AP History MCQ Strategy 2A: Answering the Question (FINALLY) with the Process of Elimination—but why?!
One of the most powerful (and simple) strategies you can have in your toolbox for the AP History MCQ section. Do not skip this step! (PLUS: the newsletter's first video tutorial is on the way!)
Before you read on, please make sure you’ve taken a look at the earlier posts in this series before you read today’s installment. These are meant to be cumulative and read in order, so they will definitely serve you best that way! Once you’ve done that, jump right in—and don’t forget to subscribe, if you haven’t already.
Once you’ve read the byline, analyzed the source, and figured out what kind of question you’re dealing with, what’s the next step? Answering the question—FINALLY.
Of course, this is an AP History exam we’re dealing with, so things are not quite that simple. There are some clever trap doors and tricks that the exam writers have come up with to try to trip you up, so AS ALWAYS, make sure you pay careful attention to detail. Sometimes, the key to whether an answer is “right” or “wrong” hinges on one word—which can be easy to miss if you’re rushing through!
I’m cringing just typing the words “right” and “wrong,” though, because this just isn’t that type of exam. In fact, this is unlike any exam many of you have probably ever taken before. Let me explain how and then introduce a timeless strategy that you can use as a counter-measure to this College Board tomfoolery.
MCQ Strategy 2A: Answering Questions with the Process of Elimination—Why?
What’s, well, wrong with “right and wrong”?
On the AP History MCQ section, you’ve got to learn how to think about the answers in a different way than you normally do on exams. You know how you usually go into a test looking for “right” and “wrong” answers? Yeah, throw that in the trash. Sorry, but that most basic of test strategies is simply not going to help you here.
This is just one of many problems that come up when we try to create a standardized exam to assess a student’s ability to think about a very “un-standardizable” subject. These questions are meant to objectively assess your critical thinking skills and analytical abilities, which is in itself arguably impossible, and History is by nature a subjective and highly fluid, constantly changing discipline that requires nuanced and flexible thought.
It is therefore more or less impossible (and 100% highly inadvisable) to state with certainty that a given opinion or “take” on a historical event or process is perfectly “correct,” “incorrect,” “right,” or “wrong.” Instead, you’re looking for minor nuances and/or subtle shifts in meaning, context, interpretation, etc. that can determine whether one answer choice (let’s say D) is “better” than the others (let’s say A, B, C, and E).
With all of these considerations (and more) in mind, the College Board has crafted the MCQs to reflect these tensions as best as they can, which results in a very unusual sort of test-taking “vibe,” if you will—essentially, what I mean to say is that you need to stop looking for the “right answer”; instead, you need to shift your mindset to looking for the BEST OPTION out of the choices you’re given. Of course, you still need to keep in mind that there will still always only be ONE best answer, and that’s the one you need to choose.
I know. It’s definitely a little unusual at first, but once you get the hang of it, it’s nothing you can’t handle. Plus, as I promised, I’ve got a foolproof strategy that will help you navigate the messiness. We are going to get into it.
Up next: Your guiding light—the Process of Elimination (VIDEO TUTORIAL)
So with such a major mindset shift (looking for the “BEST OPTION” INSTEAD OF THE “RIGHT ANSWER”), you’ll need your best tool. Luckily for you, that’s the next step in this series.
Stay tuned for the next post, and get excited—it will be the newsletter’s first video tutorial. I will be telling and showing you how you can use the process of elimination to dominate the MCQs no matter what the College Board may throw at you on test day.
You definitely don’t want to miss this. Make sure to subscribe if you haven’t already, and please feel free to comment and share far and wide.
See you soon for the process of elimination video tutorial!