COM-FSM Placement common mistakes
COM-FSM Placement · Understand the traps and how to avoid them.
Writing a sentence fragment as the answer to a sentence-combining or sentence-correction item, e.g. choosing "Because the rain stopped." as a complete sentence.
Candidates attach a subordinate clause to the previous sentence with a period, treating 'because/although/which' clauses as standalone sentences; spoken English tolerates this, written placement items do not.
What to do instead
Before selecting an answer, test each option by asking 'who or what is doing the action, and is there a main verb?' If the option begins with a subordinator and has no independent clause, eliminate it.
Joining two independent clauses with only a comma (comma splice) when a semicolon, period, or conjunction is required.
Candidates write the way they pause when speaking, and a comma 'feels' like a full stop in speech; they have not internalized the independent-clause test.
What to do instead
Count subjects and finite verbs in the option. Two subject-verb pairs with no coordinating conjunction (and/but/so/yet) and no semicolon means the option is wrong.
Choosing an answer that shifts verb tense or subject-verb agreement mid-sentence, e.g. 'The list of items were on the desk.'
Candidates match the verb to the nearest noun rather than the true subject, and lose track of the tense established earlier in the passage.
What to do instead
Cross out prepositional phrases between subject and verb, then check agreement. For tense, underline the time clue (yesterday, since 2010, by next week) before choosing.
Misplacing or omitting commas around non-essential modifiers and introductory elements, e.g. 'My brother, who lives in Pohnpei is a teacher.'
Candidates treat commas as optional pauses rather than structural markers, and placement items often hinge on exactly one comma difference.
What to do instead
Check that every 'who/which/that' clause has either two commas (non-essential) or none (essential), never one; and that introductory phrases are followed by a comma.
Answering main-idea questions with a true but minor detail from the passage instead of the overall point.
The detail is explicitly stated and therefore feels 'safe'; candidates equate 'mentioned in the text' with 'main idea'.
What to do instead
After reading the passage once, state the main idea in your own words before looking at the options, then pick the option closest to your sentence; reject any option narrower than the whole passage.
Choosing an inference answer that is plausible in real life but not supported by the passage.
Candidates import outside knowledge or personal opinion; inference items reward only what the text logically implies.
What to do instead
For each option, point to the exact sentence that supports it. If you cannot point to one, the option is out of scope even if it is true.
Misreading an EXCEPT / NOT / LEAST question as a positive question and selecting the one true statement.
Under time pressure candidates skim the stem and answer the question they expected rather than the one written.
What to do instead
Circle or mentally flag every negative word in the stem before reading options, and restate the task to yourself as 'find the three that fit; the odd one is the answer.'
Applying a memorized rule incorrectly on algebra items, e.g. distributing a negative as '3 - (x + 2) = 3 - x + 2' or adding fractions without a common denominator.
Candidates recall the shape of a rule but not its condition; sign errors and denominator errors account for most lost points at this level.
What to do instead
Write the distribution step explicitly as multiplication by -1 before simplifying, and always rewrite fractions with a common denominator on paper before adding.
Solving a word problem with the correct arithmetic but the wrong quantity, e.g. reporting the discount instead of the final price, or the total instead of the per-person share.
Candidates grab the numbers and operate immediately without defining what the question asks for.
What to do instead
Before computing, write one line: 'Find: ____.' After computing, re-read the question and label your answer with units to confirm it matches.
Leaving answers blank or spending long stretches on one hard item, so easy items later in the section go unanswered.
Placement tests are often scored on items answered, and candidates fear that guessing hurts them or get absorbed in a single problem.
What to do instead
Work in passes: answer everything you can, mark hard items, then return. Never leave a blank on a multiple-choice placement item; eliminate and choose.