Guessing in Multiple Choice Tests

The GAMSAT relies heavily on multiple-choice questions. While this means the test can be marked by machine (this is why you'll use a really soft, dark graphite pencil, and completely erase all smudges), it also means that they're not testing your knowledge as they could in an in-person interview. If you've been schooled in Australia, hopefully you've had exposure to many multiple-choice tests. This will help you.

Firstly, there's no reasoning listed when you mark an answer, just a circle. It does not matter how you got that answer. This means if you guessed every single question on the GAMSAT, you'd score around 25%. If there is any question you are unsure of, you will can guess, and you'll score yourself - on average - 25% of a correct answer. Do not leave any questions unanswered. Best to leave yourself a few minutes at the end of the test to go back over all the answers you don't know, and guess them.

Often you will be able to narrow down your options even further. In the science section, is one of the answers the wrong order of magnitude? In the humanities section, is one of the answers nonsensical given the stimulus paragraph? I like to mark an option I have decided is not correct by crossing out the letter. This means that when I'm reviewing my answer, I can more quickly see why I made the choice I did.

In high-school tests, you may have heard that there's a bias for C or B answers. This is not true for the GAMSAT as it is highly randomised. I'd advise you to look at the questions and see if you can rule out some of the options in the questions instead. You can usually increase your chances this way. Whatever you do, do not leave any questions blank. It's worth filling in all remaining questions with five or ten minutes to go, then change any you need to - at least you have them down.

When guessing, watch out for strong, decisive answers (X must happen in every circumstance, all of the above are true) unless you know them to be the case. If a question has two answers that are similar, the answer may be more likely to be one of the two. An answer that differs from all the rest may be more likely to be correct. Test for answers being a multiple of numbers in the prompt, or check the magnitude of the correct answer.

Making educated guesses for questions will give you much better results than leaving the questions blank.