This happened to me. I thought $210 was excessive, esp for an online test, but I'm glad my money is funneling to such a quality organization.
The problem is Natural/Social Science passages are what I am better at. If they just throw the questions out, then the % of Humanities to Science question changes, and how is that reflective of my real Verbal abilities? And how does taking a test with 35 questions and 5 erroneous questions tell me my national percentile among everyone? Some people respond to stress differently than others, so apparently the AAMC also will be grading us on how we react to uncomfortable stressful circumstances, huh, that wasn't in the brochure!
If they can mess up a whole form so easily, you don't think they could mess up when they are scoring YOUR test? I think it is a lot easier to mess up scoring a national form of an exam than it is to mess up proctoring a national exam (you really have to be incompetent), lot more components need to be in place to score a test, so various errors could surface. Can you trust these people?
Also, I think it is somewhat wrong the AAMC notified the proctors and told them to tell the students beforehand on the west coast, because the east coast takers didn't get that chance! If I had known something crazy was going to happen about birds and fishes on a passage, I could prepare for it and probably save that section for last. And since this is a national percentile ranking test, I think it is absolutely absurd they will change the testing conditions for some people of a singular group and not others, and then want to compare all the results as a single group. Are these people awake?
If you voided your test, does that score still affect the percentile ranks? If the people most thrown off voided their test and it doesn't go into the calculations, it doesn't show the true range of scores and of tests, does it? They should look at the number of people who voided our form versus the average # who usually void on a particular form and account for that.
We have some bright administrators over there. I think we have to call repeatedly to ensure they get our message. I think they have to score it with a lot more consideration then "let's omit those questions". AND THEY MUST factor in the effect of time, since this is a timed test; specifically on the last passage. They have a lot of thinking to do, and of course, I definitely don't trust them to do it efficiently.
As for me, I will not retest unless I absolutely have to. I spent too much time studying and preparing for the stress of MCAT day. A refund or retake won't appease me personally. On our form, on our specific group, I hope they can identify all the people affected (first off). Also, I hope they err on the side of giving one too many points than one too few! Lots more people will be pissed the other way around, esp considering it is their fault, not ours! What is that legal term, "causing mental anguish"...lol.
I think they might look at the raw score distribution on this form compared to other forms. But if they are not too disparaging on a national level, who knows what they will do. They can't be perfect in adjusting the scoring b/c the same change affects different people in lots of different ways.
I hope someone at the AAMC is reading this thread and does something about it. (Do we have a contact email address for them?) When I called their office, I asked if they were taking suggestions to solve this problem from the affected individuals. I hear, "Ughhhhh, noooo, I don't think so...." Come on, you need to talk to the people before you solve their problem, right? She told me I would hear back their judgment in a week. They make the mistake and they unilaterally attempt to rectify it. They wield too much power over us!
Mridang, I didn't quite get what the proctor told you was the methodology they will be using. Could you explain further?
I think this situation somewhat highlights the arbitrariness of the test in general.
Let's keep this thread alive. In 30 days, I hope people will post if they are satisfied with their score considering all of the BS that went on. I hope we will be. God, I hope we will be
