Physics GRE Discussion Forums

I took the exam on Saturday. The exam was easy for me but I did one of the most stupid things possible. I marked my answers in the question booklet and waited till the end to transfer them to the OMR sheet. Its only when the proctor announced "time is up, everyone put your pencils down" that I realized that I hadn't left enough time for the transfer to OMR. I had only marked about one third of the questions by then. In my desperation, I pleaded with the proctor to grant me two minutes to shade the remaining bubbles, but in vain. So I finally decided to cancel my score, hoping to take the November exam.

But later I realized that the registration deadline for the November exam is long over. It seems ETS has set it in such a way that you don't take the October exam, cancel the score and then take the November exam. Now, thanks to those few minutes that I din't get because of my carelessness, I am unable to apply to universities and stand to lose a whole year of my academic career.

I am devastated and unable to console myself. (

If anyone has any ideas to help me from this pathetic situation, please please please let me know. Your suggestions will be greatly appreciated.

Thanks for reading.

I bet you can still register there will just be a late fee. I registered just a couple days ago (for the first time). They just tack on more money.

Prologue wrote:I bet you can still register there will just be a late fee. I registered just a couple days ago (for the first time). They just tack on more money.

There is a late registration at $25 extra. But that ended on October 9th, the day before the Saturday exam. I think you registered within this deadline.

ask other test centers around you. I don't know if there is any possibility for standby registration but I recommend you ask as many people as you can. call ETS first and then the centers.

klmn wrote:

Prologue wrote:I bet you can still register there will just be a late fee. I registered just a couple days ago (for the first time). They just tack on more money.

There is a late registration at $25 extra. But that ended on October 9th, the day before the Saturday exam. I think you registered within this deadline.

My advice was trash then! I didn't realize they were so strict on their timings otherwise I would have gotten on this sooner. Good luck.

ETS mentions something about you being able to waitlist at the exams. They don't guarantee you'll get in, but they say that you can show up at a testing station and if there's a seat they'll accommodate you. I'm not sure what prior action you have to take, but if you call them, I think this might be an option for you. Sorry about the bad luck

vttd wrote:ETS mentions something about you being able to waitlist at the exams. They don't guarantee you'll get in, but they say that you can show up at a testing station and if there's a seat they'll accommodate you. I'm not sure what prior action you have to take, but if you call them, I think this might be an option for you. Sorry about the bad luck

I read about this in the GRE bulletin. It is called standby testing. Its just a gamble, but of course some probability is better than nothing at all. Wonder if anyone has tried this standby testing and what was their experience. Anyway I am certainly checking out my luck with this on November 7th.

Thanks a lot for the info.

I knew a guy that showed up without registering for the math gre. They told him that if there were enough tests they would let him do it and it turned out that there were extra tests (it seems they always have extra tests but sometimes they need them) so it worked for him.

bosonic wrote:I knew a guy that showed up without registering for the math gre. They told him that if there were enough tests they would let him do it and it turned out that there were extra tests (it seems they always have extra tests but sometimes they need them) so it worked for him.

What do you mean here? That that guy didn't pay the fee and was allowed to sit the test? Not only is this iniquitous but also it goes against the norms that ETS has posed!

No, you still have to pay the fee to sit the test, plus a penalty fee.

monocles wrote:No, you still have to pay the fee to sit the test, plus a penalty fee.

Ok, I was ignorant of this possibility ... probably because it is not such commonly met ... . As I remember the normal fee is already pricey, ... , let's not wonder how much the final fee is after the increment due to penalties!

Anyway, this is one of the worst misadventures that could happen to a prospective applicant and I would like to express my commiseration about this ... .

klmn wrote:

vttd wrote:ETS mentions something about you being able to waitlist at the exams. They don't guarantee you'll get in, but they say that you can show up at a testing station and if there's a seat they'll accommodate you. I'm not sure what prior action you have to take, but if you call them, I think this might be an option for you. Sorry about the bad luck

I read about this in the GRE bulletin. It is called standby testing. Its just a gamble, but of course some probability is better than nothing at all. Wonder if anyone has tried this standby testing and what was their experience. Anyway I am certainly checking out my luck with this on November 7th.

Thanks a lot for the info.

I did this once and there we plenty of spots on test day... I think because so few people take the PGRE. Good luck.

Hi everyone, I was able to take the test stand-by today . The exam was easy and everything went fine. Thanks a lot for all your valuable responses and suggestions.

Congrats!! I'm so glad ETS's silly rules didn't set your academic career back a year - though a year off is never really a bad idea