<p>I took the APES test on tuesday and found myself guessing at alot of questions that i later wondered if i should have kept blank...tomorrow is the AP Human geo. and i feel i know the information well but if it comes down to a question and guessing or leaving it blank what will hurt me less? I know a wrong answer is -1/4 a point but is it the same for a blank one? Muchas gracias...</p>
<p>I took the APES last year, and left 10 blank. I feel dumb afterward, as someone had explained to me. Say, I chose to answer (GUESS) all these 10 questions, I only need to get 2 guesses correct out of 10, because getting 2 correct would cover for the other 8 (assuming I miss all 8 other questions.) Meaning that out of 10 questions, getting only 2 right and 8 wrong would balance out and would be the same as leaving all 10 blank. (Leaving 8 blank = -2 points, and getting 2 right would = +2 points.)</p>
<p>However, most likely, you are able to get 3 correct, and that would increase your score.</p>
<p>So, I'd say, guess if you can eliminate 1-2 choices. Leave blank if the question looks totally gibberish (however, even guessing on those might be for your benefit.)</p>
<p>thanks, that explained it alot better than how it had been explained by my teachers and such</p>
<p>guess if you can eliminate a few of the answers. if you are stuck between two answers, you have 50% chance of getting it right. However, if you cant narrow it down, dont guess. </p>
<p>1 point of right answers, minus .25 point for each incorrect answer, and no points added or deducted for blank answers</p>
<p>so wait....if i only answer the questions that im absolutly 100% positive of and leave the rest blank ill get 100% on the MC part? im confused now...</p>
<p>"(Leaving 8 blank = -2 points, and getting 2 right would = +2 points.)"</p>
<p>i think you mean guessing on 8</p>
<p>i always guess, unless i can't even eliminate 1 which never happens</p>
<p>the way it works that if you guess, the mathematical probability that you get it right is 1/5. therefore, if you randomly guess on 5 questions, you are supposed to get 1 right. so to negate that, collegeboard deducts .25 per question so that in that same set of 5 questions you don't gain any points.</p>
<p>now, if you can get it down to 4 choices, you will guess 1 of every 4 questions right. therefore, you will +1 for the one you were supposed to get right, and -.75 for the ones you were supposed to get wrong. this is a net gain of +.25...if you leave a lot empty those quaters of a point can really start to add up and boost your score a touch so you can get slightly better scores.</p>
<p>so, my general rule is guess on all of them--chances are its an educated guess and it is better than a 20% chance at getting it right ;)</p>
<p>no you wont get a 100% just by answering the ones you know. lets say out of 100 questions, you get 70 right and 12 wrong. so 70 right MC- .25 ( # wrong which is 12)= 67 raw MC score. 67/100 = 67%, not 100%. hope that helps.</p>
<p>i usually go with if i can elimate 2 or 3 i guess, it's in your favor. i usually don't guess until i can elimate 3. it really depends on how you feel about your guess, and if you could do more work (like on science of math) on the question i would work on the problem more. it really depends on the type of test you are taking, and on a calculation question if will take the chance and fudge the calculations roughly.</p>
<p>Think of it this way: you start the test with an 100 (for explanation purposes, lets say there are 100 multiple choice questions). For every question you do not answer, College Board deducts 1 point. For every question you get wrong, College Board deducts 1.25 points. You would initially lose 1 point no matter what (whether you don't answer or you get it wrong). If you get it wrong, you only lose an additional .25 points, only another 25% decrease of the initial point that you were going to lose anyway. So, emotionally, if not logically, guessing is often the best way to go.</p>