Took the DAT today, will post my breakdown probably in the morning but was wondering if other people were having the same issue I had. First off, I must have overlooked this change, but my testing site had a different system then every other time (yes I have taken the DAT a few times) in terms of the markers used and the erasers used. Instead of the erasable markers and an eraser, I was given ballpoint markers that were NOT erasable. Instead of just being able to erase my work from each section (which in my opinion is most important on the QR) and saving tons of time, every time one of my sheets was filled up, I had to try to get the proctor's attention by waving my hand in the air with the filled sheet until he saw me, and have him bring a new one to me (which is completely distracting when trying to focus on a test).
I had all my equations and whatnot written on one of the sheet for the QR so I couldn't get rid of that one, so on 3 separate occassions I had to get new sheets. The first time I needed a new sheet because there was literally nowhere else for me to write (I tried to write as small as I could) it took the proctor about 2 minutes to get me a new sheet. So basically I had to wave my hands, take time out from my test and try to find the guy who wasn't even in the back room at the time, no idea where he was. The other 2 times were a bit faster but in all I think the time that was wasted by having to get new sheets was over 3 minutes. While it might seem like just 3 minutes, obvioulsy we all know that we only get 45 minutes for 40 math questions that are filled with a variety of word problems and whatnot that take a bit of time to work out (especially when your brain feels like mush after almost 4 hours of test taking already). So I felt like I got a bit flustered with that and felt like my time was taken away because of this.
Now I know it may sound a bit whiny and I should suck it up and whatnot, but is there anything I can do to maybe let someone know about how bad the proctor was? Maybe write the ADA a letter? I didn't do very well on the QR this time around (I was getting 20s and above on every one of my practice tests and got a 19 on the last actual DAT I took last year) but even if I had a bad day, there was no way I should have gotten the score I did. I just feel extremely frustrated with that because the rest of my test I did SO much better then I have ever done and don't want a stupid math score to be the reason a school doesn't look at me.
Sorry for the massive post and my complaining but I was just wondering if anyone else was having similar issues, or if anyone knows why in the hell they decided to change this rule because it seems to put us at a disadvantage, especially on a section where time is such an issue already. Thanks and you can see my score and breakdown tomorrow.
I had all my equations and whatnot written on one of the sheet for the QR so I couldn't get rid of that one, so on 3 separate occassions I had to get new sheets. The first time I needed a new sheet because there was literally nowhere else for me to write (I tried to write as small as I could) it took the proctor about 2 minutes to get me a new sheet. So basically I had to wave my hands, take time out from my test and try to find the guy who wasn't even in the back room at the time, no idea where he was. The other 2 times were a bit faster but in all I think the time that was wasted by having to get new sheets was over 3 minutes. While it might seem like just 3 minutes, obvioulsy we all know that we only get 45 minutes for 40 math questions that are filled with a variety of word problems and whatnot that take a bit of time to work out (especially when your brain feels like mush after almost 4 hours of test taking already). So I felt like I got a bit flustered with that and felt like my time was taken away because of this.
Now I know it may sound a bit whiny and I should suck it up and whatnot, but is there anything I can do to maybe let someone know about how bad the proctor was? Maybe write the ADA a letter? I didn't do very well on the QR this time around (I was getting 20s and above on every one of my practice tests and got a 19 on the last actual DAT I took last year) but even if I had a bad day, there was no way I should have gotten the score I did. I just feel extremely frustrated with that because the rest of my test I did SO much better then I have ever done and don't want a stupid math score to be the reason a school doesn't look at me.
Sorry for the massive post and my complaining but I was just wondering if anyone else was having similar issues, or if anyone knows why in the hell they decided to change this rule because it seems to put us at a disadvantage, especially on a section where time is such an issue already. Thanks and you can see my score and breakdown tomorrow.
