Re: Post Your Questions to GMAC Official Representative Here
[#permalink]
05 Dec 2013, 01:01
Dear GMAT team,
My name is Govind Singh Patwal and I took the GMAT exam on Nov 23.
I faced a technical issue (Disruptions in Testing) during my GMAT which resulted in my low GMAT score.
Below is the description of the incidence:
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The computer crashed after the AWA and Integrated reasoning section – This happened in front of the test administrator (you can verify this with the computer logs and the video recording), he tried to get the computer back on but it crashed again (again, you can verify this with the computer logs and the video recording). It was on the second attempt that the computer started – I wanted to lodge a complaint and asked the administrator whether these incidents will affect my exam/score, he answered in negative. When the exam got over, the crash incidents had an effect on my scores - The software did not add the score of individual questions in the Verbal section accurately, leading to low GMAT score. I brought the low score to the notice of the administrator and mentioned that I was quite sure that the low score was because of the computer crashing twice. He dismissed it saying that he had seen people scoring less than 300.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I then went to my GMAT coaching institute and my verbal trainer could not believe my low GMAT score, I scored 22 in the actual GMAT, whereas till that day I had consistently been scoring 36 (in fact only a day before the actual GMAT, I had taken the GMATPrep Exam 1 (for the first time) and scored 39 in the verbal section - GMATPrep cannot go off the mark by 17 points). My trainer persuaded me to write an email to GMAC customer support team.
I have been in touch with the GMAT customer support and the PearsonVUE support but have not been getting satisfactory answers.
Yesterday, the PearsonVUE team came back to me with the following:
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Thank you for contacting Pearson VUE.
We have reviewed your concern and have checked your exam logs. Each exam goes through a two-step scoring process using different algorithms. The exam is scored both at the testing center and again when the results arrive at the Pearson hub. The two scores are compared. If there any differences, the result is sent to our technical team for investigation. In order for a score to become reportable, all results must match 100%. The scores that you received on both your unofficial and official score reports are accurate and contain no errors.
We have also performed a technical review of your exam logs and found no technical errors. Please contact us at your earliest convenience if you have any other question or concerns at 0120-439-7830 9 am to 6 pm IST. Please reference incident number < >. The incident number is our way of tracking this situation. We will be closing this incident at this time.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
It seems like they are more interested in closing the case than resolving it.
I replied back today
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Good Afternoon and thank you for your response, and while I appreciate your response, it leaves much to be answered. I am sure your organization is equally concerned by a situation where the software/hardware you use for your exam has several issues, and the risk that a perceived insufficient investigation would undermine the credibility of PearsonVUE- I am eager not just for a resolution to this matter but it would also benefit all of us to identify the cause as well.
First things first, we are clear that there were issues with the software - The software and the computer crashed twice after the AWA and the IR section. The fact that the software and the computer crashed points that your software or/and hardware is/are not robust for the GMAT. (I have never heard of the software/hardware crashing in a PMP exam at a Prometric centre). A crash should never happen in an exam. If a crash happens than no matter how many arguments you put forward to justify your case that the crash did not cause any effect on the exam, to shy from your responsibility, and to put the entire blame of the low score on the test taker; the arguments are bound to fall flat because of the simple reason that in the first place, your hardware or/and software was/were not robust enough to handle the exam (as an analogy, if in a pole vault event, the pole snaps and the athlete is not able to jump to his potential, the event organizer has to accept the responsibility for the simple reason that the pole should not have snapped in the first place – the snapping only shows inferior quality of poles used by the event organizer). To add to this, my case is not the only case of a computer crashing in a GMAT at PearsonVUE – the internet is full of such incidents. More than anything, what has disappointed me is that not even once in your emails have you accepted that the computer crashed. Accept that your hardware (or software or both) is/are faulty and not robust for the GMAT.
Also, as mentioned the extremely and unusually low Verbal score cannot be attributed to any other factor (I have been scoring around 36 on an average and scored 39 the last day on a GMATPrep exam (which I took for the first time)…there is nothing that explains the verbal score of 22.
If you are so sure that the crash (which only points to a faulty software or hardware or both) has nothing to do with my score, it would only transparent to share my verbal test with me (the questions, my answers and the official answers). I want to confirm that I answered all questions during the verbal section within the allotted time. This sharing of my test should not take more than a few minutes.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I think PearsonVUE should own up the responsibility of the faulty software - if they don't, then it would only be in the interest of GMAT test takers that GMAC consider companies like Prometric that provide better infrastructure and robust software/hardware (according to my experience with Prometric).
I look forward to a resolution - a thorough investigation, a retest or a refund.
Sincerely,
Govind Singh Patwal
close
