Test scoring machines scan testing forms to mark incorrect answers wrong. If anything other than a right answer appears, that answer is marked wrong. If nothing has been marked at all in a given space, then your answer will be marked wrong. The only sure way to pass a Scantron test is mark the correct answers, but theoretically, various cheats or hacks have been used successfully to confuse the machine. These methods, though generally unreliable, involve either marking other places on the form itself, or altering the answer bubbles. See Step 1 to learn about these methods.
Steps
Messing With the Bubbles
- Make sure your test passes the eye test. If any of the following methods actually work, but you've marked every answer "B," the test administrator or teacher is still going to throw out your test. Every Scantron test is examined by a person and run through the testing machine. To do this correctly, you need to both pass the eye test, making your test look as authentic as possible, and fool the machine into failing to mark wrong answers.
- Avoid obviously-dumb cheating pitfalls, like only marking one column of answers or making your blurry answer bubbles super-obvious and on every question. If you try to do this on every question, you're going to fail, no question about it.
- If the worst you can do is guess on every answer, guess randomly. Make your test look as if you've given it an honest effort.
- Smear Chapstick on the answers you've marked. Theoretically, greasing your answers with Chapstick will confuse the machine and cause it to fail marking anything on the test form. Reportedly, this works up to 25% of the time, though some test administrators report that it's an unsuccessful method of fooling the machine.[1]
- Use only the lightest dab of Chapstick, and only on the answers you think are wrong. If you turn in a form smeared within an inch of its life with grease, you're going to get in trouble.
- Some cheaters think that this is a dated method, once successful but more recently eradicated by more sophisticated machines. In fact, it might cause questions answered correctly to be marked as incorrect.[2]
- Smear the mark. Some cheaters think blurring the pencil mark somewhere between fully-marked and blank will confuse the machine. To try this, draw a small dot in the middle of an answer, and then shade lightly around in the other answer bubbles. Smear everything with your fingers.
- The idea is to shade the circle dark enough the teacher will not question it, but light enough that the machine will be confused. Supposedly, this can work around 20% of the time, though you've still got to make it look authentic.[3]
- Draw lines in the answer bubbles. Some cheaters think that, rather than filling in the answer bubbles fully, lines will confuse the machine, causing it to fail to register incorrect answers. Horizontal or diagonal lines might confuse the sensor, causing it to fail in scanning correctly.
- This is perhaps the most unreliable method of all. On almost every Scantron instruction sheet, there's an obvious step instruction you explicitly to fill in the answers "full and dark." Teachers and state graders still look at the forms and will toss out forms filled out incorrectly completed. If you do this, you risk a complete failure and disciplinary action.
Messing With the Lines on the Form
- Color the black lines to the left of the answer bubbles. Some cheaters think the black lines that line the test are used to communicate data to the testing scanner, and since you're instructed to avoid making marks in the area, it's possible that coloring in the black spaces can cause the test to fail.
- Supposedly, this is thought by some to be the most reliable method, yielding a successful machine fail up to 30% of the time.
- Again, marking anywhere other than the answer bubbles is against the rules of the Scantron test, so you need to use light marks and not make them obvious.
- Erase the lines. For the same reason that marking in the black area can cause the machine to fail, some think that erasing the lines can cause the same effect. On answers you don't know, make your best guess and then try erasing the black marks to the left of the row.
- Of course, the problem with erasing these marks is that they'll probably fail the eye test. These rows will stick out like a sore thumb at a quick glance, possibly causing your test to be chucked. If you do this, only do it on some of the answers.
- Cut out the big black square. On many pages of the Scantron test is a big page you're not supposed to mark. Supposedly, finding a way to cut it out on the sly yields a high success rate of making the machine fail. The problem is that it's super-obvious, both in the testing center and at a quick glance. Still, if you want to roll the dice, you can give it a shot.
- Mark your test as the answer key. Though somewhat uncommon, some Scantron forms have a space where you can mark that the form you're filling out is either a test or the answer key. If your teacher made an epic mistake of using one of these forms, exploit it and mark yours as the key. It'll reset the machine and your answers will be correct. Your classmates won't be so lucky.
- Mark your best guess. Statistically, you'll stand a better chance of getting a good score on a Scantron test if you just read the answers, eliminate obviously-wrong answers, and make a halfway decent guess. Using good test habits is the best cheat of all. You don't have to be a genius to pass the test.— You just have to recognize the wrong answers and make a good guess.
- If you're going to be stuck in the testing center all day any way, you might as well take the time to actually do it. It's not like you can leave. Read the answers closely and make a guess. At least you'll have tried.
- Copy possible answers onto the label of a water bottle. If you're allowed to have water during the test, try to write down some helpful information that you might be tested over on the back of the label to have during the test. This is only effective for class tests, not state-wide exams, which are impossible to guess what you'll be tested over.
- Remove the label carefully, taking precautions not to tear it. Write vocab words or formulas that you'll need for the test on the back of the label and replace it. Use tape to stick it back on.
- Input answers into your graphing calculator. If you've got a Scantron mid-term coming up in physics or mathematics, keeping formulas on a graphing calculator that you use can be a good way to keep helpful information close at hand.
- Teachers are typically on the look out for this cheat, and will often make students remove the batteries from the calculator.
- Study. Yeah, yeah, bummer-alert. This isn't a cheat at all, but the best way to pass a test is to know the correct answers. Don't spend time poking around the Internet for ways to cheat the test. Take the time to study instead. That time will be much better spent.
Tips
- If all else fails, try darkening the black rectangle next to the letter boxes. It may cause the machine to skip the question. This can be done with pencil, marker, or a pen.
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