How To Prepare For MCQ Tests?

Major competitive exams, school exams and unit tests nowadays have their format in MCQ form. MCQ or Multiple Choice Questions tests are in quiz format and involve giving answers by choosing one option out of many. The objective nature of this format has been heartily welcomed by students, teachers and authorities as it tests the knowledge and abilities of candidates in a brief, yet smart manner.

Students do not have to mug up lengthy answers, teachers do not have to read them and the retention of study material is far greater. So how to score in these tests? Do you take up only what you think is important and study? Or do you go through everything that is given in your book? We answer this question in a few simple recommendations given below:

1. Study more; Know your course well.
Did you just misunderstand when we said quiz format? Yes, it is exactly that. But it contains questions from your course. It is very important that you know all the important chapters and topics from the prescribed course. Selective study is fine as long it is not done to escape the hard work.

2. Don’t rely on memory and/or the curriculum, do some smart studying.
Only knowing what you were taught in class or what you were able to retain will not help you score high. So, while preparing for your test, gather some extra notes, either from an online study guide or your friends’ and classmates’ notes. The more you read, the better are your chances to retain information. Even if you plan to leave out a few chapters due to time constraint, the others should be clear in your head.

3. Make points and notes as you study
While you ahead with the preparation, write down important terms, definitions, new terms if any and similar short notes. Questions can be based on these can be framed easily and are hence, a popular choice. If you come across terms that you do not fully understand, make sure you have cleared your doubts before going in for that exam.

4. Discuss questions with friends.
After you are done preparing a considerable portion of your syllabus, get together with some friends and brainstorm. Exchange the notes and points you made earlier and quiz each other on them. You will get to know what questions your friends have been preparing and thus, get better prepared.

5. Look for alternate terms for specific terms
If you have additional time to spare after prep, look in your class notes to find alternate words used for specific terms or phrases. Many a time, you will find two or more words used to describe the same thing. Make sure you know them all, in order to score high.

MCQs tests are based on your ability to reason and judge. A simple tick or colored box may help you become one of the top scores or take your score down too. So while taking an MCQ based exam, make sure you are cool-headed, reasonable and have a clear idea why you selected the option you did. Do not mess up your exam sheet by crossing out answers again and again. Your confusion will end up confusing the examiner as well. A sound preparation scheduled started much in advance will help you clear all anxiety and doubt regarding your subjects and topics.

Meritnation.com provides our users with varied options to practise and revise better for their upcoming examinations. Now you can try our features like Chapter test,  Model tests , Test generators  and Live test series which would give you all ample practise on range of curriculum assigned topics and help you score better!

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All the best!
Team Meritnation