NCARB TESTING ISSUES - CASE STUDY NOT WORKING IN REAL EXAM

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Manuel Melendez

January 22, 2023 18:36

Fellow candidates, Yesterday, 1/21/2023, i took an in-person PJM exam. I answered my 61 mc questions, took my break, then returned to finish. After searching the references to answer the first case study question, I went to the next question and could not tab through any of the reference materials: I could not look through any of the multiple references that NCARB provides to answer the case study. I notified the proctor, they reset my system, i went back in but still could not review any other references. I promptly notified the proctor again and they then called NCARB for intervention. My testing center rep WAS TOLD THAT NCARB IS AWARE OF THIS ISSUE IN THE CASE STUDY AND THAT THEY ARE WORKING TO CORRECT IT. The options given to me were to continue and finish the exam UNABLE to review the references OR reschedule the test. I dare say that most if not all of you would be pissed off at this. NCARB is aware that this is an issue yet they choose to not make candidates postpone their scheduled exams until the issue is corrected. To put this into perspective, I was 82% done with the exam, felt confident that i performed well to that point, then to have the rug pulled from beneath me because NCARB chose to hide the fact that the test might or might not work well enough to complete it. What a crock! Missing work to take this test, losing time that i cannot get back, and now having to reschedule to some later date because they are not ethical in their administration of the exams. Oh the irony of ethics in practice. We should all DEMAND more from NCARB. The BBB WILL hear from me on this as well as all higher ups at NCARB. The toll these exams take on us is no joke. NCARB needs to get their act together and be forthright with us candidates when things don’t work right. They must want your rolling clock to expire son they can get more money instead of granting you extensions due to their system issues. PLEASE, CONTACT THEM AND HOLD THEM ACCOUNTABLE.

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• Official comment

  

  NCARB January 23, 2023 14:38

  Hi Manuel and Yuan,

  Please reach out to our Customer Relations team, if you haven't already, and report your issues so we can work with PSI to ensure this doesn't happen in the future. NCARB's Customer Relations team will also be able to provide additional support on your technical issues.

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  Brian West January 25, 2023 23:27

  Manuel,

  First of all Thankyou for your story.

  Today I had the same issue! but also noticed the same problem when taking a recent practice exam. I typically will do the case study questions first when taking the actual exam so right at the beginning of the test this occured- I think it could be linked to using the highlighter tool but who knows. The administrator at the test center called PSI and PSI told her the exact same thing! "that this is a common issue". And to your point the administrator said exactly what you said- "why is PSI allowing people to take exams if they have unresolved technical issues". I rest my case.-Why the freak indeed!

  I just lost a week of my freaking time and money prepping for this exam- think I'll get reimbursed for that?! Heck to the Freak No!!

  If NCARB/PSI does right by you, First they should give you the time needed to finish out the case studies by themselves at least an hour and not force you to retake the entire test. Second, they should compensate you/us for our lost time(which they won't) or at least the study refresh time we will need prior to the retake. AND/OR give the administrators more power and let them completely reset parts of the exams and clock so you and I can finish the exam when we're there. Or give the administrators the capability of printing the test and giving us a calculator. We study a tremendous amount and may not be able to schedule the test again for weeks.

  There really needs to be more assurances from the test makers for when they fail us.

  The testing process bothers me to begin with, the length of the test in contrast to the amount of time needed to get through case studies etc. is not nearly long enough- especially since the case studies are typically more involved on the actual exam then the practice tests- not by a little but by a lot-it's daunting and frustrating. On top of that, we can't write with our hands on scratch paper- and you know what there's NO valid reason why NCARB can't figure out a way to allow scratch paper. 

  I'm sick of it! I didn't get a Masters and go through internship to put up with this stuff!

  They'll be hearing from me too! But I won't get my hopes up

  Brian West

  Go Bulls!

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