First things first: I passed the exam I took at Prometric today. I do NOT have an ax to grind, I'm not angry about the outcome. Having taken more than a few standardized tests in my life it seems fair to generalize that test takers are not the primary customer for testing centers, partly because we don't usually have many choices, especially in Madison, and it shows at this testing center. If you've never been there before it's not easy to find. It's tucked in the corner of a strip mall. There is a sign at the driveway but I drove around the entire parking lot before I found it. If you're nervous about the exam you're about to take, it's not a good start. When I walked in 15 minutes prior to my scheduled test time no one was there to greet me. The walls were covered with cheap, mismatched art and needed a fresh coat of paint. The guy from the back came to check me in. He gave me something to read, detailing all the ways that one could break the rules and get kicked out of the test. While I was reading it he retreated to his back office and the woman who normally sits at the front, Beth, returned from her smoking break (she smelled of it). Beth said my appointment wasn't on her schedule, and commented that I must have scheduled my test relatively late. True, I scheduled just one day in advance but that was offered online when I made the appointment. She acted very official as she checked my ID. I presented her with the required supporting documents to be eligible to sit for the exam. She said it didn't say I needed to bring anything but she would look at them anyway. Although she made a stink about my little earrings ("they're kind of in between," not fitting the rule of studs only but certainly not big, dangly earrings, either), she did not tell me that I needed to bring my ID to the back room to take my test, so I had to go back to my locker and fetch it. She denied not having advised me to bring my ID into the room with me. She could have just apologized but she had to argue with me about it. Meanwhile I was about to take a big exam, so I would have appreciated someone who wasn't so edgy that she needed another cigarette break just 5 minutes after she had finished her last one. The check-in process in the back is the typical visual inspection, metal detector wand that reminds me of a TSA screening on steroids, and then you have to do much of it again in reverse on your way out. Taking a test is never fun, but it can and should be a much more pleasant experience. read more
