I just Beat The GMAT!

Hi,

I appeared for GMAT at Hyderabad India today 13th April 2010.
I am sorry to acknowledge that 13 is really unlucky number as there was a network disruption in the mid of

verbal part of the test.This happened with all the test takers in the

room.When the disruption occurred ,leading to drastic freezing of the

screen and with two weird typical windows error,everyone panicked.I remember that 24 minutes and some 10 seconds were left for me.
We were asked to vacate the room and it was

only after some 5 minutes that we were asked to return to our terminals to resume.But to my surprise,though the test resumed from the same question but with a lag of 2 minutes.The clock seemed to have continued ticking even when the test was stopped.
Not only did the disruption took away some of the precious

time but it also broke the flow.I was in mid of a reading RC passage and i had read it again after resuming the exam,killing me in two ways.I reported the freeze when exactly 24: 12 minutes were left in my

verbal section ,however,when i got the control back the time it showed

me was 25:11.
I was taken aback by this anamoly but decided to concentrate over the

questions instead of talking to the examiner about it
When i saw my score card,i was literally cursing the 13th day that i

chose primarily because the disruption did not only break the flow but

also created an extra psychological pressure.
.Someone might consider a gap of 1 or two minutes negligible but if this was the case people will no more prefix time with adjective "precious".
I dont claim that i would have got an extra 100 points had this disruption

not occurred but yes this disruption indeed had a contribution in lowering my

score .

I called up the customer care and asked me for the incident ID.i called up the test center and after 10 minutes of conversation,i got the incidence number.

The incident id is 202XXXXXX

I understand that GMAC has a very good reputation in conducting the

exam in most unfair fashion in which no candidate is given undue

advantages or disadvantages.I also understand that technical glitches can

happen any time ,but such glitches in no way should impact the

examinees or the ultimate score.

Through this mail,i do not intend to discount the important role that the

test procters played.They were kind enough to try alleviate the tension

but all this went in vain.

I expect some real action on this incidence.


I have reported this issue to PEARSON VUE over phone via customer care and have also sent them a mail.
I am quite depressed with my performance,though not sure how significant was this disruption in lowering my score.


PK

Just got to read the following at https://www.mba.com/mba/TheGMAT/TestDay/ ... ations.htm

Disruptions in Testing and Potential Compromises
GMAC, Pearson VUE, and ACT endeavor to ensure that the GMAT exam is administered in a standardized and uninterrupted manner. If events occur that cause testing to be canceled or interrupted, involve a mistiming on any part of the test, result in a deviation from required testing procedures, raise concerns about possible advance access to exam content by one or more examinees, interfere with any other test taker or test center personnel, or otherwise disrupt or compromise the normal testing process, GMAC and/or Pearson VUE will examine the situation and determine if corrective action is warranted, including score cancellation(s) or non-scoring of exams. If GMAC and/or Pearson VUE, in their sole discretion, determine that such action is warranted, each affected examinee will be offered the option either to retest at no additional fee or to receive a refund of his or her examination fee (unless the affected examinee is found to have caused or been involved in the conduct which resulted in the corrective action, in which event GMAC and/or Pearson VUE shall have the right to withhold either or both of these options and to pursue all available remedies with respect to that examinee). If a retest is offered and an examinee selects that option, the examinee must retake the entire exam in order to produce a valid score. These remedies are the exclusive remedies available to examinees affected by disruptions in testing or potential compromises through prior access to exam content by one or more examinees



I can relate the my experience to the rules above

1) Miscalculation of time: I problem occurred when 24:11 minutes were left but when i resumed the test the clock showed 25:12 minutes

2) Test was interrupted

I will appreciate if i could get a prompt response from GMAC

Wow, that's terrible.

Now that I think of it, I was cut off about 20 seconds before the end of the first AWA essay. It wasn't a big deal, because I was already done and just proofreading.

Nothing near what you experienced, but it did take me by surprise that the system cut me off abruptly.

I've actually heard lots of similar stories from others... one of my students lost two minutes at the beginning of her math section due to a computer glitch, and successfully lobbied GMAC to let her re-take the test for free. Another student had a truly terrifying glitch that wouldn't allow him to answer certain questions--but he could, oddly enough, click "next" without filling in the bubble. Weird, huh? Same ending for him--he successfully lobbied for a free re-take.

So be persistent, and they'll *hopefully* give you a chance to retake. Good luck, and sorry to hear that you had to go through something like this. It doesn't sound like fun.

I suggest you persist with this until resolved. Not only for your sake but the sake of future test takers. I encourage anyone else who has endured a testing irregularity to step up.

You should take the mind set that you are a customer who bought a very expensive product, which failed to deliver what it advertises to deliver.

With that said, an opportunity to retake is little in the way of compensation for the trauma you have had to endure, the time off from work you may have had to take, and the possibility of missed admissions deadlines. In my humble opinion, you should ask for more than a retake.

In the past year I have had a handful of students complain about testing irregularities. Only one has been persistent enough to get a free exam. There were many hoops to jump through. Based on his experience you will likely have more luck dealing with GMAC than with Pearson.

If you need contact details for GMAC I can send you the email address of perhaps the most reliable person at GMAC.

I believe GMAC and Pearson should be proactive considering the opportunity for these testing irregularities to undermine the validity and reliability of the exam.

Well said, Mr. Birdsall!

It's kind of sad that you have to kick and scream and spend hours on the telephone, just for a lousy retake. I agree that it's a crappy consolation prize, considering all of the stress and energy that goes into preparing for the exam.

Keep battling with them, PK. Be persistent, and let us know how it goes.

Hi Everyone,

GMAC did acknowledged that the unscheduled and drastic freezing of screen could have put me in undue disadvantageous position and I was offered a retest.
However,as Mr Birdsall said,the trauma had put me in a very bad state.I was out of work for two weeks,eating healthy food,sleeping 10 hours a day and all i got at the end was the poor score.
It not only made me nervous about my prospects to score good but also pulled me down like anything.
I was sure that if i dont retake the test in near future,all my prep would go in vain.
I finally decided the date and slot in hurry and booked a retest for free.
I got Q49 and V 34 totalling 690 this time.
Though i am not that happy with this score but after having undergone the trauma of 640 ,this score sounded a little comforting.

I will update this thread once again,but,my advise to anyone facing troubles in GMAT would be to ask for a retest.

Thanks,
PK