Pick C if You Dont Know the Answer?

Everyone knows that, when guessing on a multiple-selection test, the all-time reply to choose is C...right? A friend of a friend swears by it, it'southward served you well in the past (maybe?), and it's go such a commonly known "fact," such an undisputed strategy, that y'all may feel every bit if you lot were born knowing information technology—"when in doubt, pick C and move on."

But does this time-honored tradition of picking C when in dubiety actually work on the Deed? And if not, what tin y'all do to improve your odds when guessing? Permit's look at the facts.

Why You Should Answer Every Question on the ACT

First of all, there is no penalty for choosing a wrong respond on the ACT, then make sure to never get out a question bare. You'll earn one point for every correct answer you choose and zilch points for any blank or wrong answers, and then it doesn't hurt you to make a estimate. If you don't know an answer and guess it wrong, you'll earn the aforementioned number of points that you lot would accept had y'all left it bare (cypher). And if you guess the question correct, you'll earn yourself ane betoken!

Now when you're forced to guess on a question for whatever reason, y'all'll accept to determine between the 2 principal types of guessing: educated guessing and blind guessing.

So let's break down how and when to go about making each type of approximate.

Educated Guessing

You tin can make an educated guess when you: understand the gist of a question, but don't take the time to piece of work through it completely, don't quite know how to work through a question completely, or you're torn between a few respond options. B ut if you've got some thought of what the reply can (and—but every bit important—what it tin't) be, it's fourth dimension to eliminate some answer choices and make an educated gauge.

For case, allow'due south look at an Human action math problem:

Even if you don't have enough time to completely work through the problem or don't know all the steps, just a trivial knowledge of lines and slopes will tell us that the reply will be B, C, or D. Why? Because our given slope is $-{2/3}$  and a negative slope will fall downwards towards the right when fatigued through our given indicate (two, v). This ways we tin eliminate respond choices A and E immediately.

(Spoiler alarm: D is the right respond.)

Blind Guessing

But let's say you've come up up against a question and you take admittedly no inkling where to begin. Or perhaps you've got ten seconds left on the clock and 15 questions still left unanswered. You lot know that leaving a question blank is tantamount to throwing your points out the window, then now information technology's time to make a blind guess. There'due south no time for educated guessing or eliminating answer choices—you just have to make full in a bubble.

But when you take to make a blind guess like this (or multiple blind guesses), are you amend off choosing C than whatsoever other answer selection? Let'due south see.

Don't permit their cheerful smiles fool you—three of them are hiding the incorrect answer, dun dun DUN.

Fact or Fiction: Is C the Most Common Answer on the Deed?

The thought that C is the best answer to choose when guess-answering a question on a multiple option exam rests on the premise that Human action answer choices are not truly randomized. In other words, the implication is that respond choice C is right more than often than any other answer choice. Later on all, if the respond fundamental were truly randomized, then why should C be whatever more likely to be the right reply than any other option?

[Notation: the Deed switches between using A, B, C, D (and E on the math department) and F, G, H, J (and Grand on the math). H is the equivalent to C.]

Some (or even many) of your loftier school teachers probable still design their tests by mitt, which means that their respond keys will not be statistically random. No affair how much your teachers try to randomize their choices, human beings are Non random and cannot properly randomize a serial. For case, a truly random sampling will actually produce bizarre strings of patterns—e.g., v AB's in a row, or xx questions without a D—and most people practice not (or cannot) create these patterns when they try their best to exist "random."

Fortunately or unfortunately, this is NOT the case on the Act. Different many of the tests you take in high school, Act answer keys are completely computer generated. And computers are very good at being random. This means that the reply choices will have a statistically even distribution of 1 in 4 for each reply selection letter (or one in 5 on the math department): there is no most common respond on the Deed.

So, ultimately, guessing C (or whatever alphabetic character!) volition give you the correct answer only a statistical 25% of the fourth dimension (xx% on the math section). Which means it's Not true that choosing C will give you a better rate of success than choosing any other letter for your blind guessing.

What to do, so?

So How Should Yous Guess?

If C isn't the virtually common answer on the Deed, then which alphabetic character should you lot guess? The truth is that it doesn't matter which letter you pick, simply that y'all stick to the one you cull.

The best strategy, and the one that will maximize your overall point gain, is to pick your favorite letter and fill information technology in for every bullheaded guess. Possibly that alphabetic character is A/F or B/G — it doesn't thing. Just be sure to stick with it every unmarried fourth dimension.

So definitely go alee and cull C/H to exist your designated letter if you like it best! (Just don't look C to be whatever ameliorate an respond choice than A, B, or D.)

But maybe you lot're thinking that sounds completely illogical. W hy should y'all fill in the same letter over and over?

Why Does Sticking to I Letter Increase Your Odds of Guessing the Right Answer?

Your overall score will improve if y'all stick to choosing the same letter of the alphabet again and again when making blind guesses. This isbecause people are never truly random. If you're making "random" bullheaded guesses in a spread, you will almost certainly reduce your overall guesses odds, because your all-time try at random guessing cannot replicate computer-generated randomness.

But by sticking to your designated letter when making blind guesses, you are re-introducing an element of randomness.

Let'due south see this in activity to better demonstrate why this works.

Scenario: It's crisis time and y'all've run out of minutes on the clock. You lot have 15 questions left to go and only a few seconds to bubble in your answers. This means you don't have time to even look at the questions, then you must try to brand the best bullheaded guesses you can and maximize your bespeak-gain.

You lot are left with two options: make a random guess spread, or make full in every letter with the same answer choice.

Let's run into how each choice does when compared to a real ACT answer guide (in this case, we are using the outset fifteen answers of the 2015/2016 Deed reading department answers, with all F, G, H, J's converted to A, B, C, D's.)

(Annotation: for our random spread, nosotros tried to judge equally randomly as we could without looking at the reply key, and for our consequent letter of the alphabet, we but went with C.)

"Random" Spread	Consistent Judge (C)	Correct Answers
A	C	A
C	C	D
B	C	C
A	C	C
A	C	B
B	C	D
D	C	A
B	C	C
D	C	B
B	C	D
C	C	A
A	C	D
C	C	C
C	C	D
D	C	B

By choosing a random spread, nosotros earned 2 points out of a possible 15. But by sticking with i answer choice, we earned 4 points.

Ultimately, sticking to the same letter won't work amend for each individual question, simply on boilerplate and over a spread, the strategy will let you lot maximize your overall signal-gain.

Oh, statistics, yous strange animal.

The Take-Aways

So is C the most mutual reply on the Deed? No! But is it the all-time alphabetic character to choose when you're in a bind and don't know what the right reply pick is? Well, that's more complicated.

Always retrieve that it's in your best bet to eliminate answer choices whenever possible. But if you can't, and you must make a bullheaded gauge, and so stick to 1 letter and run with it every time. If yous desire this letter to be C (and information technology'due south equivalent, H), then become right ahead! Just make sure you stick with it every single fourth dimension.

C isn't any better or worse than whatsoever other letter, or any more than probable to exist the correct answer, only if yous decide to stick with it for every blind guess you brand, you'll exist ameliorate off than trying to exist "random."

What's Adjacent?

Blind guessing strategy is great in a pinch, but elimination is always better! Check out our guides on how to make your all-time guesses on the Human action, how to eliminate reply choices on the Deed math section, and how to avoid the top elimination pitfalls that many students make.

Want to get more ACT practise? Check out all the free Act tests available online and gauge how y'all're scoring by checking out what falls into a "good" and "bad" ACT score.

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About the Author

Courtney scored in the 99th percentile on the SAT in high schoolhouse and went on to graduate from Stanford University with a degree in Cultural and Social Anthropology. She is passionate almost bringing education and the tools to succeed to students from all backgrounds and walks of life, as she believes open up education is one of the groovy societal equalizers. She has years of tutoring experience and writes creative works in her free fourth dimension.

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Source: https://blog.prepscholar.com/most-common-answer-on-act

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