Fearing to reschedule the exam due to the new changes!

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13 comments

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    Iuliia Fomina

    Somaya, are you sure that exams in Prometric will follow new format with whiteboard? I though it was only for online beta exam which NCARB will start to offer as an option.
    I would rather go to prometric and have my pencil and paper, than follow all these overwhelming and ridiculous rules for online exam.

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    Kevin Miao (Edited )

    Luliia,

    Sorry to bring you the bad news, but no more pencil and paper for in-person testings as well.

    :(

     

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    Iuliia Fomina

    That is terrible. Why can't the paper and pencil stay. Our exams are already complicated enough. I would rather NCARB spend money on improving their software.

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    James Martzahl (Edited )

    I'm not planning on testing again until NCARB updates their software. The amount of people having issues with the exam is staggering, NCARB needs to own up to this and make the necessary adjustments. 

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    John Bellisario

    It is getting crazy. I was scheduled to take my test in the end of December. The Prometric employee wouldn't let me in because my drivers license had my middle name and my appointment didn't. I stated that the rules were for first and last name only, and they just canceled my appointment. I am still trying to get another test date, and be allowed back into the exam. This is horrible.

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    Somaya Etemadmoghadam

    hello John. I had that issue with one of my exams as my little daughter lost my DL and my last name on passport wasn't matching with my NCARB account. They took care of the issue within 24 hrs and I was able to retake the exam but I couldn't take the exam on original date and was not qualified for a refund.

    ---

    Thanks everyone else for your comments, I will continue to study and not scheduling an exam until I see changes on their messed up system. NCARB ... I hope you give us an update and a good news of positive adjustments soon before risking your credibility more than this.

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    John Bellisario

    Little ones will do that :) Best of luck with your studying!

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    Somaya Etemadmoghadam

    yes! and soon after the name change headache I found my card between her toys.

    Good luck to you too. :)

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    Haoxiang Yang

    Hi Somaya,

    Sorry for what you have experienced. I wanted to bring you some positive information though.

    I took a online proctor test after Dec 14th. W/o any result yet, I would say that my experience was not great but not as bad as you think either.

    Firstly, the white board is OK. Eraser is laggy (really bad). So just create another page instead. I suggest you use the whiteboard in their example test, while you practice on third-party questions. 

    Secondly, the bad part of my experience was the check-in process, I spent 20 min waiting for my proctor to confirm the laptop+monitor setup, my webcam cannot auto-focus to every words on my ID and at the second half after the break, my proctor said I couldn't use headphone for audio (audio needs to be on for the entire time), so I had to use the integrated mic of the laptop. But if you look at it from another perspective, they can be solved had I set it up correctly at the very beginning. So my suggestion for you is, since you are under rolling clock pressure, instead of stressing over one exam, just book one treating it like a mock-up exam. Once you know what the issues will be, you will have less trouble passing the next one.
    Good luck!

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    Laura Soria

    Hi Somaya,

    Adding on to what Haoxiang said, I recently took an in-person exam with the new setup last week and my experience was better than the first time I took PDD (under the old format) 2 months ago. I didn't experience any crashes and while, yes, the whiteboard was a little laggy, I found that overall it pretty much did what I used the pencil and paper for in prior tests. I definitely second the advice on using the demonstration exam to familiarize yourself with how to use it.

    Best of luck!

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    Haoxiang Yang

    Laura Soria Somaya Etemadmoghadam

    You are right. Taking this one in person might be a better idea, except for the risk of COVID. (I took PPD in person when prometric in my district is still open). I found for the online version, setting up and check-in being the most frustrating part. 

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    Jonathan Chertok

    wait. i took two exams in the original 5.0 and there massive problems.
    in december i booked a retake in 5.0 on one month notice to avoid testing in the references implementation of 5.0 instead of visiting my ailing dad.
    are you telling me there are now problems roth the implementation of the exam in 5.0 2.0?!

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    Cassandra Cook

    This is a complete joke.  NCARB should not be taking money from candidates until they fix these detrimental issues.

    I postponed my exam in protest...I know NCARB doesn't care but it was the only thing I could do.

     

    You should fill out this short survey these people are doing about the exam experience.  YoungArchitect.com/NCARBsurvey

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