Step II linked questions

[rkaz]

Hi guys, I'm taking my COMLEX CE in a few weeks and I have some questions regarding linked questions - as I was wondering this on the first exam as well.

Let's say I'm taking the test and come up to 2 linked questions. On linked problem1, I have the answer choices narrowed down to 2 options and I pick one randomly as I can't decide between them. Then on linked problem 2, should I pick the answer that I know corresponds to linked problem 1? Or should I pick the OTHER choice, hoping that I might get at least 1 of the 2 questions right.

What I'm wondering is that if we are wrong with the first question, but pick the appropriate answer on part 2 that goes along with our incorrect answer on part 1 - then do we get both answers wrong, or will we still get credit for part 2?

Just thought I'd ask if anyone knows, as that would help me strategize those linked questions. Thanks!

 

[BigSib]

... Let's say I'm taking the test and come up to 2 linked questions. On linked problem 1, I have the answer choices narrowed down to 2 options and I pick one randomly as I can't decide between them. Then on linked problem 2, should I pick the answer that I know corresponds to linked problem 1? Or should I pick the OTHER choice, hoping that I might get at least 1 of the 2 questions right. ...

That is an interesting question. You're talking about a very specific question type, because there some multi-part questions have items within the series that involve completely separate things. But yes, there are so-called 'linked' questions where answer choices can easily be matched up with the corresponding answer choices of a previous question.

I would not advise doing this for a large number of questions. In my opinion you should not play games like this and pick the answer you think is most correct. I wouldn't be surprised to find a published article on exam strategy that supports this statement. However, I've done this myself in the past when I was completely 50/50.

... What I'm wondering is that if we are wrong with the first question, but pick the appropriate answer on part 2 that goes along with our incorrect answer on part 1 - then do we get both answers wrong, or will we still get credit for part 2? ...

You still get credit for whatever you get correct.