Taking drinks/stopwatches into the exam

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noospace
Posts: 46
Joined: Fri Feb 22, 2008 9:14 pm

Taking drinks/stopwatches into the exam

Post by noospace » Mon Sep 28, 2009 12:31 am

Hi all,

Firstly, I thoroughly checked the history of this forum and wasn't able to find anything useful about htis.

Are you really not allowed to bring even water into the exam? Seems a bit rough for a three hour exam.

The ETS website mentions that stopwatches are fobidden. Is this really true? Sounds extremely odd to me.

Thanks

blackcat007
Posts: 378
Joined: Wed Mar 26, 2008 9:14 am

Re: Taking drinks/stopwatches into the exam

Post by blackcat007 » Mon Sep 28, 2009 12:35 am

noospace wrote:Hi all,

Firstly, I thoroughly checked the history of this forum and wasn't able to find anything useful about htis.

Are you really not allowed to bring even water into the exam? Seems a bit rough for a three hour exam.

The ETS website mentions that stopwatches are fobidden. Is this really true? Sounds extremely odd to me.

Thanks
hmm :? true.. i never thought of that.., maybe there will be water facilities available, but that would eat up your time..
but i heard you are allowed to wear analog watches..

i think previous test takers can better answer this.

nathan12343
Posts: 249
Joined: Sat Dec 20, 2008 9:34 am

Re: Taking drinks/stopwatches into the exam

Post by nathan12343 » Mon Sep 28, 2009 1:37 am

No, you can't bring food or drink into the exam or even mechanical pencils (only regular old number 2's). You can wear an analog or digital watch (without calculator functions) and there will be clocks in the exam room as well as reminders about the time at regular intervals. If you need to go to the bathroom or get a drink, you will need to hand your testbook in and use the facilities outside of the room.

pqortic
Posts: 398
Joined: Fri Aug 29, 2008 9:24 am

Re: Taking drinks/stopwatches into the exam

Post by pqortic » Mon Oct 05, 2009 10:02 pm

and in some test centers drink and cake are provided by the registrar... i am not sure this is a regulation.

kroner
Posts: 217
Joined: Fri Sep 25, 2009 1:58 am

Re: Taking drinks/stopwatches into the exam

Post by kroner » Sun Oct 11, 2009 12:08 am

When I took the test today they didn't supply anything (besides pencils), but they also didn't enforce any of these rules about bringing in food or water. I saw some people had candy bars or other snacks. They also didn't check anyone's watches as far as I know and I used a mechanical pencil (I didn't even know it wasn't allowed).

The proctor in my room also tried to start the test while he was still in the middle of giving out test booklets because he thought he was doing us a favor by letting us get out sooner...

So I guess what I'm saying is that experiences likely vary widely by test center.

irockhard
Posts: 53
Joined: Wed Jan 23, 2008 10:40 pm

Re: Taking drinks/stopwatches into the exam

Post by irockhard » Sun Oct 11, 2009 12:27 am

kroner wrote:When I took the test today they didn't supply anything (besides pencils), but they also didn't enforce any of these rules about bringing in food or water. I saw some people had candy bars or other snacks. They also didn't check anyone's watches as far as I know and I used a mechanical pencil (I didn't even know it wasn't allowed).

The proctor in my room also tried to start the test while he was still in the middle of giving out test booklets because he thought he was doing us a favor by letting us get out sooner...

So I guess what I'm saying is that experiences likely vary widely by test center.
I agree it varies very widely by test center. Like today, I absolutely hated my proctors. They did not allow any drink or food so I had to do away with my caffeinated drink that I bought specifically for the occasion. But I was OK with that. The worst thing was that they didn't even allow watches, digital or analog. I had to raise my hand to ask for time and it took forever for them to see me. They didn't tell us what time it was when we started and never bothered to inform us the time during the test. My pacing was completely off.

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hk
Posts: 16
Joined: Wed Jun 24, 2009 3:43 am

Re: Taking drinks/stopwatches into the exam

Post by hk » Sun Oct 11, 2009 9:02 am

Yup, it's varied. Mine just let everyone take drinks and go to toilet at will. He even left the room unwatched many times :D



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