Unfortunate mistakes that cause losing points when doing multiple choice tests

1. Not checking the exam and forgetting to fill in personal information

This is a small task that seems simple, but if you miss it, it will greatly affect the entire test. Therefore, you must check the test to see if there are enough multiple choice questions, if the test content is missing words or strokes, and if all pages of the test have the same test code. If there is anything unusual in the test, you must immediately notify the test supervisor to change the test.

Don't rush into doing the test and forget to complete important procedures such as filling in your full name, registration number, etc. in the blank fields required by the test!

2. Use two colors of ink on the test or use a pen or ballpoint pen to fill in the answers.

On the multiple choice answer sheet, only one type of ink may be used, absolutely no two colors of ink. Students must only fill in the answer boxes with black pencil, not with pens or ballpoint pens. When choosing an answer, students must fill in the entire box, not cross it out or mark the selected box or use a special symbol, as this is a violation and will not be graded.

3. Not erasing wrong answers thoroughly

One of the mistakes that students make when taking multiple choice tests is not erasing the old answer completely when deciding to change to another answer. This is very dangerous, because when entering it into the computer, the computer will automatically understand that there are two answers, so there is no score. Students must use a pencil to fill in the answer. Note to use soft wooden pencils such as 2B to 4B (limit using mechanical pencils because they can tear the paper while filling in the test and are difficult to erase because of the sharp tip). Fill in dark enough and fill in the answer box.

Mr. Pham Quoc Toan - Online Physics Teacher

4. "Wrong" answer

In some cases, you are afraid of making mistakes so you choose the answer on the multiple choice test and forget to fill it in on the answer sheet until the end of the test and sometimes fill in the wrong answer because you are panicking and in a hurry. Stay calm and fill in the answer sheet as soon as you are sure of the answer!

5. Unreasonable time distribution

This is a common mistake for candidates taking the exam before 2015. At that time, the exam was not classified from easy to difficult, candidates often got carried away trying to solve a question that they thought they could do, which took a lot of time. To avoid this, we have to skim through the questions, do the questions that we feel we can do first, and do the difficult ones later. If we stop for about 3 minutes after the first attempt, we have to move on to the next question.

The line between average and “somewhat difficult” questions is sometimes unclear, easy for one student but difficult for another. Therefore, in addition to classifying easy and difficult questions to do, we must also base on the thinking time to change the questions accordingly.

6. Make use of the “Elimination Method” and “Random Circumvention”

The method of elimination sometimes comes into play when we read an answer but are not 100% sure it is correct. Then we continue reading the other answers to confirm, for example, answer A seems to be correct but we are not sure, we have to read B, C, D to check that they are definitely wrong. Sometimes, based on certain characteristics, we can eliminate one or two wrong answers and the work of "circling randomly" becomes more effective.

When time is running out (about the last 10 minutes), we will perform the statistical operation of the circled and definitely correct answers. At that time, the answer that has been selected the least, we will choose all the remaining difficult questions on that answer. Doing so, the "lucky" rate is the highest and this rate is higher when the number of questions that are definitely correct is greater (At least 30 correct answers must be answered for this method to start to be effective).

Wishing you all good luck and success in the 2016 National High School Exam next July!