Specific test-taking techniques discussed here will enhance your accuracy and efficiency in decision-making so that you will feel confident as you select the best answer.
Take only 50 seconds to answer each question (do not linger too long over a tough question).

Reading every aspect of the question thoroughly and carefully.
Read the question accurately and take care to read the directions (intuitive have a tendency to overlook directions).
Pay careful attention to qualifying words that will narrow your answer choice possibilities.
When the stem includes several complicated statements, isolate each of them & make sure you understand each individual part.

Types of the stem & approach:
Positive Stem MCQ	Negative Stem MCQ
Several of the answer choices may appear correct. Only one is the most appropriate choice. Eliminate those alternatives that may be plausible but are less appropriate.	You are asked to switch from positive to negative thinking → causes confusion ( “Don’t think of ghost” where does your mind take you?). You will need to change a negative answer stem to a positive one then searches for the 3 appropriate choices. Add negative answer stem → exclude those 3 → find your best answer selection.

Simple Recall/fact-based: You must choose the answer from the facts that you remember
Statement Based: With positive or negative stem (correct /True or incorrect/not true)
Conceptual / Problem – Solving Type / Calculation Based: Drawing a conclusion for a practical problem or calculation
Matching Type: Match the Correct/incorrect pair
K-Type / Combined Response Type: Combined response type with multiple combinations of correct/incorrect portions
Chemical Reaction or Process-Based / Formula based: Formula in question stem or in the options
Graphic Based: Graphs/images in question stem or in the options (mainly physics)

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The challenging part of the exam is the pacing and the variability of the questions.
Each question is a separate entity
- Allow a tough question to contaminate your skill/positive attitude as you move through to answering the next more manageable ones.
- Adjust rapidly as you move from item to item.
Read each question and mark an answer before moving on to the next one (Do not skip) →answer each question in the order in which it appears
Don’t linger too long over a tough question→ rush through answers of the upcoming easier questions & lower your confidence (researches tell us that students tend to spend the most time on questions they get wrong)

Read the question first, not the answers (Answers contain distractors)
Understand the emphasis of the question stem: read the entire question stem→ visualize the answer in your mind→then look for this answer among the choices offered (Perceiving types who tend to talk themselves into wrong answers, and Judgers who answer too quickly)
Take a deep breath and allow yourself a fraction of a second to relax and think as you exhale before reading the answer alternatives (read all of the possible choices, even if you think the first or second choice is correct)
Optimal answer selection requires skill in blocking out distractions from among the variety of answer choices.
Assure that your answer choice emphasizes the same principles as the question stem.
Approaching “all of the above” or “none of the above” option: tackle with extra caution & figure out whether two or more options are correct or incorrect to choose this option