Physics GRE Discussion Forums

Hi all,

Firstly, I thoroughly checked the history of this forum and wasn't able to find anything useful about htis.

Are you really not allowed to bring even water into the exam? Seems a bit rough for a three hour exam.

The ETS website mentions that stopwatches are fobidden. Is this really true? Sounds extremely odd to me.

Thanks

noospace wrote:Hi all,

Firstly, I thoroughly checked the history of this forum and wasn't able to find anything useful about htis.

Are you really not allowed to bring even water into the exam? Seems a bit rough for a three hour exam.

The ETS website mentions that stopwatches are fobidden. Is this really true? Sounds extremely odd to me.

Thanks

hmm true.. i never thought of that.., maybe there will be water facilities available, but that would eat up your time..
but i heard you are allowed to wear analog watches..

i think previous test takers can better answer this.

No, you can't bring food or drink into the exam or even mechanical pencils (only regular old number 2's). You can wear an analog or digital watch (without calculator functions) and there will be clocks in the exam room as well as reminders about the time at regular intervals. If you need to go to the bathroom or get a drink, you will need to hand your testbook in and use the facilities outside of the room.

and in some test centers drink and cake are provided by the registrar... i am not sure this is a regulation.

When I took the test today they didn't supply anything (besides pencils), but they also didn't enforce any of these rules about bringing in food or water. I saw some people had candy bars or other snacks. They also didn't check anyone's watches as far as I know and I used a mechanical pencil (I didn't even know it wasn't allowed).

The proctor in my room also tried to start the test while he was still in the middle of giving out test booklets because he thought he was doing us a favor by letting us get out sooner...

So I guess what I'm saying is that experiences likely vary widely by test center.

kroner wrote:When I took the test today they didn't supply anything (besides pencils), but they also didn't enforce any of these rules about bringing in food or water. I saw some people had candy bars or other snacks. They also didn't check anyone's watches as far as I know and I used a mechanical pencil (I didn't even know it wasn't allowed).

The proctor in my room also tried to start the test while he was still in the middle of giving out test booklets because he thought he was doing us a favor by letting us get out sooner...

So I guess what I'm saying is that experiences likely vary widely by test center.

I agree it varies very widely by test center. Like today, I absolutely hated my proctors. They did not allow any drink or food so I had to do away with my caffeinated drink that I bought specifically for the occasion. But I was OK with that. The worst thing was that they didn't even allow watches, digital or analog. I had to raise my hand to ask for time and it took forever for them to see me. They didn't tell us what time it was when we started and never bothered to inform us the time during the test. My pacing was completely off.

Yup, it's varied. Mine just let everyone take drinks and go to toilet at will. He even left the room unwatched many times