GRE
Taking the GRE is a soul-destroying experience. Among other things, it makes you wonder why they charge $130 for the test and then treat you like an inmate.
Upon arriving at the test center, you need to sign in, which involves signing an NDA and agreeing to various sets of rules. The rules in the GRE Bulletin were incorporated by reference, so I had one of the employees dig up a copy for me. Interestingly enough, the GRE Bulletin doesn't have a specific list of rules.
After waiving most of your rights, you are required to empty your pockets into a locker. You can only carry the key and personal identification into the next room. There's a second sign-in phase that occurs there. The woman working at that desk wanted me to produce a signature that matched the one on my driver's license. I laughed at her.
The test is given on a computer using software which could only be from the pre-Windows 95-era. I was required to look away while the administrator logged in (hahaha). The monitors are old CRTs that refresh at 60Hz and cause extreme fatigue. I would much rather use a pencil and paper. I was tempted to try to mess with the refresh rate but I don't think that would have been a good idea.
The user interface is one of the worst I've ever seen in my life. Imagine giving HyperCard to a schizophrenic crack addict. The test starts out with an annoying, poorly developed tutorial on how to use a mouse and scroll. Apparently they didn't think it was worth the time to teach testtakers how to use the keyboard, because when gathering personal information they do stuff like this:
Enter the number of classes you have taken for your major.
0 [ ] [ ] 0
1 [ ] [ ] 1
2 [ ] [ ] 2
3 [ ] [ ] 3
4 [ ] [ ] 4
5 [ ] [ ] 5
6 [ ] [ ] 6
7 [ ] [ ] 7
8 [ ] [ ] 8
9 [ ] [ ] 9
What.
Upon arriving at the test center, you need to sign in, which involves signing an NDA and agreeing to various sets of rules. The rules in the GRE Bulletin were incorporated by reference, so I had one of the employees dig up a copy for me. Interestingly enough, the GRE Bulletin doesn't have a specific list of rules.
After waiving most of your rights, you are required to empty your pockets into a locker. You can only carry the key and personal identification into the next room. There's a second sign-in phase that occurs there. The woman working at that desk wanted me to produce a signature that matched the one on my driver's license. I laughed at her.
The test is given on a computer using software which could only be from the pre-Windows 95-era. I was required to look away while the administrator logged in (hahaha). The monitors are old CRTs that refresh at 60Hz and cause extreme fatigue. I would much rather use a pencil and paper. I was tempted to try to mess with the refresh rate but I don't think that would have been a good idea.
The user interface is one of the worst I've ever seen in my life. Imagine giving HyperCard to a schizophrenic crack addict. The test starts out with an annoying, poorly developed tutorial on how to use a mouse and scroll. Apparently they didn't think it was worth the time to teach testtakers how to use the keyboard, because when gathering personal information they do stuff like this:
Enter the number of classes you have taken for your major.
0 [ ] [ ] 0
1 [ ] [ ] 1
2 [ ] [ ] 2
3 [ ] [ ] 3
4 [ ] [ ] 4
5 [ ] [ ] 5
6 [ ] [ ] 6
7 [ ] [ ] 7
8 [ ] [ ] 8
9 [ ] [ ] 9
What.