I confirmed today what I had feared for the past couple of months - the test center I am registered for in June typically administers the exam in an auditorium with flip up desks. I visited the room today and the desks that flip up are TINY; to add insult to injury I was show the room that's occasionally used for overflow, and or accommodations, and it was perfect, with built-in desks and everything else you could ever want. The deadline for test center changes is within the next week, so I'm trying to decide what is the best thing to do, and I would appreciate any feedback others have on this issue.
The benefits for staying at my current test center are:
1. It's at the law school where I go to undergrad and is within walking distance from my house;
2. I usually study and do PTs in said law school's library, so I'm comfortable with the building in general;
3. Despite the TINY desks I can PT for the next month in that classroom and try to get used to keeping the answer sheet in my lap or something.
There are a few other test centers within an hour's drive, but they are all at similarly large state schools and based on what I've seen, they all have hit or miss desk situations. However, there is a small liberal-arts college a couple hours away with openings for this June's test date; I've only seen one review for the school, but it was positive. I'm also thinking that at a school of <2700 students that they probably don't even have a lecture hall that's designed for maximum occupancy. If I were to change the test location to that test center I would drive over on Sunday and stay the night in-town before Monday's test. I might also try to visit in late-May and take a PT in the actual room if it can be worked out logistically.
I'm going to take PT72 in the next few days, before the Group BR, and if the room is open I'm going to take it in the auditorium of my current test center. I've typically just printed my PTs on one-sided sheets, but given the desk-size constraint I would like to try to replicate the booklet layout. Obviously I want to print the PT double-sided, but what's the best way to bind it like the booklet?
Comments
Thank you both for the feedback! I'm going to call the other college tomorrow morning to see if I can get any more information about this year's testing arrangements. Also, for the Group BR, should I BR on my own before the Group BR, or not? This will be my first time joining in, so if there's any other advice you have it would be appreciated.
There's only one review currently (that I can find at least) for this other test center, but if anyone happens to read this and has heard anything - the college I'm considering taking it at is Oberlin College in NE Ohio.
As for binding, if you don't have access to a commercial printer that staples, you can use three staples (top, middle and bottom) to bind your double sided pages together - try to stay close to the edge, and you'll get a booklet that folds like a normal one . I use a regular stapler with normal staples and they go through fine even for the thicker new tests.
If you do get stuck with the tiny desks, you can try and put the answer sheet under the folded booklet, with the current section column peeking out. Bubble before turning the page. Do all your diagrams on the second page of the games so you only need the booklet open for the first question. Good luck finding a better center - that would be the best solution.
While Roxbury CC had classrooms of about 15-20 desks, they were a mix of the tiny desks and standard high school desks that would fit the booklet and answer sheets. I'd say like a 60/40 split of small vs good desks per room.
Kinda anxious by this given that I'm an extreme type A haha. Should I change centers? I don't know where else around me may even be available/even as good. Or am I just psyching myself out?
I would recommend changing test centers if you have even a 20% chance of a small desk that would be a problem.
I guess I'll just have to make sure to get there really early and claim a good desk
The whole ordeal reminded me of a MasterCard commercial:
Gas - $27.04
Tolls - $13.75
Test Center Change Fee - $90
Big Desks - Priceless.
Hell yeah. You got this.
Regardless, I sent a really really nice email to lsacinfo/whatever their test center complaint email address is outlining the situation and pointing out that desk size variance in the same room may put some test takers at a recognizable disadvantage. In the end just requesting they use only the big desks since there are enough there, it's just a matter of taking 10 minutes to move some desks between rooms.
I highly doubt they'll care or even respond to my email, but as Wayne Gretzky and Michael Scott both eloquently said: "You miss 100% of the shots you don't take"
Don't worry, I'm definitely planning on getting a hotel, just haven't booked yet, so I left it out of the list. Thanks again for the input!