GMAT Online - What We Know [Master Topic]

hey guys,
does anybody know when booking for online gmat will open? it looks like there are no news yet

The website says that the registration will open by end of April. I am waiting to hear some news as well.

How useful will that be in India then? our lockdown will open by mid/end of this month anyway..

It does not appear that GMAC announced the registration date for the GMAT. It seems that the registration date at the end of April only refers to the Online Executive Assessment.

Just got a message from PearsonVue canceling my late april appointment.. hope the GMAT at home will be put in place shortly!

Posted from my mobile device

The fact that another week has passed with no real updates from GMAC is concerning to say the least. I would assume that the employees there are in the process of accepting bids from the various online proctoring companies, coding the software for the exam itself, debating the price point for the "interim" GMAT without AWA (team $195!), and transitioning to work-at-home orders like 95% of us in the US (and worldwide).

Meanwhile, the At-Home GRE has been running--if not smoothly--for the last few weeks.

mcelroytutoring
Have you heard of any experiences from GRE people who have given At-Home tests? And if so, how has it been so far? Any particular issues that you have heard might be good to know?

Funny you should mention...I took the At-Home GRE as an experiment myself just last night, in fact! My main recommendation is to make sure that you have a strong internet connection, preferably a wired ethernet connection, because I had a wireless connection that kept getting "disconnected," turning what should have been a 4-hour test into a 6-hour ordeal of getting booted from the test and trying to re-establish a connection with the proctor / restart the test from where I left off. I even had to reboot my entire computer twice and log back into the test through my ProctorU account, where luckily, my work was saved up until the point of disconnection.

The good news, though, is that I got it to work on a MacBook Air running a free copy of Windows via Bootcamp, meaning that Mac users should have to spend exactly $0 (other than the cost of the test itself, of course) to get their computers ready for the At-Home GRE.

Hopefully the Interim GMAT is the same.

True . Good news for MAC users.

However, people reported during the exam: chat freezing and several re-boots

I also just got an Email that they've cancelled my April 18th exam. It was in Boston, which was kind of expected.

Thanks for the update. Very good points to know.
Do you know what's your internet bandwidth?
Beside the internet disconnection, how did you like the experience? Any noticeable difference compared to at-center GRE?

mcelroytutoring :- Thanks for the points. Though Can you clarify these points :-

i) When you rebooted or when you lost the connection, how was Proctor still able to monitor you? I mean there should be someway they can monitor you when you are in the midst of the test right?

ii) Did you face any issues/distractions from the Proctor during the test?

iii) Were you allowed to move from your place? And what about the breaks? Do we need to be in front of camera all the time? As in, in the test center you have someone watching you. You are not allowed to take a look at the notes etc.

Obviously, when I rebooted my computer, the webcam briefly shut off and the proctor was not able to monitor me. However, I was anxious to reboot and log back in, so I was only "off camera" for a few minutes, but no, I was not monitored the entire time.


No, not at all. The proctors (I had 3 of them) were barely noticeable and would talk to you at the very beginning (both through the computer audio and the chat feature), and that was about it.


Yes, you need to be in front of the camera the entire time other than the 10-minute break, and show the proctor all 4 corners of your room and your entire desk area. My daughter has a bookshelf that he made me cover with a bedsheet.

At the end of the exam, you have to erase your whiteboard in view of the proctor.

Are there any guidelines/time limits by which one needs to be back in the system logged in if one loses the connection? What if I lose an internet connection and not being able to connect back? How long would they wait for me to reconnect? Is there anything stated by ETS, on how they would address such issues?

I ask because in some countries/places, it is common to lose electricity/ internet connection for a long time.

While I have not taken the GRE using ProctorU, I have taken a few online classes that used ProctorU for the exams and can share my experience with it.

To take the test with ProctorU, you have to have a computer or laptop that has a webcam and strong internet connection. I remember having to show the proctor, my laptop screen by holding it up to a mirror, having to show all four corners of the room, and my sitting arrangement. In addition, they initiated remote access of my computer so they could check for any programs etc that might be running. Once that is all done, you can sit down and take the exam.

Personally, I hated this experience as I was much more conscious of the fact that someone was watching me the entire time, and I was extra cautious of where my hands were at any point to ensure that they proctor did not think I was cheating. Also I had to worry about where my wife was at any given time because you were not allowed to have any other person in the room with you. Honestly, if given a choice, I would prefer to take the test in a testing center as ironically I would feel more comfortable and relaxed there vs at home with someone watching me the entire time.

Happy to answer any questions or clarify anything. Best of luck to those taking the test.

Hi,

Could you explain what would be the alternative to the scratchpad for the online version of the exam? Could we use an empty notebook ?

Thanks

Tried to reschedule (again) and the first available date is mid-june, which would imply that any round 3 admission would be off the table for me...