Acing Your NYSTCE

1. Do the easy questions first

Use the first few minutes of the exam to zip through the paper. You’ll certainly find some of the questions easier than others. Do those straight away. It will make you feel a bit better and give you more time for the tough questions. And if you find yourself getting stuck on a question, make a mark, leave it and move on. Come back to it at the end when you’ll have more time, more focus and less panic.

2. Use a process of elimination

This is an absolute must on any multiple choice question. There will usually be one or two questions that are outrageously wrong. Knock them out quick and your score goes up.

3. Drop extreme language and numbers

One way to pick the bad answer choices from the good is to look at the wording of the answers. The examiners generally prefer the correct answer to be wishy-washy. Any answer choice that uses words like “all”, “never” or “always” are probably wrong. Similarly, on math questions, the highest and lowest figures are usually bad choices too. Take them out.

4. Identify similar answers

Another way to home in on the right answer choices is to pick out any answers that look the same. Usually on the NYSTCE exam, two answers will be extreme, one will look right and one will be right.

The one that looks right has been put there deliberately to confuse you.

The examiners are hoping that as you rush through the exam, you won’t notice that there’s a better answer right next to it and pick the wrong choice. That’s mean, but it actually does you a favor. When two answer choices look similar, one of them is likely to be right.

5. Use previous questions

One of the great things about long exams like the NYSTCE is that the answer to one question can often be found in another part of the paper. It’s going to be almost impossible for the examiners not to repeat a subject or duplicate a point. If you’re scratching your head over a question, move on and keep an eye out for it later on. There's a good chance that they’ll give the game away in a different question.

Those are just five simple tactics you can use to ace the NYSTCE test. There are many others and you’ll need them all to put yourself in the classroom and in front of the blackboard. To learn all the tactics you need, and to make sure that your NYSTCE test preparation is right on track, check out our NYSTCE Comprehensive Success System and start your teaching career with top marks. Don’t wait – start your NYSTCE test prep and review program today.