Computer Crashed - TEST CENTER didn't care!

Hello! I took the PPD exam last Monday in Los Angeles after putting so many hrs on studying and while I was feeling really prepared for the exam half way through the questions, my computer got crashed over a "drag and drop" question. I raised hand and waited for help and the young supervisor guy seemed very unaware of his monitor & finally I decided to walk out the room and have him to come and help me out!

While he was really not having no idea what's going on, he reset my computer and left the room and I had to step out again and find him to come back and help me out! I was absolutely frustrated by the situation.

My computer restarted while I lost 3 minutes plus that "drag and drop" question started from the begging and I needed another 2 minutes to answer it. While I'm moving the objects around again same thing happened and computer crashed again! OMG!

Same story and I lost another ~4 mins on my countdown clock while dealing with a guy who had no attendance in helping me in that the situation.

3rd time around I decided to skip that problematic question because it didn't seem the computer can handle it; again computer crashed and this time he moved me to a new station.

Sadly after all these, I was absolutely furious and lost all my focus while breathing hard with a mask and a foggy reading glasses and so disappointed on the test center .

Obviously I ran out of time without answering all questions and I failed! I filed a complaint and I emailed NCARB and so far no one got back to me. I am on a maternity leave and this is the only time I can study for the exam as hard as it is; I am loosing my quality time with my baby and this is my result :(

I am hoping NCARB let me to re-take the exam at least before the 2 months because I feel prepared for the exam and I don't want to start loosing the momentum.

Please let me know what I should expect? thanks

Jared NCARB October 02, 2020 20:38

Somayyeh,

Sorry to hear about your test center experience. I checked with customer relations and they informed me that you have already submitted a notice to them, thank you, and they are looking into your testing experience. One of NCARB's customer relations members will contact you privately.

-1

Rebecca Book October 12, 2020 19:53

I have had a computer crash in the last two of the four exams I've taken. I passed, so I am not looking for a chat with customer service, but there is definitely an issue here that needs addressing.

Prometric claims its a problem with the NCARB software, and if past experience is any guide, NCARB will just blame it on prometric. In either case its a somewhat common and very serious problem that impacts candidates access to a fair testing experience and needs to be addressed!

Andrew Schiffer October 12, 2020 21:24

You hear stories like this all the time, then you think.... what could possibly go wrong when we add a digital whiteboard to this process?! I wish NCARB would fix the existing problems with the exam before making new ones.

Michael Riscica October 13, 2020 00:36

Its very common.

We just surveyed 1,114 ARE Candidates and Architects and 73% of them reported dealing with some kind of a software problem with NCARB's testing software.

Read the report for yourself https://youngarchitect.com/ncarbsurvey2020/

Computer Crashed - TEST CENTER didn't care!

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