GMAT Club
July 21, 2020
gonerias

Joined: Oct 25, 2018

Posts: 16

Kudos: 4

Verified GMAT Classic score:
740 Q50 V41

I took the GMAT on 14th July 2020 at Xavier Research Foundation, Ahmedabad, Gujarat, India.

Even though I managed to sit for my test somehow amidst the pandemic fears and lockdown restrictions, I am deeply disappointed with the test experience. Following are some of the highly unacceptable issues I faced during my exam:

-I took the Verbal Section first and when I had 15 mins (~10 questions) to go, my screen started flickering.
-I lost the exam view and a white washed screen appeared; a dialog box flashed with some Error message and "DISCONNECT" written in the summary of the box.
-I raised my hand for assistance, but did not receive any help from the test center.
-After a few moments the screen came back on its own but then, it blanked again almost immediately. This phenomenon of screen flickering on-off happened to me almost 6-7 times after the first instance and I raised my hand for assistance every time. It was as if someone was turning my screen on and off like we do with a fan switch.
-I got quite disturbed by this ongoing interruption, but since nobody came to assist me (despite my hand in the air multiple times) and time was less, I had no option but to finish the verbal section with the continuously interrupted screen somehow.
-There were 2 proctors at the center but none of them were present to help me when I had raised my hand.
-During the break, I physically sought out the proctors for help and told them about my issues. They admitted they were engaged elsewhere (another candidate at the center had technical issues with his system and the proctors were busy with that candidate). Then, one of the proctors came to my screen and fixed a cable behind my monitor and told me that the problem should not occur now. Trusting him, I proceeded with the Quantitative section. The problem with the screen did not happen to me again but I had already lost valuable time and peace of mind during the Verbal Section.
-This is also clearly visible in my score report (while I had average performance in other sections, I clearly had a below average performance in Verbal). Even judging by the ESR analysis, I had strong Section I, II in Verbal part but a poor Section III (when the problem with screen started) and a horrible Section IV.

I have written to GMAC and urged them to go ahead and verify my story from the record of CCTV cameras (which will show I did not receive help despite repeated attempts to call for proctor's attention) or check the error log of my exam appointment (which should show how my screen blanked out).

I believe my problem could have been fixed immediately if Pearson Vue staff were more attentive or professional.

I am still waiting to hear back from GMAC / Pearson Vue as I have requested them consider my case and allow me to reschedule another exam attempt soon without any fee since my first attempt turned out to be a disaster due to Pearson Vue's Negligence.
I have lost all hopes of a professional behavior from Xavier College's Pearson Vue.

Side Note : Not just the screen issue, the place itself is too poorly maintained. The AC was not working. There were labor workers right outside the test room who were using heavy machinery, and producing too much noise. We requested Pearson Vue to ask the workers to stop making noise but Pearson staff point-blank refused to help. The workers were good people though and we approached them directly and asked them not to work until we finish our exam, to which they obliged.

This is an extremely poor center and I would not recommend it to anyone.

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