A few weeks ago, I heard in the halls of my school (especially 'cause the end of year tests were going on,)the multiple choice myth. They would tell me that you have a greater chance of getting a problem right if you followed this particular myth.

Now onto the myth...
If you are stuck on a question in a test, you should look up at a clock (a clock with hands.) If te minute hand is pointing somewhere between 12 and 3 o'clock, the answer is A. if it's between 3 and 6, it's B. If it's between 6 and 9, it's C. If it's between 9 and 12, it's D.

Simple enough... I think that it's all chance, but it was worth a mention. ^_^'

You THINK it's all chance?

If you follow that pattern, you've got an infinitesimal chance of getting the question right.

Think of it this way: Say you didn't study whatsoever for your precalculus final. [I know the feeling.] Using this tactic, you're not eliminating any of the four answers, so your chance of getting the question right are 1/4. If you REALLY didn't study, and you have no clue about any of the 200 questions, your chances of getting a D or better on the test are 1/(4^140), or 1 divided by 4x4x4x4x4x4x4x4x4x4x4x4x4x4x4x4x4x4x4x4x4x4x4x4x
4x4x4x4x4x4x4x4x4x4x4x4x4x4x4x4x4x4x4x4x4x4x4x4x
4x4x4x4x4x4x4x4x4x4x4x4x4x4x4x4x4x4x4x4x4x4x4x4x
4x4x4x4x4x4x4x4x4x4x4x4x4x4x4x4x4x4x4x4x4x4x4x4x
4x4x4x4x4x4x4x4x4x4x4x4x4x4x4x4x4x4x4x4x4x4x4x4x
4x4x4x4x4x4x4x4x4x4x4x4x4x4x4x4x4x4x4x4.

So, yeah, you'd flunk.

[quote]1/(4^140)[/quote]

You meant (1/4)^140. Same result, but it's better to get the equation right.

A better strategy is to select the LONGEST answer. The reason behind this is that in order for an answer to be correct, you need to word it very carefully. This usually requires a longer answer. It takes just a few word to come up with a lie.

Yeah. Also, I've heard that rubbing peach-flavored Chapstick on the side of the Scantron makes all the answers right. I don't know why peach, I don't know how it would work, and I'm almost certain that it doesn't, as it sounds ridiculous. Still, it might be just crazy enough to work.

There was another discussion on the scantrons in this section, its got a lot of cool things. But its been proven that the chapstick doesn't work. there are other ways. If ya wana know check the links on the wikipedia on scantrons.

choosing the odd answer out of all of them also works

A better strategy is to STUDY. That way you pick what you know is the right answer instead of guessing and hoping that you get lucky.

What is so hard about the concept of studying the material?

Simple, it’s not the easy way.

I like multiple choice tests! Most of them are really easy! Here are some examples from tests I did (those tests are pretty rare here in Germany)

Driver's license test:
How long does it take for 0.1% alcohol concentration to break up in your body?
(I forgot the figures, but here's how they looked to me)
[ ] Instantly
[ ] In a matter of minutes
[ ] within an hour
[x] a very long time!

In my very first job, I got a multiple choice test about work safety. Most of the choices translated to "I don't care!", "It'll never happen to me, only to someone else!", "It's perfectly safe, so why bother?", "It's not my business!". So I didn't read the questions, I just gauged the "stupidity level" of the choices and filled out the form in just three minutes!
My new boss congratulated me for being the very first employee who passed this test with 100%.


Also the question and answer tests are pretty simple if you know how. After a serious party I didn't slept and went to school. There was a "suprise test"! 100 questions in two hours of time! Still pretty drunk, I browsed the questions:

1) "What does IEEE stand for?"
____________________________
(Huh?)
...
48) "What is the main duty of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers?"
(Ah, this explains IEEE!)

So I flipped the pages back and forth violently and after an hour there was a lot of blue scribbling everywhere and I handed back the test, wrote my own excuse (I was old enough to write my own excuses back then, something about "Gastroenteritis" since Beer is considered as a basic food in Bavaria after all) and left for a good day of sleep. I got the second best result!