Online Exam Experience

So I started the online exam at 11:45 am today, EST (grateful to get a good time, it looks like more have been added since a few people stated there are not enough) and finished at 5:45 pm, PPD Exam. 

I did all of the steps to login before hand (if you have a Mac, you need to give yourself at least 1 hour to figure things out before the test). I did have to wait about 20 minutes for a proctor but then my test started. Unlike the other reviews on here I was surprise there was no lags (until I tried opening up the reference PDFs, they did take about 20-30 seconds to fully load) but everything was going well...until the computer screen just logged me off and I received a screen saying there was an "internet" issue. My connection was flawless, so I know everything is okay on my end. I did panic because I was just about done with my first pass through of the items. I logged back after a few attempts and was greeted with the same proctor (after waiting about 20 minutes). He told me if I have an issue, I can just log back in like I did before. 

So I'm about 20 minutes or so into answering questions and it CRASHES AGAIN!! Since I am familiar with this process I figured, oh well guess I will just be doing this for a while tonight. I was really looking forward to my 45 minute break because I was STARVING - So I finally got to the third proctor (a new lady) and she informed me this was my last try to test!!!!! - This wasn't even my fault, my wifi was fine, but things just kept crashing. I also wasn't aware of this re log back in process. 

The third woman advised me to not take a break and to finish the answers as quickly as possible to insure it doesn't crash again. And that's what I did. I will tell everyone, it was stressful!!!

I mean my grandmother passed away, and yesterday was her burial. (I am sorry if this makes anyone too uncomfortable but when I called NCARB, I was old to contact Prometric, and Prometric told me to contact NCARB. Apparently death is not a reason to reschedule and exam without paying a fee to change, that is very unfortunate.) Especially in times like now. 

Any-who, I was about 16 questions away and advised to keep testing even though my poor tummy was growling without my break or even the mental space to handle a lot of what is going on. Part of me wanted to just stop to see if NCARB would let me finish at a later date but seeing how my other phone conversation went, I knew I probably wouldn't like the answer. Honestly, I would value transparency (it would have been nice for NCARB to really emphasize what the protocol is when you exam freezes up and how long you are expected to wait for a new proctor. 

I would say test only in person after this experience but last week I went in to take two exams within a weeks timeframe and I got an email from the testing center saying someone had COVID. I tried calling into Prometric and NCARB for answers but yet again they both told me to reference each other and the phone conversation went no where. Even-though we have been dealing with this for a year, I can let this slide - I understand we are still figuring things out. 

So how did my exam go today? - Good at first, shocked in the middle, on verge of tears in the center, then acceptance that I still had 40 minutes left on my exam and I need to just press complete anyway because the computer will crash if I don't.....

If you are testing, give the online testing a few months and just go in person if you really want to take an exam. It is STRESSFUL online with the crashing. And the proctor ask you to give the number you received on the screen when it crashes but you can't because you don't have scrap paper!!

**But, if you insist on testing online make sure you have the following setup

1. Auto-focus camera (I had that, but at the beginning of the exam the proctor almost tried to cancel the exam because he didn't think I had one, this is crucial)

2. Clean your room! - There should be nothing in your background

3. Get an ergonomics mouse - Whiteboard defiantly SUCK, but having a better mouse helps (kinda)

Good luck guys. (Signed the girl who for some reason keeps trying as they take all of my monies)