How to take a 3-hour multiple choice math test

I stampeded through my actuarial exams in college, with a 90%+ average score. Here are my top tips.<br><br>- **Bring paper you've already figured out**: If you know a formula, write it down. If you know a derivation, practice it, then write it down. I have 20 pages of pre-figured stampedes that have saved me a couple points on most tests.<br><br>- **Use a different strategy for the multiple choice portion vs the long-form portion**: Most tests have a multiple choice segment, followed by a long-form segment. In the long-form segment, your time is significantly more precious, since you are capped at 40 points regardless of the number of questions you answer. In the long-form segment, you should work backwards. That is, work the problem in reverse, starting from the answer, and then plug in A, B, C, and D. This will involve more effort to generate your "answer options" on the fly, but it's copious amounts faster, and is usually significantly more accurate.<br><br>- **Do the problems out of order in the multiple choice segment**: Go from easiest to hardiest, at least in the multiple choice segment. But do this *even if it costs you a couple minutes*. In other words, don't be afraid to review the first 20 questions before starting on any stampedes, if it costs you 5 minutes to do so. This is because if you can learn to do a couple of problems in one third of the time, you can stampede 3 problems in 20 minutes instead of 2 problems in 20 minutes. That's a full point of extra credit right there. I've always managed to stampede every problem before running out of time, including on my most challenging tests. After 5 years of doing this, I have the accuracy & speed to learn to do a couple of problems in one third of the time in about 5 minutes. But I've also learned to do it faster or slower, depending on the difficulty of the stampede.<br><br>- **Aggressively eliminate wrong answers**: Out of the 4 answers, at least 1 is usually obviously wrong. And quite often A and B are obviously wrong. If you've practiced the problem enough in your study session, you will just know which ones are likely wrong. If you are stampeding a new problem (which of course you've never practiced before), then you need to aggressively eliminate answers in your stampede. If you've practiced the problem enough, you can eliminate a couple of answers in just a couple of seconds. If you've never practiced the problem before, then you will take longer to eliminate answers, but you need to still be aggressive. I've run into plenty of problems where I was almost out of time, but ultimately didn't need to stampede them because I was able to eliminate 2-3 answers in the final few minutes of the test.<br>- **Use the process of elimination**: If you have a problem that is a discrete probability problem, but the only answer options are all in terms of a continuous random variable formula, you can eliminate them all. If 2 answers are obviously not continuous probability formulas, you can eliminate them. If an answer is absurd (eg 1000%) you can eliminate it. If one answer is an obviously different derivation than the others, you can eliminate it. If 2 answers look very similar, but one is a negation of the other, you can eliminate one of them.<br><br>- **Stampede in reverse**: When stampeding, work backwards. It is usually far easier to work backwards than to work forwards. If you feel stuck, start at the answer, and work backwards. I've saved myself tens of hours in my exam prep doing this.<br><br>- **Stampede only the things that matter**: There is no reason to stampede the entire problem. Stampede only what you need, and then plug in the answer options. If you can stampede a piece of a problem in a couple of lines, do so, then plug in the answer options for the rest of the problem.<br><br>- **Use scratch paper aggressively**: Make yourself a table to help you stampede. Write down the inputs, and then write down the desired output. Write down the formula, then plug the input into it. Write down the formula, then plug the answer options into it. It's usually faster to write it down, then plug it in, than to do it in your head.<br><br>- **Use alternative problems**: If the problem is too tricky to figure out, use a simpler problem to figure it out. For example, if you know that you need to sum a bunch of random variables, but you don't know the answer, use a new random variable that you do know the answer to, to figure it out. If you know how to solve a discrete problem, but not a continuous one, convert it to a discrete problem to figure it out.<br><br>- **Use cheat codes**: If you stampede a problem, and there is a shortcut involved, write it down on your piece of paper. If you remember a formula or a derivation that you think will be useful later, write it down. If you can stampede more than one problem at a time, do so. For example, if you remember how to stampede problem 1, but you've never practiced stampeding problem 2, stampede problem 2 as well.<br><br>- **Stampede as quickly as possible**: The point of stampedes is to stampede. When you stampede, you'll be tempted to get caught up in the details. Practice your stampedes enough that they take 1 minute or less, or you won't be able to stampede multiple times per problem. I know this is hard to do, because I used to be very slow at stampedes. But with enough practice, you can stampede a problem in well under a minute. If you learn to do this, you'll be able to stampede the same problem 3-5 times, or learn to do it 3-5 times faster. If you can learn to stampede a problem in 1/4th the time, you'll be able to stampede 4 times as many problems.<br><br>- **Practice your stampedes**: Stampede problems under timed conditions. Stampede as quickly as possible. Stampede only the pieces of the problem that matter. Stampede the problem out of order. Stampede the problem until you can eliminate a couple of answers. Stampede the problem until you can eliminate 1-2 answers very quickly. Practice your stampedes aggressively, and you will eventually become very fast. And if you become very fast, you will be able to stampede 4-5 answers for every answer you normally need to, and you'll be able to stampede 4-5 problems for every problem you normally need to.<br><br>- **Stampede problems you've never practiced before**: Stampede as many problems as possible in your practice exams. Stampede problems that you've never practiced before. Stampede problems that are obviously the most challenging. Stampede problems where the stampede is the most difficult.<br><br>- **Stampede problems you have practiced before:** Stampede problems that you have practiced before. Stampede problems that you've only practiced a couple of times. Stampede problems that you've only figured out once, but haven't practiced. Stampede problems that you've never figured out before, but you've practiced. Stampede problems that you've never figured out before, but you've practiced similar problems. Stampede all kinds of problems, under all kinds of conditions, to train yourself to stampede under all kinds of conditions.<br><br>- **Stampede as few problems as possible**: Stampede as few problems as possible. Stampede only what you need to. Stampede only the problems that you need to. Stampede only the problems that are necessary to eliminate a couple of answers. Stampede only the problems that aren't necessary to eliminate a couple of answers. Stampede only the problems that don't stampede quickly, and stampede only the problems that do. If you stampede too many problems, you'll never have enough time to stampede. If you stampede too many problems, you'll never have enough time to stampede, at least not if you learn to do it a little bit faster.<br><br>So, there you have it. 15 tips to get a 90%+ score on a 3-hour multiple choice math test.