earplugs?

[juniper456]

hey are earplugs allowed at the testing center? i'm addicted to earplugs. seriously. i use them for all exams and have since high school. . .

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[thatuvicguy]

nope, not allowed.

 

[juniper456]

REALLY? not allowed?? are you SURE?!?

 

[VPDcurt]

yeah definitely not allowed

 

[juniper456]

why why WHY? what could be wrong with EARPLUGS? can i arrange some kind of special PERMISSION???

 

[juniper456]

my mcat anxiety level has just increased EIGHTFOLD! i NEED the muffled environment of earplugs!!

 

[nachoDoc]

Read the AAMC instructions:

Test Center Regulations and Procedures

9. Do not use or take into the testing room beeping, alarm, or calculator watches; pagers; cellular phones; books; notes; slide rules; rulers; calculators; cameras; radios; tape recorders; highlighters; colored pens; lapboards/deskboards; or aids of any kind. You may not wear earplugs during the test.

 

[juniper456]

can someone explain to me the logic of the no-earplugs rule? i just don't get it.

 

[nachoDoc]

For questions about registration and test administration:

MCAT Program Office
P.O. Box 4056
Iowa City, IA 52243
(319) 337-1357
[email protected]



You're not in high school anymore.
Learn to go find answers directly from the source.

 

[juniper456]

For questions about registration and test administration:

MCAT Program Office
P.O. Box 4056
Iowa City, IA 52243
(319) 337-1357
[email protected]



You're not in high school anymore.
Learn to go find answers directly from the source.

ooooo ouch. thanks for the advice! i've probably been out of high school longer than most of you! medicine will be my second career. anyway, good to know SDN is full of helpful, supportive people.

 

[xSTALLiONx]

can someone explain to me the logic of the no-earplugs rule? i just don't get it.

look at mtv.. they put tiny speakers into their ears and make people do stuff on a date..

is your earplug an earplug or a speaker with someone helping you?

it's simpler to make the MCAT simple instead of special permissions etc..

so no earplugs or things that look like them.. whatsoever..

prep by using none..

 

[stacy_de_lin]

can someone explain to me the logic of the no-earplugs rule? i just don't get it.

They could be super high-tech radio transmitters in your ears that feed physics equations to you.

 

[juniper456]

They could be super high-tech radio transmitters in your ears that feed physics equations to you.

damn! you guys have me all figured out!

 

[Radio Edit]

use your pinkies. make sure to clean out your ears!

 

[thatuvicguy]

Unless you're unlucky and have construction/cough fest or other noisy environment, I found my test room was very quiet. I did find that having my elbows up on the table when reading the VR passages let me block my ears a bit with my hands. This helped me get focused and calm my nerves for the first two and then was unnecessary.

 

[juniper456]

OK. as long as there's no one sniveling, shuffling, sighing, squeaking, or generally breathing too loud, everything should be fine.

 

[Twitch]

The (computer test) experience this person has quoted appears to be somewhat different as it relates to ear plugs/covers:

http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?t=143283&page=2&pp=20

"There were approximately 40 other people at my test center. We were split into two rooms. It got a little noisy when a bunch of people got to the writing sample, but they give you industrial ear covers if that bothers you too much."

 

[Scandal]

You wouldn't even believe how eerily quiet my test center was on Saturday. There were over 100 people in the lecture hall, but it was silent. Maybe everyone was scared that if they said anything they'd be accused of cheating. I don't think you would've needed earplugs there, and I can't see how it would be any different at your test center.

 

[wysenski]

This earplug ban is totally bogus. I called MCAT-land and they said it's to guard against tiny radio transceivers. The guy said:

"I tell people just to stick cotton in their ears."
I said, "What's the difference?"
"Cotton doesn't look like a radio transmitter."
"My earplugs don't either."
"Sure they do."
"Um, no they don't. They're foam and they're all squishy and sh$@t."
"Well, it could be a radio transmitter."
"Well you can just go f%@k yourself."

Okay, so the last two lines took place only in my mind, but that's the general idea. F*@k it, I'm walking in with earplugs fixed. I jam 'em so far up my holes they tickle my tympanum, so they're invisible, and I should still be able to hear the instructions. And if I need to feign a hearing problem, so be it.

Had I known this ahead of time I would have gotten a note from my doctor saying I need earplugs, AND to be able to take a leak every once in a while for god's sake. The test is hard enough as it is, y'know? Why do they have to player-hate like this? Jerks.

 

[p9142]

So how many people actually wear earplugs while taking the test.

 

[Mr. Tee]

NO ONE ACTUALLY WEARS EARPLUGS DURING THE TEST BECAUSE THEY ARE NOT ALLOWED

My earphones look like earplugs because they are earplugs (sound-isolating canalphones). AAMC doesn't want me to listen to EK Audio Osmosis while I take the test, do they?

There will always be doubt if the "earplugs" are true earplugs or headphones or some other device. Why not just make life easier and remove this doubt by banning earplugs? That's what AAMC did.

 

[NontradICUdoc]

We have plenty of time before the big day. Do yourself a favor and take some practice tests in places where there are distractions. For example, a Starbucks, a Dinner, Panera, the cafeterian, dinning hall, etc.

That way you will learn to blank out the distractions and pay attention to the test.

 

[p9142]

That is good advice about practicing in noisy environments. I wonder why they don't just pass them out.

 

[2TIM4:7]

It's funny they don't allow you to wear earplugs, but then allow the proctors to eat quiet food such as pretzels and carrots. (This happened to me at the University of Chicago testing site.) I had to tell the proctors to be quiet.

But it gets better for those of you that love randomness. You are allowed to wear earplugs when you sit for the Step 1; they provide them and ear covers, also. Go figure?!

What I don't understand is why they don't provide them for you? They are very cheap and most importantly they can be purchased by the test makers so that the test makers know they don't operate on radio frequencies, etc. Oh well, maybe an extra $1-2 on top of the testing fee is an added charge they can't justify.

I wear ear plugs all the time but didn't for the MCAT and all has gone well since then. So please don't worry about it and GOOD LUCK!

 

[docolive]

ooooo ouch. thanks for the advice! i've probably been out of high school longer than most of you! medicine will be my second career. anyway, good to know SDN is full of helpful, supportive people.

no kidding. there was a recent thread with some pretty choppy words being thrown around. I just watch my back. I have enough of my own conflicted self...don't need anyone else to remind me of it.

 

[docolive]

We have plenty of time before the big day. Do yourself a favor and take some practice tests in places where there are distractions. For example, a Starbucks, a Dinner, Panera, the cafeterian, dinning hall, etc.

That way you will learn to blank out the distractions and pay attention to the test.

lemme tell you....nothing beats having someone sit one seat away from you scratching the hell out of the mcat....I guess he/she was using the "underline everything principle". I am surprised he/she even had a pencil for the rest of the exam.
It was missssserable and I think any Starbuck's or Panera would beat this one.

 

[yyd]

-

 

[PleaseMiami]

Woah! Did you say the person siaid you could use cotton??? Why not just use cotton...it'll work just as well...and if the administrator said that's okay...I think I'll be taking some cotton with me as well!!

 

[Dr. Pepper]

I agree that earplugs should be allowed (if you're caught, it would be pretty obvious if it was an earplug or a radio trasmitter...just see if sound comes out!)

However, don't you think that you might want to get used to doing difficult things such as taking the MCAT in conditions that are less than ideal....considering that you want to enter a profession where you are expected to save lives in somewhat congested quarters along with stress and sleep deprivation, and of course, many random sounds of both biotic and abiotic factors (cough cough residency)

Just my $0.02.

P.S.: As the earlier poster stated, just use cotton.

 

[Mr. Tee]

I agree that earplugs should be allowed (if you're caught, it would be pretty obvious if it was an earplug or a radio trasmitter...just see if sound comes out!)

No one else can hear the sound since the earplugs seal your ear canal from the outside environment. You can't hear the outside, and others can't hear the inside.

 

[Dr. Pepper]

No one else can hear the sound since the earplugs seal your ear canal from the outside environment. You can't hear the outside, and others can't hear the inside.

I said that if someone gets caught with something in their ear (hence the problem that the OP wanting to wear earplugs has), then they shouldn't punish him if they see earplugs in his ear and if they see that no sound waves are propagating from the earplugs.

Basically, I'm saying that they should differentiate between earplugs and radio transmitters and allow earplugs while banning radio transmitters with the threat of either randomly checking or checking all ear devices during the test.

Also, what I meant by being caught is that someone sees the radio transmitter and asks the student to remove it. If the person hears waves, it is a transmitter and the test is torn up; if it is just an earplug, nothing happens.

I realize there are several flaws with this and I probably didn't explain my plan well enough, so point taken.

-Dr. P

 

[kevin86]

u guys are going to give engineering majors bad ideas. Just wear cotton already. I know a lot of people who talks about wearing cotton. actually my friend wears a hearing aid all the time. He told me he just takes it off during the test. So anyway, it was lucky for him.

 

[Marie_]

Do not try sneaking earplugs into the MCAT. depending on your test center they can be very anal and kick you out of the exam. I took the MCAT twice. The first time was at Princeton and they would kick you out in a sec, but its also very quiet. The second time was in Newark, I'm sure they wouldn't have cared at all about earplugs but the proctor was ridicuosly loud. She was actually helping her little helpers with their homework amd chatting during the exam. After glaring at her through the first few sections I just asked her to stop.

 

[Mr. Tee]

No, they just attenuate the sound, but some sound waves get to the TM. Some people can still hear sound even when wearing earplugs rated 33 dB attenuation (me).

I'm looking forward to the computer-based test so there won't be as many test-takers!

You are right....I didn't expect any people here to be audiophiles or musicians that actually wear and understand this stuff

But for all intents and purposes, in this MCAT test-taking scenario the sound will be blocked.