"Guessing" a GRE question

[ALou]

Ok so this might sound like a crazy question but here goes...

 

I am preparing for the GRE and I have come to terms with the fact that I will see some questions that I just have to guess, or make as much as possible an educated guess.  

 

I have been told my someone that standardised tests can have a higher proportion of correct answers for a particular letter.  That is for example, there are more correct answers that are A.  I understand that correct answers would be random, and I am by NOOOOOO means relying on this 'guessing' strategy, however for the questions that I may have to guess, I would like to be able to pick the answer that has the highest chance of being correct.  Obviously this doesn't work for numeric entry, or multiple answer choice.  I am just trying to cover as many bases as possible, one mark is one mark after all Has anyone heard about this with the GRE and can they offer any suggestions?

 

Thanks in advance.

[mseph]

I haven't heard such thing for GRE, but heard about SAT. For SAT, it was multiple choice C. My teacher said, even with the guessing penalty that SAT has, it is usually better to guess, and if you have no idea which choice you should go with, pick C. That was his advice. Of course, I did not take this fully and sometimes left it blank because SAT takes 1/4 points off for wrong answers. (Do they still do this? It's been a very long time...lol) But if that is the same case with GRE but for A, I don't see a reason why not? GRE does not take points off for wrong answers, and by trying to maximize your score, you should guess no matter what. And if you have no idea, then perhaps it is the best strategy to choose A. But I would make sure that it's choice A that is the most common in GRE first though. Just my two cents.

[Sarochan]

I read, in a GRE prep book, that (at least in the Quantitative sections) the A choice is sometimes designed to pull you in and look like an attractive or obvious answer, especially if you have only superficially thought about the problem. Of course, there are correct A answers, but if the book is to be believed, then A would probably not be a good choice for a guess. I don't know if this applies to the other sections, though, and I haven't heard anything about a particular choice having the highest percentages of correct answers.

 

Good luck with your GRE test! I hope that it goes well for you.

[ALou]

Thank you Sarochan and visgiven.  That makes sense that its for the SAT.  'A' was my own arbitrary letter and I actually have nothing to back up that A is a good choice.  All your advice makes sense and I shall just keep going as currently-keeping non-educated guessing to an absolute bare minimum