I'm really bad at multiple choice questions. I need to know what you think!

[wtm1114]

Hi everyone. A brief intro about myself. I graduated from a college (ranked Top 25 in the US) and I'm currently a 2nd-year medical student in a US medical school (ranked Top 20). I was a biology/psychology double major. School names are omitted for privacy and political reasons, and you don't have to believe the school ranks mean anything

Make a long story short: I'm just not a multiple choice (MC) person.

My undergraduate college has such an "anti-multiple choice" atmosphere. I don't know why. During my 4 years there, after taking 100+ exams, probably 5 of them involve multiple choice questions. Shocking huh, but it's true.

My medical school, on the other hand, relies exclusively on single-best-answer answer multiple choice questions. I am just not good at it. To summarize my experience:

1. After the exam, if I feel I got 100%, it usually comes out as 95%. It was true for both my SAT math (790) and MCAT biological and physical (13 and 12).

2. After an all-MC exam, if I feel good about it it's probably not very good. If I feel bad, it's probably very bad. This is completely the opposite if it were to be an all-short-answer-question exam. My grades on all-MC exams are almost always 5%-10% lower than my expected grades.

3. For MC questions where I'm not sure about the answer and have to do a 50-50 guess, I'm right only 30% of the times at best.

4. I am fully aware of all the MC-taking techniques and seriously attempted to use them. It doesn't work very well.

5. Diligence is not a question. I work 8+ hours everyday in addition to attending classes. No breaks. Weekends + holidays (Thanksgiving and X-mas) included. I read study materials, taking serious notes. Review everything on daily basis. Review everything for the week on weekends. Study 12 straight hours before exam.

6. Timing is not a problem either. For all exams in my school, 3-4 hours are allocated for a 1.5 hours exam.

7. I'm not satisfied with my current academic performance, but it will not impair my career goal. I will still be a doctor and most likely get the residency I like. But this is hurting my self-esteem and makes me think the world is unfair (maybe the world is indeed unfair).

I really want to know what you think, especially if you happen to be a Multiple Choice master! I don't know any MC master personally, but I heard rumors about students who can easily pull off 90%+ with very fragile understanding of the knowledge, solely by using their innate talent at taking MC questions and "examology."

Thank you very much for reading my post.

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[anon-y-mouse]

Hi everyone. A brief intro about myself. I graduated from a college (ranked Top 25 in the US) and I'm currently a 2nd-year medical student in a US medical school (ranked Top 20). I was a biology/psychology double major. School names are omitted for privacy and political reasons, and you don't have to believe the school ranks mean anything

Make a long story short: I'm just not a multiple choice (MC) person.

My undergraduate college has such an "anti-multiple choice" atmosphere. I don't know why. During my 4 years there, after taking 100+ exams, probably 5 of them involve multiple choice questions. Shocking huh, but it's true.

My medical school, on the other hand, relies exclusively on single-best-answer answer multiple choice questions. I am just not good at it. To summarize my experience:

1. After the exam, if I feel I got 100%, it usually comes out as 95%. It was true for both my SAT math (790) and MCAT biological and physical (13 and 12).

2. After an all-MC exam, if I feel good about it it's probably not very good. If I feel bad, it's probably very bad. This is completely the opposite if it were to be an all-short-answer-question exam. My grades on all-MC exams are almost always 5%-10% lower than my expected grades.

3. For MC questions where I'm not sure about the answer and have to do a 50-50 guess, I'm right only 30% of the times at best.

4. I am fully aware of all the MC-taking techniques and seriously attempted to use them. It doesn't work very well.

5. Diligence is not a question. I work 8+ hours everyday in addition to attending classes. No breaks. Weekends + holidays (Thanksgiving and X-mas) included. I read study materials, taking serious notes. Review everything on daily basis. Review everything for the week on weekends. Study 12 straight hours before exam.

6. Timing is not a problem either. For all exams in my school, 3-4 hours are allocated for a 1.5 hours exam.

7. I'm not satisfied with my current academic performance, but it will not impair my career goal. I will still be a doctor and most likely get the residency I like. But this is hurting my self-esteem and makes me think the world is unfair (maybe the world is indeed unfair).

I really want to know what you think, especially if you happen to be a Multiple Choice master! I don't know any MC master personally, but I heard rumors about students who can easily pull off 90%+ with very fragile understanding of the knowledge, solely by using their innate talent at taking MC questions and "examology."

Thank you very much for reading my post.

Wow, you sound certifiably crazy. But you're also being ridiculously vague. 5-10% lower than you think you scored? What are the concrete numbers??? You think you got a 95 but actually got 90? vs You think you got 80, but actually got 70??

The numbers mean a lot. Be more precise for better feedback. You seem like a good student, but "how good" is hard to ascertain precisely from your vague message.

I feel I'm a "MC master" as you put it (actually I was about to make a post about being scared it's going to screw me over one day), and routinely get 90%+ on bare minimum (adjusted for medical school) studying. When you've got it between two, you have to think about which answer is better than the other, and really cogitate on it and try to reason it out. For that, you need to have mastered the basics, which it looks like you have.

Practice makes perfect: buy a question book. Pretest, BRS, NMS, QBank, IVQbank, USMLEWorld, there's a ton out there.

 

[PeepshowJohnny]

I've always considered myself a good test taker.

First, as above, practice questions, practice questions, practice questions. Nothing gets you in the right frame of mind than practice.

Second, don't look for things that aren't there. A lot of people want to add in information that's not even there. It's the classic "overthink the question" biting them in the butt. Med school is always based on the single "best" answer. Anytime you start going down the path of "Wait, maybe it's possible that..." you're probably wrong. 90% of the time they're not trying to trick you.

Third, you study for "12 straight hours before exam". This and the other things you describe are a bit excessive. You're frying your brain, which makes it soo much easier to follow false leads and red herrings in questions.

Fourth, relax. Even "good" test takers aren't the best at predicting their score, and I often end up missing a few extra than I thought. You're apparently doing well in class, worrying about 5% here or there is just going to make you neurotic.

 

[wtm1114]

I've always considered myself a good test taker.

First, as above, practice questions, practice questions, practice questions. Nothing gets you in the right frame of mind than practice.

Second, don't look for things that aren't there. A lot of people want to add in information that's not even there. It's the classic "overthink the question" biting them in the butt. Med school is always based on the single "best" answer. Anytime you start going down the path of "Wait, maybe it's possible that..." you're probably wrong. 90% of the time they're not trying to trick you.

Third, you study for "12 straight hours before exam". This and the other things you describe are a bit excessive. You're frying your brain, which makes it soo much easier to follow false leads and red herrings in questions.

Fourth, relax. Even "good" test takers aren't the best at predicting their score, and I often end up missing a few extra than I thought. You're apparently doing well in class, worrying about 5% here or there is just going to make you neurotic.

I appreciate the reply and your advices help.

Just to add some additional info. Our class is very big. 150+ students. My current ranking is probably (not sure) 5-10 below the midpoint. That's a high 3rd quartile.

 

[GodoShingo]

I think you need to cool down a bit . Don't overuse your brain before the exam. Take at least half the day before the exam to relax and do other stuff. It relieves your stress and refeshes your brain-status.

Then also, 50/50 is not bad in a MC question. Many gunners I know choose 50/50. Many of the options are alike. However, the ones choosing the correct answer are:

1) Those that are lucky
2) Those that understand the subject of the question (mostly by relaxing and thinking "inside the box")

I hope that I have helped you a little!

 

[anon-y-mouse]

I appreciate the reply and your advices help.

Just to add some additional info. Our class is very big. 150+ students. My current ranking is probably (not sure) 5-10 below the midpoint. That's a high 3rd quartile.

This is much more descriptive information... I initially had the picture of a 90% scoring student who wanted to squeeze out that 95%. So you think your 3rd quartile performance is *just* due to your m/c guessing ability? I think it's time for you to do a lot more questions in addition to studying.

I would suggest you get all the Pretest books for your relevant classes and all other famous QBooks for the course (such as Robbins qbook, if it's Path), and work through questions. Again, use the MCAT technique of reading the question and answer stems... and working with those. It really is all about practice.

 

[wtm1114]

Dear Anon-y-mouse,

In fact, by looking at my academic performance retrospectively, this is a direct positive correlation between how many practice questions I did before the exam and my grade. Our school's curriculum makes it very hard to find practice questions that have good overlap with the course materials. But I will try.

Thank you for the advise.

 

[osli]

OK, looks like you did good on the MCAT (I'm guessing you had a ~10 or so at least to go with the 25 in basic sciences? - if not, that could be part of the problem right there) so I'm assuming you have the potential to be in the top half of the class given that you already put absolutely plenty of time into preparation for exams.

Some people just naturally do well on multiple choice. I'm one of them - if you ask me face to face, you might think I know jack schitte about the subject (and maybe I don't?) but come exam time I'll easily beat the average, and if I prepared decently I'll comfortably slide into the top 10%. I scored in the 30's on the MCAT when taking it before I had any organic chem, principles of zoo, anatomy, physiology, genetics, etc. and physics and gchem were a decade in the past. I assure you it wasn't because I'm naturally brilliant and just "know all that stuff" but rather have a knack for finding a "better than the rest" answer when the question makes no sense. Organic chemistry is a perfect example... I was getting 8-10's on practice exams when limiting the questions to just organic when I had no clue what organic chemistry was even about. Picking an answer was based on reading the question to see if something obvious was there (often there was) that didn't require any knowledge of ochem, or in some cases looking at the pretty figures and deciding which just looked intrinsically right.

Anyway, here's some tips for MC test taking that go beyond the "read the answers first" or "think of a correct answer before you look at the choices" type of stuff. Some of this may really help you, some may not.

- If your test is compiled from various lecturers, know whose question it is you are looking at. This can be especially helpful in med school. Sometimes two answers look "pretty good" based on different lectures you've had, but if something in the question stem tips you off as to whose question it is one of the answer choices may suddenly jump out at you as being better.

- Keep an eye out for hidden information in one question that may help answer another. The MCAT was horrible (terrific?) at doing this. Again, especially so if the test comes from different lecturers. One might have a disease and drug given and be asked for the side effect. Another might have a patient presentation and ask you for the best drug to give. You might can figure out the disease, but not the drug, but if you keep your eye open you might notice it is hidden elsewhere on the test and can come back to that later. Out of a 100 question exam, there are always one or two that I can answer (or at the very least, confirm my suspicion or help narrow the field down to a better odds 50/50 situation) by looking back after reading another question.

- Don't make the answers mean more than they do. Sometimes two answers are correct because of some "mistake" they put in the question, so it is right on a "technicality" or in some situations. Usually one is obviously more correct... always pick that one. Arguing later that both were technically correct because "see, right here in our notes it says..." rarely helps.

- If you really don't know the answer, pick the choice that at least sounds familiar. You've been studying the material like a crazed maniac... it is doubtful that the correct answer will ever be something that doesn't even ring a bell as being something you remember reading, even in passing. If you catch yourself thinking "well, none of these seems remotely familiar except this one, but that can't be right because I remember studying about that, and I thought it did..." then just stop, take a deep breath, and pick the one that is familiar. Even if you "think" it is incorrect. Reality is that if you don't pick that one, then you are randomly guessing among the other three or four choices, and your odds aren't good. I guarantee you that if you find yourself in that situation five times on a 100 question exam, and you guess among the unfamiliar, you might get one correct... always take the familiar answer and you'll get at least half right. Amazing how you can "misremember" how something works, or what it did, but the fact that it is familiar should give you a pretty big clue.

- If you get it down to 50/50, always go with your first instinct. I know you've heard it before, but it really is true. Sometimes you'll be wrong, and wish you had changed it... but the truth is that there is a selection bias in how you retrospectively perceive those questions. Your instinct may have been wrong on 4 50/50 questions on an exam and you get pissed off at yourself for not choosing "the one that I knew was probably correct" and completely ignore the other 6 questions that were 50/50 and you got correct by sticking with your instinct. Over time, it will make you start to second guess yourself a lot and ultimately it will cost you points. Play the odds. You aren't going to get all the questions correct anyway, so stop approaching the test as an absolute "I can get them all right" challenge but rather more of a poker or strategy type game with the mindset of "what rules do I use to maximize my points." Because I guarantee that there are other students in your class that are good test takers and naturally do that, and it hurts you either directly (graded on a curve) or indirectly (class rank).

- When all else fails... i.e you don't remember anything about the subject the question covers... don't get too analytical on the answers but read them from a "ignorant, naieve, but not stupid" perspective. Look for obvious errors in the answer choices that rules them out (e.g. you may have no clue what the first artery coming off the descending aorta is... but you're damned sure the aorta is usually on the left side!) to increase your odds. Think outside your medical education... do you know anything else which might help make an educated guess or narrow the possibilities? Beyond that, try not to think too much about the choices but just ask yourself "which sounds better." Not "which can I think about long enough to convince myself that it might be this one" but just after a quick 3 second glance, what does your gut say? Which reads better? Which molecule just looks prettier, and you figure nature would just favor that shape over those bizarrely shaped other ones?

- Also, and this is conventional wisdom going back to first grade... read the question carefully! No kidding. It's a shame to miss a question that you knew, but didn't notice a qualifier, or misread postganglionic for preganglionic, or saw "vessel" and read it for "vein" and eliminated the correct answer because you thought the question was asking specifically for a vein. Or the question is asking for MOA for a drug when the professor spent almost all his time covering side effects for that drug and barely mentioned MOA (probably because it is simple, or obvious, or previously covered or whatever)... and lo and behold three answer choices are side effects and only 2 MOA, and your brain sees the drug, remembers the lecture, and shouts "side effects!" at you before you even finish reading the question. Thus you completely ignore the correct answer as being a preposterous response.

- Lastly... study smarter? I think that's a big one when you are obviously putting in plenty of time. I seriously doubt it is a lack of intelligence (and obviously not a lack of preparation time), just a bad study strategy. Remember previous questions from previous tests and try to get a feel for what kind of material will make likely test questions. In our school, we have two questions from each hour of lecture on each exam. I try to pick out the five most likely things to be asked as questions from each lecture, and compile those as a separate list. You'd better damned well believe that I know those like the back of my hand. I'm not always right, but I'd say I have a list of well over half... probably more like 60-70% of the test before hand. Who wouldn't like those odds? And it's very easy to know well the "questions" that you have compiled for a test. For a moderately "big" exam, which is ~100 questions at my school, I have a list of 250 questions. That takes like half an hour to read through once. In one afternoon, you can absolutely rote memorize those in case some cover areas you don't understand so well (like biochem, that's almost the only way I get any of those correct!). If you can get nearly 3/4 of the test correct that way, you're probably near class average already. Keeping in mind that often a professor will "give away" a test question with a huge hint, and it really is not that difficult to narrow your 100 question test down to 30-40 questions that you really need to think about. What a huge relief come test time!

 

[osli]

Dear Anon-y-mouse,

In fact, by looking at my academic performance retrospectively, this is a direct positive correlation between how many practice questions I did before the exam and my grade. Our school's curriculum makes it very hard to find practice questions that have good overlap with the course materials. But I will try.

Thank you for the advise.

Be careful to remember what your short term goal is... making a good grade on this test. There will be plenty of time for Qbanks and such when it comes board prep time. Use them now only if they will help you get more comfortable with MC style tests (but you did fine on the MCAT...) or if the professor really gave you no clue what the scope of testable material is, in which case they are higher yield than reading the whole textbook on the subject in question. Otherwise, you should keep in mind that if you have class notes and/or a syllabus on what you are responsible for on a test your questions will come directly from that material and not some 500 question pathology bank, which may make you smarter and help you understand some things better, but may not be worth one point on the test at hand. Study the tested material. Know it well. If they pull a question or two from who knows where, it's only a question or two. If you just decide to "know the whole textbook" you probably won't, and may miss five questions from the class notes because you didn't know them inside and out.

I'm just saying to always be mindful of test taking strategy. It's a game. How do they present information to you? Notes? Reading assignments? Are questions only pulled from those sources? Are some professors known for using "blue box" or similar for question topics? Does professor X always like to ask about metabolites and not rate limiting steps (or vice versa)?

Know your institutions testing policy and practices. Know your professorss lecture and testing styles. Know them well. They are about the only things you can guarantee that you know in advance of the test.

 

[anon-y-mouse]

Dear Anon-y-mouse,

In fact, by looking at my academic performance retrospectively, this is a direct positive correlation between how many practice questions I did before the exam and my grade. Our school's curriculum makes it very hard to find practice questions that have good overlap with the course materials. But I will try.

Thank you for the advise.

Have you tried the Pretest series? Or any of the other question banks?

 

[brianmartin]

There is no secret to doing well on MC questions....read the question....read the answers....pick the best one. Is it really that hard? I can't think of an easier system. You get to eliminate answers....and then by the end you either know for sure what the right choice is, or you have to guess between 2.

 

[osli]

There is no secret to doing well on MC questions....read the question....read the answers....pick the best one.

The key for many people is knowing which is the "best one" for a question that they really don't know (which can be specific to MC tests), as well as strategy planning to maximize the ones they do know (which works equally well for any type of test). Where you know the correct answer, of course it's easy. When you narrow it down to 50/50, then what? Flip a coin? There are better methods... What if you can't even narrow it down that far? Flip two coins? Far better methods...

 

[Blade28]

osli, great advice.

I hate to say it, but I like the simple Kaplan method:

(1) After reading the question, figure out the answer in your head, if possible, then look for it. If it's one of the choices, circle it and move on to the next question.
(2) If you don't immediately know the answer, use process of elimination. Usually you can narrow it down to 2 choices (usually of the 5 answer choices, two are obviously wrong, and one is sorta obviously wrong, and two both look like they could be right).
(3) Once you've narrowed it down, pick the best one. DON'T re-read the passage looking for "clues" you may have missed earlier - you're just wasting your time.

 

[S_Talos]

Hi everyone. A brief intro about myself. I graduated from a college (ranked Top 25 in the US) and I'm currently a 2nd-year medical student in a US medical school (ranked Top 20). I was a biology/psychology double major. School names are omitted for privacy and political reasons, and you don't have to believe the school ranks mean anything

Make a long story short: I'm just not a multiple choice (MC) person.

My undergraduate college has such an "anti-multiple choice" atmosphere. I don't know why. During my 4 years there, after taking 100+ exams, probably 5 of them involve multiple choice questions. Shocking huh, but it's true.

My medical school, on the other hand, relies exclusively on single-best-answer answer multiple choice questions. I am just not good at it. To summarize my experience:

1. After the exam, if I feel I got 100%, it usually comes out as 95%. It was true for both my SAT math (790) and MCAT biological and physical (13 and 12).

2. After an all-MC exam, if I feel good about it it's probably not very good. If I feel bad, it's probably very bad. This is completely the opposite if it were to be an all-short-answer-question exam. My grades on all-MC exams are almost always 5%-10% lower than my expected grades.

3. For MC questions where I'm not sure about the answer and have to do a 50-50 guess, I'm right only 30% of the times at best.

4. I am fully aware of all the MC-taking techniques and seriously attempted to use them. It doesn't work very well.

5. Diligence is not a question. I work 8+ hours everyday in addition to attending classes. No breaks. Weekends + holidays (Thanksgiving and X-mas) included. I read study materials, taking serious notes. Review everything on daily basis. Review everything for the week on weekends. Study 12 straight hours before exam.

6. Timing is not a problem either. For all exams in my school, 3-4 hours are allocated for a 1.5 hours exam.

7. I'm not satisfied with my current academic performance, but it will not impair my career goal. I will still be a doctor and most likely get the residency I like. But this is hurting my self-esteem and makes me think the world is unfair (maybe the world is indeed unfair).

I really want to know what you think, especially if you happen to be a Multiple Choice master! I don't know any MC master personally, but I heard rumors about students who can easily pull off 90%+ with very fragile understanding of the knowledge, solely by using their innate talent at taking MC questions and "examology."

Thank you very much for reading my post.

I'm guessing your problem with MC tests is that you over-analyze everything.

 

[Slide]

I'm guessing your problem with MC tests is that you over-analyze everything.

QFT. This is how I messed up my first test. When you stop and think to analyze a problem for longer than necessary, you're overanalyzing. When this happens, the only thing that will happen is that you'll convince yourself the wrong answer is the right one.

 

[wtm1114]

OH WOW, people in this forum are so supportive! There's a 2000+ words advice right there. I will actually spend some good time later today to digest you guys' replies, but THANK YOU SO MUCH!

 

[wtm1114]

OK I'm back.

I think I can summarize how I feel after reading all the replies like this,

1. Practice. Photocopy all relevant pretest books and do them seriously. I've done this before and it was great.

2. Considering the top 10% of my class made their place by pulling off scores above 95%, it ain't gonna happen for me. That's simply above my physical limit. It's time to give up thinking about "being the best kid" but be a good kid.

3. Think inside the box. I like this saying. I will try it on next exam.

Thank you all!

 

[Lolo08]

Speaking of "go with your first instinct," I have found that usually my first instinct is wrong when it's a 50-50 situation. I'm wrong like 80% of the time. I'm about an average med student in an average school... and it seems counterintuitive, but my gut instinct really sucks. Maybe if it's 50-50, I should choose the one I wouldn't choose normally?

 

[ColinHay]

Well you can do one of several things (pick the best)

A. choose a different career.

B. Ask for special accommodations - that always goes over well.

C. look at what your neighbor chooses.

D. A and C but Not B

 

[musiclink213]

I've also heard that if the answer choice has "Always" or "Never" in it, it's almost always a wrong answer, especially in med school, where there is rarely a definite answer. But yea, I don't have any techniques, other than I always bring my lucky charm with me and wear the same necklace. Superstitious? Maybe, but I'm not gonna mess with results.

 

[osli]

Speaking of "go with your first instinct," I have found that usually my first instinct is wrong when it's a 50-50 situation. I'm wrong like 80% of the time. I'm about an average med student in an average school... and it seems counterintuitive, but my gut instinct really sucks. Maybe if it's 50-50, I should choose the one I wouldn't choose normally?

Interesting... not sure really what to say, other than at least you know you shouldn't trust your instinct?

I noticed that the First Aid for the Boards book has some factoid in it about a study was conducted that showed that when students changed an answer on the boards 60% of the time it was to a correct answer, 40% of the time it was to an incorrect answer - hence they suggested not always "going with your first instinct."

I'd argue that the facts don't lead to their conclusion. Students have long since been told to go with their first instinct unless they have strong logical reason to do otherwise (such as coming back to the problem after remembering a key fact, or realizing they misread the question or an answer choice initially). Thus, I propose that the sample of students who change an answer is heavily biased, consisting of a large percentage of students who do so because they made a thoughtful and logical change. The sample likely is not representative of students who really are guessing, and just decide to change from one guess (first hunch) to another guess.