[Test Center Review] Tennessee State University, Nashville, TN

speedwagon

Overall: I chose this test center blind as I was traveling to Nashville for a wedding. I registered relatively late and it was the only center left in the are, so I was worried about what I was getting into. Turned out it was great, very timely, very well run.

Proctors: The proctors were great. They stayed quiet, were kind and encouraging (inasmuch as you can be within the script), and kept time effectively. They were also relatively kind with regards to the rules while still being fair - they had bags people could place hats in and leave outside the room; they called someone (LSAC?) to discuss a photo issue while still being reassuring to the student whose ticket was in question; they let someone who brought their things in a clear non-ziplock bag switch to an extra ziplock they had. They had extra pencils and erasers which was nice of them. Very fair, but humane. They were silent during the exam as far as I could tell and definitely had an air of certainty and experience about them. They had an analog clock up in front, a projector projecting the digital time, and an electronic timer running that was the official timer.

Facilities: A standard college building. It was a little hard to find the hall on campus and I ended up taking ~10 minutes driving around but once I was there parking was easy and right next to the hall. There was a soda machine, and the bathrooms were close, although there weren't that many available and the line for the women's room was a real problem.

What kind of room: Standard college lecture hall. Big tables with seats on swing-arms that you could slide in and out of so everyone had a lot of room to work. I was worried about feeling crowded with my things and absolutely didn't. I assume this also made it easy for lefties and as a fat person, I was still very comfortable (I was worrying about fitting into one of those tiny desks.)

How many in the room: 25-30. We were well-spaced and had a ton of room. I had a special pencil station area I had so much room. There was another room running a little bit off from our schedule (maybe accommodated testing?) and that seemed even smaller.

Noise levels: You could hear a pin drop, only no one would have dropped a pin, because it would be inappropriate to make noise, and this place was very appropriate.

Parking: Easy, free, right next to the building. It took a minute to find it, though.

Time elapsed from arrival to test: Arrival time was 8:30, we got going by 9am and finished around 1pm. I was shocked at how efficient it was.

Other comments: I was really worried about what it meant that I was getting the last available center in Nashville. The only thing I could find about TSU was a horror story about a location mixup; I was worried but it was what I had. This could not have been further from my experience. They were professional, fast, kind, and the center was very comfortable. The only downside was that the vending machine only had soda, ergo I could not forgo my healthy snack in favor of some carby stress-eating (although this is probably not a real downside as I had no sugar crash to contend with.)

Would you take the test here again? Definitely yes.

Date[s] of Exam[s]: 9/24/16

tanes256

@speedwagon I took the test at TSU back in 08 and I agree with everything you said. I also graduated from TSU in 06. I had zero issues and if I still lived in Nashville I would retake at TSU. We probably took the test in the same building, the math building. I cannot recall the name at the moment. Your description of the testing room sounds the same. There were more people testing when I took the test, but we were seated every other seat to allow for plenty of room. Did you end up at the downtown campus, Avon Williams? Lol, that's where I ended up on move-in day my freshman year. I would also highly recommend TSU, even though it was several years ago. For future reference, for any test takers, park at the very back of the campus. You will see a fence that seems to never end going around the back of the campus and then you'll see the huge parking lot. The building is right in front of the parking lot.

Cant Get Right

I just got to say, your avatar is truly glorious.

Heart Shaped Box

Thanks so much for this review. I currently live in Murfreesboro, TN was gonna register here at MTSU (no idea about the facilities), since it's literally a 5 mins drive. But I now seems to have one more option. The only trade-off for me it's the drive, since I'm about 45 mins away from Nashville and you never know about I-24..

speedwagon

@beyondsudi I was worried about traffic etc too and the risk of being a total n00b to the area. It turned out fine (it's early in the morning!) but you would know better than I in that regard. I also found a $40 airbnb the night before that was less than a 10 minute drive away just so I really wouldn't have to contend with things (and was at a wedding out by Smithville so really needed to be in town for the night.)