BAD test conditions

  • If you want to know something about the GRE subject test in physics then chances are you will find it in here.
  • If something about the physics GRE it isn't already discussed in here then please put it in here.

Post Reply
delsub
Posts: 98
Joined: Thu Jun 24, 2010 12:17 am

BAD test conditions

Post by delsub » Thu Oct 24, 2013 10:37 am

where i took the test, there was a huge commotion and blaring music because the college where the test was administered had some function/football game later in the day and the band and cheer girls were practicing from early morning. The test proctor made a written note of this to ETS.

Question is can i contact that proctor and then contact ETS and ask them to give me some written certification that yes the exam was written under unfavorable conditions - I would surely have answered 10 questions more without it. IT was so bad that one of the proctors went repeatedly to the band and asked them to stop and when it was of little avail, she went to the local walmart and bought ear plugs for all examinees.
Last edited by delsub on Thu Oct 24, 2013 3:02 pm, edited 1 time in total.

delsub
Posts: 98
Joined: Thu Jun 24, 2010 12:17 am

Re: BAD test conditions

Post by delsub » Thu Oct 24, 2013 2:58 pm

no one experienced less than favorable test conditions or knows what i could do?>

blighter
Posts: 256
Joined: Thu Jan 26, 2012 6:30 pm

Re: BAD test conditions

Post by blighter » Thu Oct 24, 2013 3:03 pm

delsub wrote:no one experienced less than favorable test conditions or knows what i could do?>
You can definitely contact ETS. I do think they should make it up to you, but I don't know if they will.

Mmm_Pasta
Posts: 10
Joined: Sat Aug 24, 2013 8:18 pm

Re: BAD test conditions

Post by Mmm_Pasta » Thu Oct 24, 2013 3:59 pm

I doubt it is going to make any difference. A committee is not going to know how much better/worse you would have done. I would ask ETS if they'll allow a retake.

TakeruK
Posts: 941
Joined: Mon Jan 02, 2012 3:05 pm

Re: BAD test conditions

Post by TakeruK » Thu Oct 24, 2013 6:18 pm

I agree that contacting ETS is a good idea, especially since the proctor had to take such drastic actions. But I don't know if anything will be resolved in time for your applications this year. I don't feel like it would be fair for ETS to adjust the score of everyone in that room by some factor, since it's pretty hard to determine what factor that would be.

In the ideal world, I would want ETS to simply refund everyone's test fees from that day and take efforts to prevent the same test center from being used next time without some confirmation that the noise situation will be better. But I don't think having your fees refunded will help your applications this season, even if you used them to get a free retest in April 2014, which would be far too late. But at least you would not have spent $150+ to get a crappy test situation.

One other thing ETS could do is to have an extra test for people affected sometime in the next few weeks so you can get your scores on time for applications. But I think this might be very unfair -- some applicants may not be able to redo this test / clear out room on such short notice and they will be disadvantaged because they will not get to improve their score. It might not also be practical to schedule a test on such short notice and I don't know if ETS has backup version of PGREs in case this happens. I would be curious to know if anyone has taken a test outside of the scheduled test dates and "Monday testing" special case test dates.

Just curious, what would you want ETS to do about this, delsub?

delsub
Posts: 98
Joined: Thu Jun 24, 2010 12:17 am

Re: BAD test conditions

Post by delsub » Fri Oct 25, 2013 1:16 am

what i want them to do is give me written acknowledgement that yes they received a complain from the proctor that the testing conditions were not favorable. I would attach that letter to the colleges - so if i got 650, its in bad conditions.

TakeruK
Posts: 941
Joined: Mon Jan 02, 2012 3:05 pm

Re: BAD test conditions

Post by TakeruK » Fri Oct 25, 2013 2:42 am

Cool -- I guess it's hard to judge whether or not a letter like that would make a large difference, as "mmm_pasta" says, there's no way the committee would know how much better you would have done without the distractions. But I don't think having a letter like that (if ETS gives it to you) could hurt, as long as you don't try to make statements about how much better you think you would have done (e.g. like in this thread, you said you could have answered 10 more questions but this is just conjecture). I'd probably not even mention the bad testing conditions at all, and just let the letter from ETS speak for itself.

Maybe you can also see if you can get them to give some sort of refund too though!

Please come back and update us on what ETS says! Hope it works out.

delsub
Posts: 98
Joined: Thu Jun 24, 2010 12:17 am

Re: BAD test conditions

Post by delsub » Fri Oct 25, 2013 11:53 am

I have mailed them - lets see what happens

delsub
Posts: 98
Joined: Thu Jun 24, 2010 12:17 am

Re: BAD test conditions

Post by delsub » Fri Oct 25, 2013 11:55 am

by the way here is what the college (test venue) said i should do -

Test Center Complaints
If you have a complaint about a test center, please send a communication to ETS. In your communication, provide a detailed description of the complaint, including the name and address of the test center, and the test date. The communication should be received at ETS no later than seven days after your test date. Allow four to six weeks for a response. If you communicate your complaint only to the test center staff, you will not receive a response from ETS.

Email:
GRETAS@ets.org
Mail:
GRE Test Administration Services
ETS
Mail Stop 34-Q
Princeton, NJ 08541 USA
Fax:
1-609-771-7710

delsub
Posts: 98
Joined: Thu Jun 24, 2010 12:17 am

Re: BAD test conditions

Post by delsub » Wed Oct 30, 2013 12:08 am

I mailed ETS and got an automated reply saying they would get back in a few weeks !!


BTW - does someone know how to add score recipients (and pay for it) online.

delsub
Posts: 98
Joined: Thu Jun 24, 2010 12:17 am

Re: BAD test conditions

Post by delsub » Wed Oct 30, 2013 1:24 pm

pls someone tell me

blighter
Posts: 256
Joined: Thu Jan 26, 2012 6:30 pm

Re: BAD test conditions

Post by blighter » Wed Oct 30, 2013 1:56 pm

delsub wrote:I mailed ETS and got an automated reply saying they would get back in a few weeks !!


BTW - does someone know how to add score recipients (and pay for it) online.
Am I missing something here? There is a link to send your scores right there when you log into My GRE.



Post Reply