Do you really want the fate of where you go to college into to fall on blind guessing? I didn’t think so.
Once upon a time, there was truth in this statement. Prior to 2000, the answer choice “C” did appear on the test 33.33% of the time, more than any other answer choice. But thirteen years have passed, and the College Board has wised up. Their spies heard the rumors, adjusted the test, and now each answer choice appears on the exam exactly 20 percent of the time. If anyone tells you to guess “C” when you have no idea what the answer choice is, it’s likely your parents. Let Mom and Dad know that times have changed.
Either way, there are much more productive ways of “guessing” on any standardized test. Promise. Blindly guessing is never a good idea.
Why? There is that whole penalty thing. You receive minus -1/4 of a point for every question you get wrong. Basic math shows that for every four you get wrong, you need to get at least one question right to cancel out the damage done by choosing those incorrect answers. Put that back into a percentage, and you need to narrow down the odds of “randomly” guessing to 25 percent and in case you didn’t notice, there are five multiple-choice answers sitting there, making you nervous. Give yourself better odds: Eliminate at least one answer, and if you can’t, don’t give yourself a 1 out of 5 chance of getting it right.
High scorers take risks, but not stupid risks. With a little work, and a little preparation, you can eliminate at least one answer, except for maybe those super hard ones thrown your way at the end.
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