Grant
Joined: 07 Oct 2005
Posts: 4
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| Posted: Wed Oct 12, 2005 8:58 pm Post subject: Should I guess on the GRE? |
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This post applies to the General GRE as well as all the GRE subject tests. First a quote from ETS about guessing and eliminating answer choices.
| Quote: | | As a correction for haphazard guessing, one fourth of the number of questions you answer incorrectly is subtracted from the number of questions you answer correctly. It is improbable that mere guessing will improve your score significantly; it may even lower your score. If, however, you are not certain of the correct answer but have some knowledge of the question and are able to eliminate one or more of the answer choices, your chance of getting the right answer is improved, and it may be to your advantage to answer the question. |
So basically, statistically speaking, there is no benefit to guessing without eliminating any answer choices. However, if you can eliminate one or more answer choices then, statistically speaking, it can help to raise your score. For example, if you know that answer “e” is definitely not the answer and then randomly guess at the other 4 answer choices then chances are that you can improve your score. Of course, the more answer choices you eliminate, the better your odds of improving your score. If you can eliminate 1, 2, or 3 answer choices and then randomly guess at the remaining choices then that statistically corresponds to helping your raw score by 1/16, 1/6 or 3/8 points respectively.
Some people believe that eliminating answer choices and guessing will hurt or did hurt their score. Perhaps they are just unlucky or maybe statistics does not apply to them. More likely, however, they probably just made poor educated guesses. What is the difference between educated guessed and eliminating answer choices and randomly guessing? Consider the following made up test question:
Which answer best identifies the animal in the picture?
a) rabbit
b) horse
c) fish
d) donkey
e) cow
Let’s say you are not sure of the best answer but you know the picture isn’t a rabbit or a fish and want to guess from the remaining answer choices. If you wanted to randomly guess at the remaining answer choices then you could use a six sided dice and predetermine that if the number rolled is a 1 or 2 then you would bubble in (b) and if the number rolled is a 3 or 4 then you would bubble in (d) and if the number rolled is a 5 or 6 then you would bubble in (e). Then you roll the dice and bubble in the random answer (Note: You can’t bring any dice to the GRE). This illustration of eliminating answers and random guessing is very different from guessing. For example if you know it can’t be a rabbit or a fish but you remember seeing a horse on TV and it looked a lot like the picture so you think, hmm it isn’t a rabbit or a fish and it kind of looks like that horse on TV so I think I am going to guess (b) horse. Instead of randomly guessing you were guessing and got hooked on the bait. Anyway, that type of guessing could very well hurt your score. It all depends on how educated your guess is. Anyway, the point is that making an educated guess about the answer is different from eliminating one or more answers and randomly guessing one of the remaining answer choices. Educated guesses can be very effective for some people but some people are prone to take the bait on certain types of questions. If I am unfamiliar with the subject matter of a question then I tend to stay away from educated guessing and opt to eliminate answer choices I know can’t be the answer and then randomly guess. However, if I am not sure about the answer to a particular question but have a good understanding of the subject matter then I tend to trust my intuition of the problem and make an educated guess.
When working through practice test questions many people don’t practice guessing or eliminating answers. Instead they skip over the practice questions they don’t know and plan to review the material later. However, you should use your practice tests to practice your answer eliminating, random guessing, and educated guessing techniques. This might help you to better determine when you should make an educated guess or to eliminate and make a random guess.
In summary, eliminating answer choices and randomly guessing on the remaining answers can be a very good strategy especially if you can eliminate one or more answer choices quickly. Often times you can eliminate 1 or 2 answer choices with a couple seconds of thought even if the question is too difficult for you to answer. |
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