Predict Before You Look

By VeriScorePrep Team · 4 min

Predicting the answer before reading the options is one of the highest-value habits in test-taking. It forces you to reason from the stem rather than be steered by the options.

The method

• Read the stem fully.
• Cover the options with your hand or a sheet of paper.
• State, mentally or on scratch paper, what the answer should be.
• Then uncover the options and find the one matching your prediction.

Why it works

Options are written to be plausible; they prime you toward certain reasoning. Predicting first prevents the priming and surfaces your actual knowledge. If your prediction is roughly in the options, you have a confident pick. If unpredicted, you must reason against the options, but at least you know where you stand.

When it doesn't work

Some items ask for a fact you don't know, or a judgment too complex to predict. In those cases, predict the category the answer should come from ("a safety action," "an assessment finding") even if not the precise action.

Practice

Build this into untimed practice until it becomes reflex. Timed practice will eventually contain it — the prediction is fast.