Exam Tip: All MCQs are Equal

On the CMA and CIA exams, each multiple-choice question is weighted the same; a short question about the definition of a word counts the same as a long computational question. You should not waste time on questions that you do not understand or that would take too long to answer.

Keeping this in mind, here are some possible strategies for answering questions on the exam:

  1. Do not spend a lot of time on any single question. If there is a long question that has a lot of text, just read the question first. If you do not understand the question very well, choose an answer, mark the question, and move on. If you have time at the end of the exam, you can come back to it.
  2. Do not spend time on long calculation questions. If there is a question that has a lot of math that you are not certain how to calculate, choose an answer, mark the question, and move on. If you have time at the end of the exam, you can come back and try to work through the math.
  3. Do not “check your math” by recalculating the numbers; you do not need to spend the time on this. If you want, you can mark the question and come back and recheck your math after you have answered all of the other questions.
  4. Never leave a question unanswered. If you do not understand a question, or want to come back to it later, you should still choose an answer and then mark the question. An unanswered question is wrong 100% of the time. If you guess, you still have a 25% chance of being correct.