Testing Centre rules + more questions

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Testing Centre rules + more questions

by melguy » Tue Sep 10, 2013 11:04 pm
Hello Rebecca

I gave my GMAT exam yesterday and I have got a few questions about what are the rules GMAC has set for it's testing centres / other rules

1) Other Candidates: I checked it on 10:30 and the other candidate checked it at 11:00 or 11:15. So right when my exam is in progress the candidate is sitting on the other side of the half floor height glass partition and checking in. It was all clearly audible to me. I had to wear ear plugs which may or may not have affected my performance. Are there any rules around it?

2) Replacement pad: I asked for a replacement writing pad and the Centre manager took atleast 3-4 minutes to pick a pad even when a bundle of 15 pads was sitting on his table within 3 feet from him and me. After 3-4 mins of casually walking around the small room when he gave me the writing pad he asked me to give it back to him to check if nothing was written on it. That was a good 5 mins of lost time and I had to skip 2 questions in a row.

3) Noise: There was construction noise on the upper floor (although it din't go for more than 15-20 mins). The centre manager sitting on the other side of the (half floor length) glass partition yelled out something on his mobile phone. I was concentrating so did not pay any attention but are there any rules around for such things?

* I am happy to provide you my appointment ID and you are welcome to check the video recording for #1,#2 and #3.

4) I am very suspicious about my GMAT results. Is it possible for the centre manager to have control over the results anyway, anyhow? Or is it possible that some answers were not registered at the server?

5) I do not pay much attention to IR to save energy for Verbal. So i guessed most of the I.R. Please confirm that poor performance in IR does not affects the scores of the next section (i.e. Quant).

I have been studying for about a year now. I gave a few CATs recently - MGMAT CAT (580 Q41 , V 30), Veritas (610 Q 40, V 34) and Veritas ( 610 Q42 , V 32).

Formal GMAT exam - Sep 10, 2013 510 Q 32 V 28

All the questions I got on the real exam were very easier than practice exam and only a total of 3-4 were difficult ones which I may have gone wrong with. I know you will say that you cannot speak about 3rd party tests but please be assured whatever I am saying is true. Even if i accept my Verbal score, I refuse to accept my Quant score of 32. If you give permission I can PM you at least 15 - 20 Quant questions with solutions (I still remember them!).

I would like to make a formal request to get this issue looked into plus I would like to report the notepad and noise incident. Some one recommended me to request a refund/resit the exam.

Also, I did not get any I.R. results on the unofficial printout. Do I have to wait until I get an official GMAT score card?

Please advice.

Thanks
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by vinay1983 » Wed Sep 11, 2013 12:12 am
Hi melguy,

There are certain things I would like to tell you.

1. Please do report the incident wherein your invigilator paid no heed to the seriousness of your exam and REPORT IT TO GMAC. Was this a authorised Pearson VUE centre? Since no such centres have such type of things what you have discussed. Even I had the same issue with my exam in May, 2013. I have decided not to go to that centre for the exam. I will go to a Pearson VUE centre only.

2. As far as I know the invigilator does not control anything.
3. Five minutes are really critical, complain about the centre and the invigilator to GMAC, see to it that you get a refund or a re-exam.
4. IR scores do not have a bearing on your GMAT score, don't worry!you will get the AWA and IR in 20-30 days time.
5. melguy, seriously email GMAC. I strongly suspect the effect of the test centre here.
6. where did you take the exam?India or outside, because such noises are usually found in India.
You can, for example never foretell what any one man will do, but you can say with precision what an average number will be up to!

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by melguy » Wed Sep 11, 2013 1:00 am
Hi Vinay

I will surely report it to the GMAC.

Yes, it was a Pearson VUE authorised testing center.

I somehow have a feeling of something very wrong. If the Test Center Manager has no control over the scores then may be the answers were not registered at the server or something like that. But I am absolutely, absolutely sure that my Quant scores are not correct.

I was 100% concentrating on the exam and used ear plugs (never used it during sample exams).

I live and work in Melbourne and would normally give exam at the Melbourne Business School test center (above and beyond what a test center standards should be like) but I am currently in India for a few months for some work. The test center experience in Melbourne is very different to what I got in India.

Construction noise, test center manager yelling on his mobile phone, taking 5 mins to give a replacement pad, checking the other person in when my exam has already started (everything is audible) etc. In short, testing center experience was not very good.

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by vinay1983 » Wed Sep 11, 2013 2:55 am
melguy wrote:Hi Vinay

I will surely report it to the GMAC.

Yes, it was a Pearson VUE authorised testing center.

I somehow have a feeling of something very wrong. If the Test Center Manager has no control over the scores then may be the answers were not registered at the server or something like that. But I am absolutely, absolutely sure that my Quant scores are not correct.

I was 100% concentrating on the exam and used ear plugs (never used it during sample exams).

I live and work in Melbourne and would normally give exam at the Melbourne Business School test center (above and beyond what a test center standards should be like) but I am currently in India for a few months for some work. The test center experience in Melbourne is very different to what I got in India.

Construction noise, test center manager yelling on his mobile phone, taking 5 mins to give a replacement pad, checking the other person in when my exam has already started (everything is audible) etc. In short, testing center experience was not very good.
Thought so. Do take up the matter with them. Go to their official site, contact the customer services. By the way in which city did you give the exam?I hope it is not Bangalore, because that is where i plan to give my exam.Could you share the details.

Cheers
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by melguy » Wed Sep 11, 2013 8:33 am
No its not in Bangalore. I guess the testing center standards vary a lot from country to country. What might be norm in one country (noise, taking 5 mins to provide a replacement pad etc) is taken very seriously in another country.

But I will stile file a report. I request GMAC to please provide me the link where I can go to file a formal report.

Thanks

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by OfficialGMAT » Wed Sep 11, 2013 9:05 am
Hi melguy! I'm sorry to hear you encountered a few issues while taking your GMAT exam. Please email [email protected], providing your GMAT ID and details of your issues and someone should be in contact with you within two business days to discuss the situation.

In answer to your questions regarding IR, you will indeed get your IR results on your official score report. IR is scored separately and does not count toward your total score. Your performance in the IR section will not impact your score in another part of the exam. However, schools will receive your official score report, which includes all of your results, so it is worth trying to do your best in all sections of the exam!

As for your concern about your GMAT scores being affected by your test proctor, or because of a scoring malfunction, I do want to assure you that neither of those things are possible. Both the GMAT exam and exam results are encrypted in a way that does not allow the test proctor any access. Therefore there is no way the proctor can influence scores. As for your concern about the scoring algorithm, your GMAT exam is scored three times using two separate scoring algorithms, prior to your Official Score Report being released. If there is any discrepancy in the scores, your scores are immediately placed under review. You can see more details about that here: https://officialgmat.mba.com/2010/04/07/ ... -or-score/.


Rebecca
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by srishti20 » Sun Nov 26, 2017 10:06 am
hey! did you get any assistance for the same?

I want to raise a complaint too! can you help me?
Thanks and Regards