GMAT Online- Mac Book Air-Disappearing words-A case of An Act of God!

Question

Hello All,

I am writing this post to share my GMAT online exam. My post is intended primarily to share challenges faced by Mac users.

Executive Summary (for those who want quick take-aways) 
1. 'Connect with Proctor' did not work for initial 2 mins from 15 mins just before exam time.
2. It worked after 13 mins before exam time - don't know how!
3. Could not begin exam almost until 45 mins from the scheduled time.
4. After I began the exam, verbal, quant, and IR sections went smooth.
5. Proctor asked me to show surroundings, white board, back side of whiteboard at the end of each break.
6. Content I typed in AWA section disappeared almost 10 times. Proctor and Technical Support team evidenced this miracle.
7. Finally, Error ES0011 appeared on the screen. It means exam questions cannot be loaded.
8. Technical Support from GMAC and Proctor from Examity both agreed that they cannot solve the technical issue I am facing and requested me to reschedule the exam.
9. I wrote detailed email to MBA support, GMAC support, and Examity support explaining my exam experience.
10. My exam fees are refunded.

Part I - Scheduling the Exam 
1. I contacted support through 'chat' facility 10 days before the exam date to verify system requirements.
2. Chat support confirmed that my system - Mac Book Air, Mojave Version 10.14.6, internet connection, downloaded secured browser - everything is ready
3. I scheduled the exam - exam time - 6pm
4. One day before the exam day, I logged in my mba.com account and asked for chat support once again to confirm system compatibility requirement.
5. Chat support once again reviewed my system - deleted cache from chrome browser etc.
6. Confirmed that the system is in place and I can take exam smoothly on a next day

Part II - Exam Day (30 Mins before Exam) 
1. My exam time is 6pm
2. I could see button 'connect with proctor' 30 mins before exam time i.e. from 5:30 onwards
3. However, I cannot connect with proctor until 5:45 i.e. 15 mins before exam
4. I tried connecting at 5:45 with proctor but error message continued 'you cannot connect until 15 mins before scheduled time'
5. At 5:47 I was connected to proctor
6. Proctor used Go to Meeting to access my camera and screen
7. Proctor confirmed the system requirements
8. I used 'Force Quit' to quit all other running applications except i) Finder ii) Chrome iii) Go to meeting
9. We are almost at 6pm when I should begin the exam
10. We tried launching the exam but could not

Part III - 45 Mins from Scheduled Exam Time (6pm to 6:45pm) 
1. Proctor tried initiating the exam, but his all efforts were in vain.
2. We also tried shutting off my macbook and restarting it.
3. When I restarted the system, on the first occasion I received email from examity team to join back the ‘go to meeting link’
4. Surprisingly, for all subsequent attempts, though I disconnected and shutdown, I did not receive any email from any authority.
5. I used previous email in which meeting joining link was present to join back with proctor.
6. We also called for support from technical team.
7. Trial and error included – removing secured browser, re-installing it from a link provided by technical support etc.
8. Finally, things worked after installing security browser from the link provided by technical support team member. This link was different from the link from exam page. However, the size of both setups are same (I confirmed it later).
9. I begin my exam around 6:45pm

Part IV – Verbal, Quant, and Integrated Reasoning Section 
1. Just before I begin the exam, proctor asked me to show surrounding, white board, back side of white board, table I am using, underneath the table.
2. Proctor allowed me to keep waterbottle with me.
3. He was lenient to allow me to drink water in between. However, I drink water only during breaks.
4. There was no technical error until completion of IR.
5. Proctor reviewed room, sorroundings, white board, and back side of white board at the beginning of each section.

Part V – AWA Section & An act of God 
1. After initiating my commentary/ essay on the argument, everything was smooth for initial 4-5 mins.
2. I completed basis analysis and 1st para of my analysis.
3. Like a miracle act of god began from 5th minute onwards.
4. 2nd para onwards, my words, sometimes sentences, and sometimes lines started disappearing. I have to rewrite disappeared words/sentences/ lines.
5. It happened almost 10 times.
6. You can imagine how tiring it was to write things, reach into last 8 minutes of the AWA section, and things just get disappeared.
7. I asked proctor to interfere. He too observed what was happening.
8. He ‘paused my exam’. He took 2 minutes in pausing the exam, and I took 2 mins in telling him the issue and why he should get me a solution.
9. Thus, at this moment, I had 4 mins remaining, 1st para, and many other disappeared lines.
10. He contacted technical support.
11. It took a while to arrive technical support.
12. I presented my case and requested revision in my remaining time. I demanded additional 15 mins.
13. Proctor allowed additional 7-8 mins.
14. I once again restarted the system.
15. Now remaining time is 11 mins, I began writing unfinished argument.
16. At this moment I actually lost the track of my thoughts about the argument. May be I worked more on the argument with proctor and technical staff.
17. I also asked proctor and technical staff to observe whether words disappear.
18. When last 3 mins were remaining, almost 80% of the para I typed was disappeared.
19. Thank god, both proctor and technical team member were monitoring and they too observed such disappearance.
20. Proctor paused the exam.
21. We decided to restart the system.
22. After relogging – there is an error “Your questions cannot be loaded” – remaining time was 3 mins……
23. Both proctor and technical team member accepted technical flaw at their end.
24. Time in the clock - 12:45am

Part VI- Getting back refund 
1. I wrote GMAC, MBA.com, and Examity.
2. I asked for a refund.
3. I did receive the response and now my refund is processed.

Thanks,
I will write GMAT soon!

EMPOWERgmatRichC · Answer

Hi neutronstar,

I'm really sorry to hear about everything that you experienced in trying to take the At-home GMAT; it must have been incredibly frustrating. I am happy to hear that you received your refund though.

Based on the tone of your post, it doesn't sound as though you're discouraged from retesting - although it certainly sounds as though taking the GMAT at a Test Center (if possible) would be a better option. Is there a Test Center relatively close to your home or do you think you'll have no choice but to retry the At-home Exam for your next attempt?

Beyond those details, how were you scoring on your CATs/mocks and what is your Goal Score? 
 
GMAT assassins aren't born, they're made,
Rich

neutronstar · Answer

Hi Rich  EMPOWERgmatRichC ,

Thank you so much.

It was definitely tiring. Sitting for 7 hours without dinner is a two way fight - fight for a hungry heart (to score good) and fight for a hungry stomach. In the later part of the exam, so many thoughts crossed my mind - whether my family had dinner? are they waiting for me? I was as good as at 'zero energy' when I finally clicked on 'close' and 'shutdown' the system. However, when I came out of the room, my family was waiting for me to have dinner together. It was so motivating. When your family is so much determined to go out of the way and help you, you can't afford to lose fire in the belly. That was a moment I decided I must write back exam once again.

I do have a test center in my city. However, I still prefer to use my own system. I am really obsessed with an idea of simulating the same environment I had for dry runs - I want same chair, same table, same room...
If online exam fails one more time, I will think of visiting centre in the city.

My sectional scores of official exams:
At the beginning of my preparation (Mock exam for diagnosis)
Quant - Q49
Verbal - V27

Official Mocks after preparation
Quant - ranging from Q48 to Q51. Mostly Q49, once Q50 and once Q51
Verbal - ranging from V35 to V40. Less consistent between V35 to V39. Once V40.
Veritas Prep Exam 2 days before real GMAT - Q48, V37. ( I think I got veritas exam pack from GMAT Club through rewards)

For IR Section, I have been scoring 7-8 consistently across all mocks.

Real GMAT
Quant - it was definitely tougher than Mocks. I think, difficulty level originated from 'lengthy solutions' and not from the 'difficult concepts'. I will be working on this inefficiency.
Verbal - I always faced 'timing' issues in Verbal Sections. Surprisingly, my strategy worked on the real GMAT and I completed entire section leaving 10-15 seconds.
IR - couple of questions were tough - may be I was hungry (may be good excuse though not worthy).

My target score is 740 and sectional targets are Q51 & V40.

I loved your signature line.

EMPOWERgmatRichC · Answer

Hi neutronstar,

Based on your prior CAT/mock Scores, you likely have the necessary knowledge to hit your Score Goal - but the type of Score that you're interested involves a lot more than simply having that knowledge - you have to perform in efficient overall fashion and put yourself in the best mental, physical and psychological states when you're testing. For example, most people don't perform at their absolute best in the evening (so starting your Official Exam at that time of day might hinder your performance a bit).

In addition, the process of taking (and reviewing) a CAT requires a significant amount of energy and effort - and takes time to 'recover' from. This is one of the reasons why you typically should not take more than 1 CAT per week - and your last CAT should be taken about 1 week before Test Day. If you took a CAT just 2 days before your Official GMAT, then that may have impacted your performance a little bit on Test Day.

1) When are you planning to take your next attempt?
2) When are you planning to apply to Business School and what Schools are you planning to apply to?

GMAT assassins aren't born, they're made,
Rich

bb · Answer

Thank you so much for sharing. This is super annoying. Sorry about that. What is your plan? Take at the center?

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neutronstar · Answer

Yes true. It takes me more than 10 mins to review each verbal question. I will be honest with you, when I planned my 1st Mock (after preparation) in a morning session, I could not sleep the previous night because of anxiety. I kept opening my notes, and re-reading the material. Consequently, I was tired at the beginning of early morning. Since then, I decided to study in the night before, get up late, review whatever I wish to review, have good lunch (with extra sugar) -->, "and sleep in the afternoon!" (when you did not get good sleep previous night and when you have awesome afternoon lunch, you automatically fall a sleep in the afternoon). Get up around 4:30pm, have a bath (this is rejuvenating), and get into exam at 5:30pm.

Good suggestion. I shall implement your guidance in my preparation.

I am planning to write in the December, 2021.
 
Round 2 application deadline is in early Jan, 2022. I hope to apply in R2. I am planning for top tier universities in USA. However, I am also open for 1year MBA offered by some top European Universities. Mostly, I am looking at program in 'leadership'. I wanted 740 as it is marginally above median scores of universities I am aiming.

GMAT assassins aren't born, they're made,
Rich

neutronstar · Answer

I am planning to write GMAT in December, 2021. Mostly, I will plan for an online exam. May be I will buy 'parallel' on Mac and use windows on it. By the way, GMAT Olympic did help me to prepare well for exam.

EMPOWERgmatRichC · Answer

Hi neutronstar,

I've sent you a PM with some additional questions.

GMAT assassins aren't born, they're made,
Rich

bb · Answer

Sounds awesome!

PS. Unless you have the M1 chip, you can install windows natively on the Mac. You can look up the instructions how to install it using a boot camp. You download Boot Camp on Mac, run it, plug in a USB with a window installation that you download it from Microsoft and that’s it. It takes five minutes to prep and 20 minutes to get done so within half an hour you’ll be up and running on windows.

That is as long as you have intel chip.

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