I hate ETS and want it to die

[chaos]

rgh my disability request for time-and-a-half was denied. apparently my WAIS scores and the fact that I took the PSAT without accomodation show that I do not meet criteria for the accomodation. I have no idea what I'm going to do...when taking the practice tests, I always assumed I'd be able to get time x .5, and used that extra time, and managed to score semi-decently. Now, I tried taking the test with the actual official amount of time, and...well...I'm screwed. Completely. I just barely made it through the verbal section...had to guess on one or two, but I got only halfway through the quant section..yeah I was on question 15 when my time ran out. I won't even tell you my score. It is just absolutely not possible for me to process information that quickly. You'd THINK that having three separate physicians confirm a diagnosis of schizophrenia and ADHD, and give them their opinion that I need extra time to process information in a stressful environment would be enough...but NO. Just because I'm good at arranging blocks into patterns and memorizing lists of words...rrrgh. I totally should have malingered on the stupid testing...but I didn't know at the time I'd need to send them the results.

Okay...done ranting...but I had to vent...this could seriously keep me out of grad school.

Fine. I wouldn't want to take their damn concession anyway.

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[paramour]

Damn, chaos. That sucketh! Is there no appeals process?

 

[WaitingKills]

APPEAL!

You have 3 doctors saying that you should receive time and a half. The ETS monkey doc is being a bitch.

They denied me at first because they said that my testing was more than 6 months old (I have a head injury). I looked on their website and it's either valid for 3-5 years. All I had to do was call up and be wtf?!

I would read their policy very carefully re: mental illness and disability and then phone them and make your case. If that doesn't work, I would get your doc/psych to phone them and fight for you.

Don't take this sitting down hun, you have a clear disability and legitimate reason to be granted time and a half. ETS tries their best to deny people. And their monkey that they have working (unless they have more than one that approves/denies accommodations) is new and doesn't know her ass from a hole in the ground.

Good luck and let us know what happens.

 

[Cosmo 23]

I agree...read everything you can get your hands on about the appeals process, get a lawyer and then maybe appeal. You may be able to find an attorney to consult with pro bono through services that assist the mentally ill in your community. Start your search with NAMI. It's worth looking into. ETS is the big leagues and I think having a lawyer's input will be helpful. He or she can tell you if it's even a battle/appeal worth fighting for. Good luck to you, truly.

 

[psychwanabe]

Absolutely appeal!! Are you long out of high school? Did you have an IEP? If so, did it remain in effect in college (e.g., you had special considerations for testing, etc.)? The ADA, Rehabilitation act of 1973-Section 504 are all really clear about equal access/non-discrimination of persons with disabilities in educational settings. This denial is just plain wrong.

We support you 100%! Let us know what happens.

 

[chaos]

thanks guys...I feel like I SHOULD be able to just suck it up and study harder and get a good score but it just ain't happening. An extra 15 or 20 minutes on each section would make a world of difference to me. I know they have to make their time constraints ridiculous so the test produces a perfect bell curve or whatever, but still. According to them, 'diagnosis alone does not provide grounds for special accommodations'. You have to provide cognitive test results that prove you are deficient in some key area. I scored within normal limits on all WAIS subtests, so they've decided I don't need extra time. Nevermind that the WAIS does not test sustained attention and processing speed over a grueling 3 hour period in a high stress environment. It's the only neurpsych type test that I've had...I don't know what other measures they would consider valid, and I don't have loads of money to spend on further neuropsych assessment. The thing is, I've never asked for any special accomodations on anything before...I was homeschooled K-12, and admitted to college without taking the SAT.

Honestly, if I ever get into grad school maybe I'll devote my career to ripping apart the validity of the GRE.

 

[psychwanabe]

Honestly, if I ever get into grad school maybe I'll devote my career to ripping apart the validity of the GRE.

ooo! oooo!! -- can I help???

 

[amy203]

I'm so sorry to hear that chaos!

Please stick with it! I'm sure there's someone at your university you can talk to about ETS. Maybe start with your school's career or counseling center?

Also, even if you can't get time and a half, keep studying! If it makes you feel better, there are ways of getting a decent score on the quant without finishing (I didn't!). PM me if you have questions!

Amy

 

[WantCalm]

If you can't get them to change it, I would recommend looking into the Kaplan math techniques. I took my practice test at the beginning of my Kaplan class and couldn't finish. Turned out that was because the GRE doesn't actually want you to do real math, just pretend math. Kaplan shows you how they really want you to do it and how you can do it in enough time. I went from a 610 on the first practice test and running out of time to a 780 on the actual test with time spare. Verbal is a different story though...I don't think anybody can really help with that.