Can someone explain the guessing penalty to me for the SAT/ AP exams?

Question

From the CollegeBoard Website:

Will I lose points if I answer a multiple-choice question wrong? Should I guess?

The answer to the first question is "yes," but not as much as you might think. Your score on the multiple-choice section is based on the number of questions you answer correctly minus a fraction of the number of questions you answer incorrectly. (One-fourth of a point is subtracted for a wrong answer in questions with five answer choices, and one-third of a point in questions with four answer choices.)

The answer to the second question is a conditional "yes." Random guessing is unlikely to raise or lower your grade if you are unsure about the answer to a question, because of the formula (described above) used to deduct points for wrong answers. However, if you have SOME knowledge of the question, and can eliminate one or more answer choices, informed guessing from among the remaining choices is usually to your advantage.

I am sorry but I just don't get it!

Answer 1

when you are done with the test, if there are less than 5 you have blank you should answer them because if u guess one right, it will make up for the three you guessed wrong and then give you an extra .25 point.  If you get lucky and guess 2 out of 5 right you will gain even more.

Answer 2

yes you will get marked down if you guess and its wrong-but you'll get marked down if you think you know it and its wrong too. the computer doesn't know if you're guessing. so if you fill in 'A' and the answer is 'B'-no matter what, you'll get it wrong.

and only guess if you have no idea. try to narrow it down to a few choices and guess from there-don't leave any of them blank, though. always guess if you don't know.

good luck :]

don't feel retarded-this stuff can be hard.

if you leave it blank-its still one wrong [-1] but if you just guess, then you have the CHANCE of getting it right. so you may get -1 or you might just get lucky and get the problem right! :]

leaving it blank is dumb-because then you have at least a chance to get it.

pretty much-do your best-if you don't know the answer: DON'T LEAVE IT BLANK. just pick one at random. :]

Answer 3

If you can eliminate one or more of the answer choices, then probability says that you are more likely to earn points than lose points.

However, probability is... just a chance, so it is really up to you. Just I would make sure to leave it blank if you have no idea.. it could really hurt your score to guess on a lot and get them all wrong.

Good luck on your tests.

Answer 4

If there are 5 possible answers and you are guessing randomly, statistically you will get one out of every five correct and the other four of the five incorrect.  Thus you score plus one for the correct answer and minus 1/4 x 4 (otherwise known as -1) for the four incorrect answers. 1 - 1 = 0 meaning your overall score is not higher or lower as a result of guessing.  

However, If you are able to eliminate some of the choices for a given question immediately as incorrect you increase your chance of guessing which of the remaining answers is correct as follows.   If there are 5 possible answers and you can eliminate one of the available answers then the your chances of guessing the correct answer has increased from 1 in 5 to 1 in 4 while the penalty for an incorrect answer has remained the same.  Thus if you guess the answer to 5 questions in the manner above your awarded 1.25 points and only loose 1.  1.25 - 1 = .25 not 0 thus you have a higher score!  Hope this helps you instead of confusing you more!!!

Answer 5

Savannah is right.  If you can eliminate 2 of the answers, go for it.  This is educated guessing.  Now, do you need help with the SAT essay?  I have an article on it because I have corrected the test.  Take a look.  

http://www.ehow.com/how_2331667_write-sa...

The strategies for the SAT essay is basically the same for the AP essay accept you have a lot more time, obviously.

Answer 6

What college board means is this, if you leave a question blank, your score is not affected in any way, since you don't loose or gain any points. And if you get it wrong, you'll lose a quarter of a point. So on the SAT, you shouldn't guess unless you know the answer or have at least eliminated a few of the choices. On the ACT, you should guess because leaving an answer blank is the same as getting the question wrong. In other words, you lose points for leaving questions blank on the ACT.

Answer 7

If you answer a question wrong, you get 1/4 of a point deducted from your score. This is to make it harder for people to randomly guess and get a good score.. however, they say that if you can eliminate two of the answer choices, then you should go ahead and pick one, because if you answer correctly, you earn a point.

Hope this helps!

Answer 8

you will get 1/4 point off every question you get wrong but 1 point if you get it right and if you dont answer it you dont get points added of subtracted so answer it only if you know the answer