Jan-27 CBT - Promised a Refund, They Better...!!!

MCAT is Hard? Not with BeMo's 515 Score Guarantee.
This forum made possible through the generous support of SDN members, donors, and sponsors. Thank you.
M

mridang

Full Member
10+ Year Member
15+ Year Member
Joined
Jan 27, 2007
Messages
13
Reaction score
0
A horrible first MCAT experience!

First of all, the administrator was almost late and did not open the doors to the testing center until a little past 7:30 A and everyone signed in later than 7:30A.

It took forever to start as the initiation process was so slow; taking one student at a time for picture and fingerprint and orientation!

Then, as others have already discussed, the verbal reasoning test glitch! :mad:
The questions-choices did not correspond to the passages!

I was the first one to complain at my test center and the administrator took me outside. Then a couple more people came out declaring the same problem.

The administrator was on the phone for 30 minutes trying to figure what step to take next. Then he suggested to all 3 of us to resume testing and they will take care of it. The other two students agreed, but I was not sure so I argued and decided not to continue the test until they gave me a definitive answer as to what will happen to my test and those questions and the remaining time!

The administrator was on the phone for another 10 minutes and told me that the options I had was to either continue with the test or leave and call 1-202-828-0690.

I left the test center and called the number and the representative made me wait another 10-15 minutes while he tried to figure out how to deal with this issue. He also suggested me to go back and resume testing. I argued that they had already wasted 45 minutes of my time and I would rather like a refund.

He said that refund is not an option!!! :mad:

He went to talk with his supervisor and came back saying I can reschedule for April. I was firm and demanded a refund since I might not be available in April. Then, they finally agreed to refund my fees after all that!!

By walking out, did I do the right thing? I would have continued like the other people did, but the incident left me all confused and distracted, so there was just no way.

Do you all think I will get a refund or do I have to fight more? :scared:

Mridang.
Members don't see this ad.
 
Sort by date Sort by votes
HHHMMM? Interesting, I wonder what exactly they meant by "we'll take care of it." Like a score compensation? I too, like you would want a definite response. :cool:
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
I think you did the right thing. It seems that the organizers are incompetent and I would not have trusted my score after all. I would have gone thru the roof with that verbal thing. I hope you get your refund but I would just try and take it again when all the problems are cleared.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
dIvErDoC said:
HHHMMM? Interesting, I wonder what exactly they meant by "we'll take care of it." Like a score compensation? I too, like you would want a definite response. :cool:
Click to expand...

I did ask for a definite response, but did not receive anything close to assurance.

The administrator was talking something about they are going to look at my performance on other questions and decide thereby and suggested to go ahead and do the best I can. I was still not so satisfied with that kind of response and he said that's all he/they can say.

Do the best I can???
What, was I supposed to randomly select answers for those questions?! There were at least 2 passages like that and I had not yet seen the next passages.

I did not expect this from AAMC.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
Members don't see this ad :)
I had the same problem, but I saw no point in stopping the test in the middle to complain. I raised my hand as I continued working until the test administrator came in to see what the problem was. I skipped that passage and did the best I could with the others. I felt a little confused by it all but it seems the best choice would have been to do the best with what you had. Especially if you can't take the test again in April or whenever!

I agree that we should be given the option for a refund...hopefully after I see the scores though!
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
babycapybara said:
I had the same problem, but I saw no point in stopping the test in the middle to complain. I raised my hand as I continued working until the test administrator came in to see what the problem was. I skipped that passage and did the best I could with the others. I felt a little confused by it all but it seems the best choice would have been to do the best with what you had. Especially if you can't take the test again in April or whenever!

I agree that we should be given the option for a refund...hopefully after I see the scores though!
Click to expand...

I would have still continued...
If they hadn't wasted 30+ minutes trying to figure out what to do.
If I had received a confident response from the administrator.
If it was just one passage. (It was 2 passages for me and may have been more!)

I will sign up for a later date, I'm in no hurry!
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
I don't think the adminstrators have the authority to tell us much. Mine just said he couldn't give advice, but that he would lodge a formal complaint and it would be taken care of later.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
mridang said:
A horrible first MCAT experience!

First of all, the administrator was almost late and did not open the doors to the testing center until a little past 7:30 A and everyone signed in later than 7:30A.

It took forever to start as the initiation process was so slow; taking one student at a time for picture and fingerprint and orientation!

Then, as others have already discussed, the verbal reasoning test glitch! :mad:
The questions-choices did not correspond to the passages!

I was the first one to complain at my test center and the administrator took me outside. Then a couple more people came out declaring the same problem.

The administrator was on the phone for 30 minutes trying to figure what step to take next. Then he suggested to all 3 of us to resume testing and they will take care of it. The other two students agreed, but I was not sure so I argued and decided not to continue the test until they gave me a definitive answer as to what will happen to my test and those questions and the remaining time!

The administrator was on the phone for another 10 minutes and told me that the options I had was to either continue with the test or leave and call 1-202-828-0690.

I left the test center and called the number and the representative made me wait another 10-15 minutes while he tried to figure out how to deal with this issue. He also suggested me to go back and resume testing. I argued that they had already wasted 45 minutes of my time and I would rather like a refund.

He said that refund is not an option!!! :mad:

He went to talk with his supervisor and came back saying I can reschedule for April. I was firm and demanded a refund since I might not be available in April. Then, they finally agreed to refund my fees after all that!!

By walking out, did I do the right thing? I would have continued like the other people did, but the incident left me all confused and distracted, so there was just no way.

Do you all think I will get a refund or do I have to fight more? :scared:

Mridang.
Click to expand...

:thumbup: fu** ya you did the right thing... I can't even imagine what you guys have been through today... I'm sorry about what happened...:)
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
Thanks phospho and telo.

For those who have taken MCAT before, do such things usually happen? It was my first time and definitely not a pleasant experience!
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
babycapybara said:
I don't think the adminstrators have the authority to tell us much. Mine just said he couldn't give advice, but that he would lodge a formal complaint and it would be taken care of later.
Click to expand...

Didn't you ask him what he meant by 'taken care of later'? For me, it was just not an assuring answer. What exactly they are going to do? Don't we have a right to know before taking the exam?

Also, they should have some provisions in case such things happen, rather than just wasting time trying to call here and there and then try to figure out what can be done.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
My MCAT instructor said he also had a horrible experience during the Aug. 2006 MCAT. During the verbal section some guy started to play the saxophone outside. He said it was cool at first until the guy wouldn't stop. Then, the sax player started to play distinctive show tones which made it easy to stop reading and sing-a-long to the music. People in the testing room started to mentally break down and some even started to cry. The Test Proctor went outside and paid the sax player $40 to leave the corner. It worked. Gotta love downtown Chicago...

It must not have affected my instructor's performance that much because you need at least an 11 in each section to teach for Kaplan. Also, my instructor informed us that if such an unpreventable situation occurs then we should finish the test. Next, we can write a letter to the AAMC explaining the situation and have the Test Proctor call the AAMC. In return, the AAMC will write a letter to medical schools on your behalf explaining why your MCAT score is not reflective of your true performance.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
jays2cool4u said:
My MCAT instructor said he also had a horrible experience during the Aug. 2006 MCAT. During the verbal section some guy started to play the saxophone outside. He said it was cool at first until the guy wouldn't stop. Then, the sax player started to play distinctive show tones which made it easy to stop reading and sing-a-long to the music. People in the testing room started to mentally break down and some even started to cry. The Test Proctor went outside and paid the sax player $40 to leave the corner. It worked. Gotta love downtown Chicago...

It must not have affected my instructor's performance that much because you need at least an 11 in each section to teach for Kaplan. Also, my instructor informed us that if such an unpreventable situation occurs then we should finish the test. Next, we can write a letter to the AAMC explaining the situation and have the Test Proctor call the AAMC. In return, the AAMC will write a letter to medical schools on your behalf explaining why your MCAT score is not reflective of your true performance.[/QUOTE]

Just a cautionary note, but the AAMC/MCAT office does not do this, at least in my experience (and a group of friends). We had a huge testing/group irregularity at our site in in August 2006 that prompted our lead proctor to file numerous phone calls and a Group Irregularity Report for the entire day. The proctor felt awful and apologized profusely. AAMC made us wait MONTHS for a response, offered no refund, sent us test-takers a "fluffed-up" letter basically staing 'yeah things were bad, but they could have been worse'--and that we could copy and mail these letters on OUR OWN to schools.

This whole administration seems like one big $$$-scam to me. A half-a$$ed operation that wants your $ and time on-demand, but won't put out when you need them to. To those who had that verbal glitch this past weekend--THAT IS DUSGUSTING. There is no excuse for that. That is a highly stressful exam and there's no reason Iowa (MCAT/AAMC) couldn't have their shiz-nit together to prevent such an experience.

Excuse any typos. Remember--they (AAMC) are not there for you, they are there for themselves. I would push for how you want the situation resolved. Good luck to you guys!
Click to expand...
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
You must log in or register to reply here.
Next unread thread

Similar threads

averybug
will they see my mcat?
Replies
6
Views
1K
Mr.Smile12
Mr.Smile12
N
Blueprint course refund
Replies
1
Views
9K
jamaica jan sun princess
J
R
Confidence Bands as they relate to multiple MCAT versions administered in the cycle
Replies
3
Views
392
jhmmd
jhmmd
N
Are these MCAT resources Legit? Are they Helpful? Are they a Scam?
Replies
3
Views
923
Neuroscifan
Neuroscifan
H
  • Question
MCAT JAN 2021
Replies
4
Views
2K
Hope143
H
Top