How to Study for Multiple Choice Questions: The Secret to Acing JAMB and WAEC
You stare at the computer screen or the question paper. Options A, B, C, and D are looking back at you. Two of them look completely wrong, but the remaining two? They look like twins.
Confusing, right?
Most Nigerian students think “Objective” (Multiple Choice) exams are the easy part. They believe they can just “shade and pass” or depend on luck. Big lie. In fact, if you don’t know how to study for Multiple Choice Questions, you might find yourself sweating in the exam hall even though you read the textbook cover to cover.
Whether you are preparing for JAMB, Post-UTME, or just a General Studies (GST) exam in the university, the approach is different from writing an essay. You can’t “whine” the examiner with long grammar here. You are either right, or you are wrong.
Here is exactly how to prepare so you can clear your papers with A’s.
Why Multiple Choice Exams Are Actually Harder
Let’s be honest. In a theory exam, if you forget the exact definition of “Photosynthesis,” you can write around it. You can use your own English to explain that plants use sunlight to cook food. You might not get full marks, but you will get something.
Multiple choice questions don’t have mercy.
They test your knowledge of specific details. They check if you know the difference between “1960” and “1963.” They want to confuse you. If your study method is just to scan through your notes like you are reading a newspaper, you are setting yourself up for failure.
The “Active Recall” Method (Stop Just Reading)
A lot of students make the mistake of reading passively. You lie on your bed, open your biology textbook, and just read lines. You feel like you understand it. But the moment you close the book, the information vanishes.
To beat MCQs, you need Active Recall.
Don’t just read; quiz yourself. After finishing a topic like “Scalar and Vector Quantities,” close the book. Ask yourself: “What are the examples of Vector quantities?”
If you can’t list them without looking, you don’t know it yet.
This is where past questions come in. Don’t leave past questions until a week before the exam. Use them while you study. We discussed this in our guide on how to prepare for an exam in a short time, but it’s worth repeating: solving real questions is the only way to know if you are ready.
Try this technique:
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Pick a year of JAMB past questions.
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Cover the answer key (don’t cheat yourself).
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Attempt the questions.
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Mark your score.
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Go back to the textbook to correct what you failed.
Mastering the Art of Elimination
Sometimes, you will see a question that looks like Greek. You have no idea what the answer is. Panic starts to set in.
Calm down. This is where street smarts come in. You need to use the Process of Elimination.
Usually, out of 4 options, 2 are clearly rubbish. Identify those ones and cross them out mentally. Now you are left with two likely answers. Your chance of getting it right just jumped from 25% to 50%.
Watch out for absolute words. If an option uses words like “Always,” “Never,” or “Every,” it is likely wrong. In subjects like Biology or Economics, there are usually exceptions to the rule.
Also, be careful with the “All of the above” option. If you are sure that Option A and Option B are both correct, then “All of the above” is likely the answer—even if you aren’t sure about Option C.
For more insights on how examiners set these tricky questions, you can check the WAEC Chief Examiners’ Reports. They explicitly tell you where students mess up every year.
Time Management: The JAMB Killer
You might know all the answers, but if you are slow, you will fail.
This is the sad reality of exams like JAMB and Post-UTME. You have limited time for hundreds of questions. If you spend 5 minutes fighting with one difficult calculation in Physics, you have wasted the time meant for 5 easy questions in English.
The Golden Rule: If you don’t know it, skip it.
Don’t let your ego hold you back. Mark it and move on. If you have time at the end, you can come back to it. Taking a mock exam at home with a timer is one of the 10 effective study habits every student should develop. If you practice with a timer, the real exam won’t feel like a race against death.
The “Details” Matter (Dates, Names, and Formulas)
When studying for essay questions, you focus on the “Big Picture.” When learning how to study for Multiple Choice Questions, you must focus on the “Small Details.”
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In Literature: Don’t just know the story. Know the author’s full name. Know the year the book was published. Know the name of the minor characters.
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In Government: Don’t just know about the clifford constitution. Know the exact year it was created and the specific defects it had.
These are the things examiners love to test. They know you skipped the small print.
Make use of the JAMB IBASS Syllabus. It breaks down exactly what they expect you to know for every subject. If a topic isn’t in the syllabus, don’t waste your brain space on it.
Don’t Fall for the “Distractors”
Examiners are not your friends. They deliberately put wrong answers that look right. We call these “Distractors.”
For example, in a math question, if you make a common calculation error (like forgetting a minus sign), that wrong answer will be Option A. They are waiting for you to make that mistake.
Always double-check your calculation before you shade. A small sign error can drop your score below the cut-off mark. If you are worried about your scores, check out this list of universities that accept 140 cut-off mark to see your options, but aim higher!
Conclusion
Studying for objective questions isn’t about memorizing the whole textbook. It is about studying smart.
It’s about knowing how to spot the traps the examiner has set for you. It requires precision, speed, and a lot of practice with past questions.
So, toss that phone aside (unless you are using it to study), pick up your past questions, and start practicing the active recall method today.
Which subject gives you the most headache with objective questions? Is it Physics or Government? Let me know in the comments below!
