch. However, when you've got a Course Director who has had 30 years' experience in constructing answer stems that will snag a student who knows 80% of the material instead of 100% of the material, the tests can be quite difficult.

You haven't taken Step 1 yet, have you? They're very good at multiple choice tests - much better than any of us will ever be.

 

[Yoyomama88]

anyone have anymore tips on how to approach mc tests?

 

[Captain Fantastic]

However, when you've got a Course Director who has had 30 years' experience in constructing answer stems that will snag a student who knows 80% of the material instead of 100% of the material, the tests can be quite difficult.

You haven't taken Step 1 yet, have you? They're very good at multiple choice tests - much better than any of us will ever be.

We need to make "plausible distractors" illegal with stiff criminal penalties. 👍

 

[Isoprop]

Many multiple choice exams in med school can be and SHOULD be definitely easier than many recall everything word for word type of exams during undergrad

you never had the "pick A if I and III is true, pick B if II and IV is true, etc." test. especially in anatomy/embryo, these are tough because you can know 80% of the material and still score about a 50%.

 

[vtucci]

Do more questions- get USMLEWORLD for step 1 and 2. Case files is an excellent series. Get the A&L question books, Kaplan Qbook, First Aid Q&A.

It is all about pattern recognition.

 

[Yoyomama88]

the classes i am taking biochem/ histo...the tests are basic sciences, little clinical problems, so im not sure step problems would help. Do you guys have any tips for studying for these exams, I feel like for multiple choice, you need to know the subject matter forwards and backwards, and in weird circumstances....how do you study for tests like this? I dont just memorize, and I always make sure that I understand concepts properly by studying with other people. Usually if you ask me about a subject, I can give you a dialogue on what's going on, but I just cant perform well on the test.

 

[Blesbok]

Use the force, if an answer feels right pick it and don't go over thinking things.

:werd: A lot of questions can be answered correctly without even knowing the right answer. Good grades on multiple choice tests are not only a challenge of knowledge, but also a challenge of reasoning and deduction.

 

[ACSurgeon]

Alright firsts tests over with and on to the next block starting Monday. The detachment between what I know and what I am getting on the test is HUGE. I scored 15 points lower on an immunology test than a girl that I tutored (she knew **** and still got a high score).


So, fix me! What the heck do I do here?? Anyone over come this??
I read some old thread, but it's people complaining they are making 90's instead of 95's and blaming on the test.

In my case, one class gives a MC test and a short answer, fill in the blank test. I aced the short answer and got a C on the MC. haha, ahhhh! 4 years of essay tests have left me without a needed skill.

Thanks for anything.
Hope everyone is having a good weekend!

I don't know... I was an engineering major, so not many MC exams in undergrad, and I found it much easier to recognize correct statements (use of informed logic usually goes a long way) than to have to recall EVERYTHING about a certain thing. I think it would be crazy if we were asked to list 5 diseases with symptom X as opposed to having a case presentation with multiple symptoms that lead you to figure out it is diagnosis X.

Also, we normally don't have too many A is I&III, B is II&III, IV, C is all the above type Q's. The answer is usually the obvious one (minus a few wtf-is this-type of questions here and there, but that is to be expected).

 

[braluk]

If you know the material reasonably well, I've known that gut instincts always play out better than second guessing your choices.

 

[GreenShirt]

I had a similar adjustment period when coming to medical school in terms of MC tests. In undergrad, all my pre-req courses used an essay question format. The good thing is that you don't have to memorize things enough to write them all out, just enough to recognize them if they're written in front of you. The bad thing, IMHO, is that MC test are sort of "hit or miss". Either you remember that fact or you don't. There's no partial credit for knowing other related stuff. The best thing is to skim through the material as many times as possible to familiarize yourself with as much info as possible and then fous on the things that are more memorization intensive (such as pharm). Beyond that it comes down to test-taking skills.

 

[novastorm]

While there has been lots of good advice in this thread I do know your pain. I went from a MC undergrad to a Essay undergrad and it was a bitch to adjust. Now I'm back in the MC world and I'm adjusting ok but I did notice that I really have to shift how I study because the generalized understanding of concepts just doesnt hack it anymore, gotta know the trivia these days. So my advice is you know how to study for the concepts, now work on studing for the details, which means hours upon hours of repitition for most.

 

[SQUmedic]

Novastorm is right..
1) Read a fat ****ty book like moore = ONCE --> get the picture
2) Read slides + lecture notes --> X100 times
3) Memorize these facts by killing urself
4) Read that fat ****ty book again to get the grasp and ur head primed

Im just soooooooo annoyed with everything at the moment.. I screwed one of my GI exams

 

[Yoyomama88]

hey does anyone have any tips for how to use your time on mc exams...

So I'm a pretty slow test taker ( for whatever reason, I doubt its reading speed or comprehension because I scored a 10 in my MCAT verbal, but who knows)....Here are the first two options that I have tried already.

1) Read everything on the test by speaking it to myself ( I did this for the question and answer choices), but I found myself running out of time. I starred any questions I didn't definitively know. ( about 17 out of 60, and I didnt put an answer down, I crossed out the choices I knew were wrong)...By the end of the exam, I scrambled to refinish these questions, and I didn't really have enough time to give all of them enough thought)

I think I could have been more prepared for this exam anyways....


2) Second exam, I just read all the questions and answer choices by gazing over them with my eyes. I tried to finish the entire exam quickly, which i did. Then, I went over all the starred ones (only about 5 or 10 out of 70 q's), then I went back to the beginning of the exam from beginning to finish to check every question over. I only got to finish checking over 70 percent of the exam.

I did much better on the second exam, but it was also a much easier exam. I made stupid careless mistakes on both exams, either I didn't read the question properly or I just put the wrong answer down, when I really knew the information. I know this analysis is a jumbled mess....but does anyone have any tips?

Also is it much more important to try and get the answer right the first time looking at a question, because when you go back over a question, you usually have bias for the right answer you think you have, thus checking over your exam is kind of pointless...any thoughts on this.