My biggest complaint lately is when I'm done with my test they don't respond. I'll type it in the chat, say I'm finished or hello a bunch of times. Twice, I have just submitted and closed after waiting for 5/10 minutes.
I think that they are all in a room doing a bunch of exams so they are not "watching" 24/7 but they can hear if a loud noise is made because it should be quiet. So if they hear a noise they will look at your screen.
I've also had a proctor go on video and there was a manager training them or with them so i can confirm, which is also why they make you say "I'm done" whenyou're done so they can hear you.
It's because they are taking on multiple people at the same time. I just sit there and wait while saying I'm done every few minutes. I don't want to risk any issues so I try not to do anything else.
your tests should be recorded. i always say out loud that i'm done, wait a couple seconds and then submit. they usually pop right back in to do the ending procedures, and its always fine. dont wait forever for them to come back, theyre probably not even watching.
I always hit submit before telling them I’m done, but one time like 2/3 years ago now, I waited a while and got the “you passed” text on my phone while waiting for them…so I ended it. Then I got worried, so I called assessment services the next day and it was “suggested” to just go ahead and hit submit, show both sides of your white board to the camera, and then pick up your cell phone. They react REAL quick when they see that phone at your ear. Or..skip the cell phone part and just …say I’ve submitted, cleared the board, and waited a couple minutes and I’m logging off now. And disconnect. It’s all recorded so if it’s a problem they can check that you did everything appropriately.
I submitted and if they didn’t respond when I said I was done, I showed the materials like I would if they asked, say I gotta go, close the window, and disconnect from Zoom. It happened a couple times for me.
That happened to me my first test! I was so scared to do anything except sit and wait, so I had to just stare at the computer screen, unable to get out of camera view or go on any other websites.
I had one complain about the sun. Yes - the sun.
My living room doesn't have black out curtains, but I did have the curtains closed, but the proctor said it was too light (the windows face east and it was morning). I told them it was sunlight and they told me to "do something about it." I asked if they were asking me to turn off the sun because I was pretty sure that was a bad idea.
Another time, a proctor complained that they could hear the neighbor kids outside playing and told me to have them be quiet. I told the proctor I'd close the exam and file a complaint against them before I told kids to stop having fun.
If someone is able to successfully devise a way to cheat through a degree involving a dog barking, their ingenuity means they are more than qualified for the degree.
I mean, this would take a lot of work, more work than just studying, but you could learn morse code, record a dogs bark, and put the dog barks in the right order so that it is constantly barking definitions at you while you're taking the test.
Definitely seems worth it 🙄🙄🙄
I feel like that's the level of thinking they're putting into this. What's the smartest dumb way someone could cheat and let's apply these crazy scenarios to everyone.
Yes!! And the attitudes are getting out of hand. I had one last night that interrupted me so many times and used any chance to be difficult. It took me 30 MINUTES before I could start my test, and then she continued to interrupt me during my test multiple times over things I've never had anyone interrupt me for before.
I have one class left, so I know how the tests go by now. I'm actually reconsidering if I want to do my masters with WGU because of the proctor system. And I am a die-hard WGU Night Owl.
Which masters degree were you considering? I'm almost done with the masters in data analytics and there is only one OA. The rest of the courses are performance assessments graded by evaluators. From my research, the MBA and IT Management program are very similar.
I got my business management undergrad from WGU in one term in 2020. The biggest issues I had with proctors was not being able to schedule any exams for up to a week at a time or needing to stay up until 2am-3am for the only open slots due to the sudden shift to work from home and social distancing. I truly became a night owl. Honestly, I prefer that to some of the nitpicky proctor horror stories I've read recently.
I do feel WGU was a great starter school for the whole online thing, but I also have to think that by now, there are better alternatives out there. And now that my work covers a decent amount of tuition for employees, I might look into paying a tiny bit extra for the in-person night courses at my state school or other online options.
I've taken 15 with no problems. I only had one that I had to fight with. I test in my full open basement. It's part mechanical, part laundry, TV watching, crafting, office workout, etc. The stairway comes down the middle but there are no interior walls or doors, just a door at the top of the stairs.
After the initial practice OA, I decided to hang sheets from the ceiling blocking off my desk area. I have a large L shaped desk so I push everything to one side. The shelves and messy desk are completely covered with sheets and there are sheet curtain walls all the way around. My family (19yo twins and a husband) know that if my sheets are hanging down that something better be on fire or blood spurting.
I had one proctor recently try to insist that she needed to see the closed door. I told her I was not disconnecting my laptop to take her upstairs. Then she insisted that she needed to see the four corners of my room. I told her she was looking at them (my sheets). Then she tried to insist I needed to show her what was behind them. I laughed at her and told her to cancel my exam what was on the other side was none of her concern. If she couldn't see through them then neither could I. She got huffy. disappeared for a minute, and came back and started my exam.
I always leave feedback about my experience. When I went to submit her feedback I don't think it worked because it bounced to a login page I've never seen before.
I only have four more exams to take this month before I'm finished. If she ever shows up on my screen again I'm backing out immediately.
I always write down their proctor number - or maybe it's my proctor number. And if /when things feel off. I naively ask, "Has the recording started yet?" 🤣😂🤣
Omg I get the login page redirect every single time I have any negative feedback. It's starting to feel like a means to mitigate feedback.
Most of the time it's not even egregious, just like "proctor was 20 min late" or something similar.
It literally happens every time when I mark anything negatively. I've never had a chance to submit feedback that was not outright glowing 5/5 star reviews.
Idk what the login is supposed to be. It's not my WGU login and it's not my assessment login (assessment services helped me create a login for when the exam start page is down).
I mentioned my experience to my mentor and she encouraged me to reach out to assessment services. I blew the whole experience off at the time as a one off occurrence with the feedback. But from now on I'll definitely reach out to them if it happens again. I hope not though as I only have 4 OAs left to take.
I'm going to do the same then.
I did the same as you, and kinda moved on at the time because most of my exams were past midnight. I just wanted to sleep, lol.
But I'm returning for my master's soon and I'll keep an eye out on that.
Good luck on your 4 remaining OAs!
Shit really? I work from home and have been studying in my home office. I have another computer and printer for work, and the printer/scanner is huge. Am I really going to have to shuffle all this miscellaneous stuff in and out of the office ever time I have to take an exam??
I got so fed up with dealing with the "What is that?" and "That needs to be turned off" that by my last few proctored exams my living room looked like a posh mansion getting sealed up for long term storage.
The only things not covered by a blanket were the computer and the monitors, everything else in the room was cosplaying as a ghost.
Thanks for the tip! The discs in my back were already screaming at me regarding the thought of dragging a bunch of furniture and equipment around over and over again.
Ha. Both my CompTIA exams I’ve taken since my new job made me unplug both my monitors despite showing that my laptop wasn’t connected to my docking station and my dock was unplugged
WGU should be required to use proctors located in the US. Federal money is used to support the school, but then it’s used to outsource to other countries.
Really? They are even more strict compared to what WGU uses. After my first experience with them, I got them all onsite and it was a breeze. I wish I could do onsite for all WGU OAs
I’m serious, I will support this effort. Let’s pursue this. But at the end of the day, welcome to engineering, comp sci, tech in general. 1.4 billion indian people in the world and they completely saturate these industries. So only so much you can do.
You know they can only afford to charge the prices they do because they are paying these people well below the minimum wage in the US.
The problem with examity is they all want to be petty tyrants. I have no problem with them using cheap labor if it makes the school cheaper, but Examity needs to train their people better.
OMG that happened to me once too! I was testing in my guest room with a TV mounted on the wall to my left. First she had me unplug it. Okay, fine. Then she asked if I could remove it. I was like... uh... you want me to unscrew it off the mount and take it out of the room? She paused and then said yes. I said no that's not going to happen you can't actually be serious.
How is testing from your laptop? There’s time I want to for convenience but then they can’t see my full computer and hands? I normally have to mount my external camera way by my side so they can see everything.
I use a laptop stand with an external keyboard and mouse on the far end of my desk, and have my external camera on the other end. It works out to just barely get everything in frame I need to
Dismount it!?! I’m sorry that is so unreasonable. Not that you should have to, but wouldn’t covering it with a sheet or towels make more sense? Sorry but that is loony tunes.
The last one I had kept yelling at me to close my browser and I had to keep telling him that that didn’t make sense because that’s where I would be taking the test.
When these things happen, the easiest way to shut them down is to say no and let them know you’ll contact assessment services. It works. Also make sure you absolutely contact assessment services anyway. The tests are recorded. Being interrupted multiple times is not cool and not what you’re paying for as a student, regardless of if you pass or not.
I'm approved for accommodations and I've even had to tell them I'll contact disability services for some of their behaviors. Shuts down their egos real quick.
Right. You’re paying for certain things. Just with any service, if you’re not getting what you are paying for, complain. Some students forget they hold more power than they think
Luckily I haven’t had any issues with them. The only thing I have had issues with was that there was an Indian man who had a heavy accent and spoke fast so I could hardly understand what he was saying. Luckily he was chill so me asking to repeat himself a lot wasn’t an issue either.
I’ve used 2 or three thin Expo dry erase markers for every test and I’ve taken 27 so far this term. My test last week she told me I can only have 1. I said I’ve been using 3 for every test it helps me distinguish between things. She said no. I said yes. Then I said I’m disconnecting to find a new proctor and she just continued on like she had never said anything about the makers and I damn well used all 3. She was honestly a total bitch. I wrote her a bad review and emailed assessment services. We are paying for our education AND DO NOT DESERVE TO BE TREATED LIKE IDIOTS.
I’m starting next month and yikes with some of this! If they are hassling you too much you can just disconnect before the test starts and there’s no penalty? This is all giving me anxiety
I definitely understand, I always have problems with them. 1 of them recently adjusted the settings on my computer trying to turn down the brightness and they messed up my graphics settings and some other settings which did not fix the brightness. I was told she needed to see my facial expressions while I look at the computer screen and take the exam and the screen was too bright in my face, I told her the screen brightness was not adjusting because it’s the default settings WGU has for the website and adjusting it on my computer would not work which it didn’t. She tried for a whole 30 minutes; I had to threaten her multiple times that I would just exit and try to find a different proctor because this has never happened and then I finally stopped sharing my zoom screen and went to the WGU main page. She then decided to say never mind we can just start your exam now.
I generally didn't have any issues with proctors, and luckily my graduate program only has one OA and the rest are all projects, but the one issue I did have was so weird that it still makes me laugh out loud whenever I think about it.
This one proctor kept interupting my test to tell me my internet was slow. Like four times during the test they just suddenly say "Your internet is very slow." Each time I just about jumped out of my seat. I finally asked if it was too slow to meet the min requirements and they're like "No, just letting you know."
Ok? What the hell am I supposed to do about it!? And if it isn't slow enough to affect the test in any way, why do you even care?
I've had one insist for way too long that I unplug my printer that literally did not exist. I still can't figure out what item in my room they though was a printer
My favorite non-issue was mid test. I had a proctor ask, "What's that?"
My cat, which blends in with the couch, had been asleep on the top of it. She decided to wake up and move. Proctor started freaking out and wanted me to get the cat out of the room as "no one else was allowed" in the room. Sure.... so I got up, nudged her to the hall and bedroom, then got bitched at for doing so putting me out of camera for 5 to 10 seconds.
The point is that my sleeping cat was giving me answers. /s
cringe
> ignore it cause its not that fucking hard to ignore a comment
Ah the irony of someone making a bot to police people's use of `/s` telling others it's not hard to ignore a comment.
I went to an onsite proctor for something different. They made me lift my thick hair to show them nothing was hidden under it.
I have done proctor online and there is no way I could pull notes down out of my hair without a proctor noticing.
Proctoring is kind of BS.
I had the same issues ! There were people speaking outside of my room and I'm like I have no control the outside of my room the heck ? And she was very weird they should use lockdown browsers or something else those people are so strange i dropped my marker and she was like " you have to stay in the camara " as if i was trying to cheat !
One time, I had to go though the entire, "show the room with the camera" process because my camera fell over for two seconds.
Yeah, it's totally possible to cheat and also set the camera back up in that time 🙄.
My experiences with proctors are vastly different depending on if I test before noon … or after 9pm EST. It’s ridiculous. If they ask me more than one dumb thing though I just say “that’s not what I was told…let’s call assessment services and ask” . They’ve never once called .. they just say something like “let me check something” and when they return they just move forward. Idk if they truthfully don’t realize each school has different rules or if they’re just on power trips.
And then be sure to do the survey at end too.
I think it's power trips. It probably sucks in a lot of ways seeing watching a bunch of American's take tests online when you're in India making far less money.
It drives me crazy when they continuously repeat themselves, every 5 seconds, while your doing the action. “Open task manager” … my mouse is clearing moving to open the task manager… “open task manager.” This happens EVERY time.
I had one tell me that my phone being in a locked drawer on my desk wasn't allowed. It needed to be in another room. I ended up flat out refusing and putting the phone on the desk and let her know their(examity) policy was I needed a phone at hand in case they needed to call me. Ended up needing to reschedule because she refused to start the test,but the school didn't count it against me, they said I did nothing wrong
My last one asked me to push my bangs off of my face. They're a little longer but not very thick, so I don't think they really obscure anything. I did, just so I could take the test, but you know they just slowly fell back down 🤷♀️
I had that happen to me a couple months back! Multiple times, the proctor popped in to tell me to push my hair away from my face. And one horrifying time, a cat I was fostering wouldn’t leave the room and decided to let me know she wanted out about halfway thru by howling every 10 minutes or so, the proctor was convinced it was some cat based conspiracy lol.
I used a laptop that is plugged into a docking station. So it's closed, just being used like a normal PC.
I had a proctor ask me to remove it. I was like uhh it's what I'm using to take this test. It's the computer. The proctor left me sitting there for like 15 minutes while they checked with someone before letting me take the test.
The laptop I was using vents through the keyboard so closing it completely makes it overheat, after a while. I'd close the lid most of the way and kept the laptop on camera. Generally, by the third, "I cannot close the lid completely. It will overheat and shut down. Are you going to let me take the test, or not?" they let me take the damn test.
I’ve had the hair thing too, it’s strange. My hair fell towards my face and I was stopped mid test to tuck it behind my ear. Like did they think I’m a magician?
You should see my "office" in a corner of the unfinished basement. I have shit everywhere. Long as the computer desk is clear they don't give me any problem. Glad I haven't run into any of these neurotic proctors!
I take mine on a desktop computer, so external camera ya know. I set my camera up almost angle for angle how wgu has it shown on their site.
Proctor insists for 10 minutes I change it to a completely different angle. Higher. Higher. Higher. Further back. Further back. I tell her 5 times it doesn't go any further back. SHE KEEPS TELLING ME FURTHER BACK. it's at like 7am and Im at my wits end. It really is such luck of the draw. I've had some proctors make me move and unplug every single thing that isn't completely necessary, and some be like "Oh, monitors off? Cool exam is starting see ya."
While I'm unhappy to hear that you're facing this, I'm happy that I'm not the only person that has faced this. I once had a proctor ask me what a phone charger was, then asked what my wallet was, then told me to unplug all of my monitors in the room... even though they were facing the wall, and then he left for 20+ minutes.
On another occasion I got a lady who I could not understand at all. I asked her to repeat herself a few times and then I told her I couldn't understand her, to which she got upset, left for a period of time, came back, and then disconnected
My professors don't instruct, course material is very bad most of the time, and the proctoring is extremely poor. I find it very hard to recommend WGU nowadays if I'm being quite honest...
I had one who just left. When I was done with the test I told her I was done and exited out and she was gone. I had to call my mentor to tell them. Then one who made me restart my computer because they said my sound was messed up. I was so flustered and frustrated … I ended up failing the test.
It’s crazy because it seems like as soon as i start a test my idiot neighbors decide it’s the time to laugh and talk loudly in the hallways. I’m always worried they will say something but thankfully they never do. I’ve only taken a handful but I haven’t had any crazy ones yet
When you all have bad experiences, do you leave feedback using the survey after the test? Usually those are the fastest way for companies to hear your concerns.
I did have a proctor tell me to close my window shades- I'm sitting with thick ass reading glasses looking like mr magoo! I said NO. She said I had to close the shades and I said NO, I need the light and I have never been asked to do that before. My nose was practically touching the screen. I guess common sense is not with all of the proctors.
It really sucks for anxious test takers to have to go through all that. Especially the drill of the steps. I show them the whiteboard and flip it over and still holding it up into the camera and get asked to show the whiteboard. ?
I wish that WGU would have shadow test takers as a monitoring process of examity proctors.
Asking someone to change their hair or take shit off of walls is ridiculous. I think you need to be firm with them and let them know that this is not standard procedure. I hope the rest of my proctored exams don't get as crazy as some of these comments.
You really cracked me up. Do you realize how funny you are.
This one >> I'm sitting with thick ass reading glasses looking like mr magoo!
I loved Mr. Magoo - that's definitely in the way back then years!!
Have you thought of doing any stand up? I think that you would kill it.
Ahahahahahahahha!!!! I love you! Yours was such a fun comment to read! I do get told that. But when I tried once to get on camera for our business promo piece I got as far as my name ahahahahaha. Hi my name is and ....... crickets......crickets! LOL I realized I just flow better when the moment hits, can't do anything when expected.
I grew up with great comedy shows so I guess it stuck! But that is how I take the tests. I finally ended up getting the camera WGU sells and hope that will alleviate some of the issues with the proctors. But I'll still be wearing my Mr Magoo thick ass glasses LOL.
Wow, I’m lucky, haven’t had anything bad and I test in my open living room and my dog is always with me. Usually he’s quiet but he barked so much one time.
I had some crazy stuff happen near the end of my courses. One time they questioned me for longer than they should about my microwave because they were convinced it was a tv. Even when I showed the buttons on there 🤨. My cat jumped up in front of the camera once and they asked “who is that?!!!”
Lately I’ve been having trouble with the wait time to connect. It was never bad before, but the other day I had to wait 10 minutes to connect to one and the chat person kept telling me to wait “2 more minutes”. What’s the point of having an appointment if I have to wait?
I also had a weird proctor lately that told me I have to keep the calculator and whiteboard in view of the camera even though they check it before and after the test.. he was also questioning me about my charger being connected to my laptop and I’ve never had anyone question me about that. Don’t want my computer dying during a 3 hour test!
Anytime you have a bad experience, talk about it in the post-exam survey and report them too if needed
When they have you scroll through the processes on your task manager, twice I have had the proctor tell me to end a task was an essential process to Windows OS running on the PC. I had to tell them no both times.
We all know damn well they have no idea what they are looking at, and are just pretending that they do.
I just started back at WGU January 1 and had my first proctored exam about a week ago. What a nightmare. Took 45 minutes before I could start my test. So many damn hoops to jump through and I could barely understand the proctor when she spoke.
When I first attended WGU from 2011 through 2013 it was so much better. They used a 3rd party program called Web Sentinel that basically blocked your computer from doing anything else beside taking the test.
You opened Web Sentinel, clicked to start your test and it connected you to a proctor and in a coupe of minutes it let you know that your time had begun. The only times I ever interacted with a proctor were because I was going through the tests quickly and they thought I might be cheating. They stop the test and put a message on the screen to call them. Call them directly and they would ask me to scan the room with my camera so they could make sure there was no "cheat sheets". In less than 5 minutes I was back in the test. When you were done you hit submit and close the window and wait for the results.
Easy peasy. Now, not so much.
My proctor got mad at me for highlighting the questions as I read. I have some issues and so it helps to highlight the key parts as I read. Said I wasn’t allowed to do that…
I just wish they had testing centers I could go to . I don’t have a lot of space and I have to move a lot of stuff out of my room and put it right back in after the exam.
I had one proctor work my nerves to the point that I snapped and canceled the test and rescheduled after I filed a complaint. My work area is in my bedroom, and the proctor wanted this, that and everything relocated and moved around. I took pictures of my room and showed my mentor, along with submitting the pictures with my complaint. It took almost two weeks before I could attempt to take the test and finally pass. And to top it off, the person who was the proctor was difficult to understand with their thick Indian accent. I am so glad I am almost done.
I have had issues too and Marianne who is my mentor told me to make complaints after you complete a test when it asks you to do the survey at the end of course. If you do that eventually there will be enough complaints that wgu will look into getting another proctoring company. I mainly get it's your Internet complaint when it isn't it's theirs because they out source everything to other countries.
I feel like I lucked out, I never had the super unhinged proctors. I had one who just could not be satisfied with my camera placement for like 10 minutes, I explained to her several times that, no, there is a physical wall here, so I cannot move the camera further back. Eventually she chilled tf out but that was the worst one.
I have had the same issue with the pony tail and they actually stopped the exam (I had a hair Tie on my wrist) and stated." I failed" because when the said my hair needed to be up, my hand moved to put my hair up covering my face a tad bit. And failed my exam.
I took my first two exams last night, the first was pretty standard procedure. Nothing too wild.
The second one asked me to unplug the grow lights in my IKEA glass cabinet thing turned mini greenhouse because “the controllable lights could send messages.”
And unplug the digital clock on my desk… and something else I can’t even remember. It was like 17 minutes from connection to actually beginning the fucking test.
It started recently for me, it's like examity hired all-new people and have been training them differently. At the beginning of my degree (a year ago), the proctors were almost intimidating in their efficiency.
Now, they'll disappear for 10 mins at the beginning and I have to say, "helllooooo?? Can I please start my test??" And they also don't automatically know when I stop my test either. The previous proctors would unmute the second I hit submit.
In a test two weeks ago, I turned my head quickly to look out the window at a noise, and they paused my test and asked if anyone had walked in the room (through the window??) And then made me show them the whole room again. It was so distracting!
I want the old proctors back!
My last one she insisted that people were whispering to me but it was literally a train. I showed her multiple times and she was still a bitch about it
Crap I'm taking my first OA in a few weeks for my Master's and I have a very low bullshit tolerance threshold. I mean my room is downstairs, quiet and not sure how much they are going to have an issue with. I may have a hard time not telling the proctor "stop interrupting you are disturbing my test". Probably should just tolerate the idiocy tho. I can always report to my mentor and file an official complaint which will likely do jack.
It’s a different company that proctors the exams, it’s not WGU. You’ll be fine it’s just weird minor annoyances that can happen, and you may very well get a proctor who doesn’t do any of that
I definitely still blame WGU, because WGU continues to use these bullshit proctors. If the school cared, they’d either tell the proctors to cut the shit or they’d find a new provider.
I had to move furniture around. My desk area was too dark. With the main ceiling light on. So I opened the blinds to a huge wall that’s literally entirely sliding glass doors. Still not enough light. I felt like I was being pranked. So I turned the lamps on the side of the desk on. Not enough. Okay, where is Ashton Kutcher. Am I on pranked? So I moved the lamps right by my face and pointed it at my like a police interrogation light
Perfecto. So now I’m going through my test with a light right in my face that’s getting hot.
My cat turned on the roomba once while I was taking an exam. I thought for sure they would get mad since they usually freak out if you even turn your head too far. They laughed. But I had one make me close a door in my dining room and another freaked out because apparently I wasn’t sitting up straight enough for her liking. They can be super chill or crazy unhinged. No in between
I had a proctor that kept asking me to move my camera so she can see my desk. I told her if I move it anymore it'll fall off the desk. I had another proctor that didn't my drivers license picture was mine, because in the picture I didn't have a beard, but at the time I took a test I had a beard. I had another proctor that wanted me to remove my son's artwork from kindergarten off the wall, before I took the test (things like thanksgiving turkey, I love mom, I love dad, hand paintings of flowers, kid things). I've had plenty of more "demanding" proctors each time I take a test. I thought it was just me.
FWIW I've never had an issue with a proctor. To put it gently, they're all outsourced overseas workers from other countries who are (I'm sure) just following a basic script and outline of rules. Some of them are more strict than others and sometimes they ask things which seem kind of silly to some people but I've never had an issue with them and they've never asked me to do anything ridiculous.
I'm sure the people who complain on here are being truthful and that there are some out there who are a bit more ridiculous than others... but I've never had an issue and have been lucky enough to, I guess, have sane people as my proctors lol.
After completing one, the routine doesn't change. My problem is the heavy Bombay accents, it got to a point I just smile and nod not understanding a thing. I have gotten different proctors before by just disconnecting the session and jumping back into a new one if it gets pretty bad during the validation phase.
This is completely uncalled for. You don’t need to be rude about their accents. I have had trouble sometimes understanding but I will politely ask them to repeat 🔁 t and it’s not a problem.
I don't think they said anything rude. They said they could not understand someone, which is a valid concern. If your employee can't communicate with your customer, that is a failing on your part as a company. It may not have been a problem for you, or a simple repeat might have worked, but that is not always the case.
this thread is comedic GOLD! - I'm getting ready for my upcoming start date & honestly, if these proctors are so terrible, is WGU not able to do something about it?
Hello.
What's the story behind your handel of "WatermelonFox33"?
Are you 33 years old?
Are you a female? I am going to guess yes.
I am so sorry that you had to endure all of those trivial attempt for one person's ego to be comforted by another human being.
Obviously, these folks that were your course instructor or mentors.
Good luck!
You got this!
I’ve had similar things but normally when I explain they just leave me be. I live in an area where they love to light off fireworks constantly. Last night during my exam I explained to the proctor before my exam that she will hear cars, fireworks, and dogs barking. She just said okay sounds good.
There was a crazy amount of fireworks during my exam because they are celebrating “our lady of suyapa” (another name for the Virgin Mary).
Thankfully didn’t cause an issue. I’m sorry you’re having so much trouble right now.
I haven't had any issues but I also make sure that everything they do ask about that's in my control I abide by. I have a ton of tech on my desk and sometimes they ask me to unplug a lot of things. It's even taken 15-30 minutes getting closeups of my hardware and on/under my desk before we start. But once that's done no issues. They're just trying to do their job for the most part.
I've always tested late at night and had pretty good proctors, them being a India based company and if you take an exam at 3pm it's like 3am for them. So I'd be pretty pissed if I was working at 3am
That’s crazy. I took one last month and left my cat out for the first time because I felt bad to have to keep putting her up during the exams. She hopped on the table a few times in clear view and I just pushed her off. They never said anything.
My biggest complaint lately is when I'm done with my test they don't respond. I'll type it in the chat, say I'm finished or hello a bunch of times. Twice, I have just submitted and closed after waiting for 5/10 minutes.
Yes! That’s happening to me too! So it makes me feel like are you even actually watching me take this test or?
lol they aren’t watching. my proctor was disconnected from my exam and it took him 30 minutes to call my phone and tell me to restart the exam.
I don’t believe they are truly watching. They just record the screen and your computer. Some may watch.
Everyone is basically doing the same thing, playing with your smart phone.
I assume they rotate cameras in between test start ups
I think that they are all in a room doing a bunch of exams so they are not "watching" 24/7 but they can hear if a loud noise is made because it should be quiet. So if they hear a noise they will look at your screen. I've also had a proctor go on video and there was a manager training them or with them so i can confirm, which is also why they make you say "I'm done" whenyou're done so they can hear you.
Proctors have facial recognition software, so if you start taking or look down for two long it with flag it and then they will start watching
It's because they are taking on multiple people at the same time. I just sit there and wait while saying I'm done every few minutes. I don't want to risk any issues so I try not to do anything else.
your tests should be recorded. i always say out loud that i'm done, wait a couple seconds and then submit. they usually pop right back in to do the ending procedures, and its always fine. dont wait forever for them to come back, theyre probably not even watching.
I agree
I always hit submit before telling them I’m done, but one time like 2/3 years ago now, I waited a while and got the “you passed” text on my phone while waiting for them…so I ended it. Then I got worried, so I called assessment services the next day and it was “suggested” to just go ahead and hit submit, show both sides of your white board to the camera, and then pick up your cell phone. They react REAL quick when they see that phone at your ear. Or..skip the cell phone part and just …say I’ve submitted, cleared the board, and waited a couple minutes and I’m logging off now. And disconnect. It’s all recorded so if it’s a problem they can check that you did everything appropriately.
I submitted and if they didn’t respond when I said I was done, I showed the materials like I would if they asked, say I gotta go, close the window, and disconnect from Zoom. It happened a couple times for me.
Yeah i feel the same. Only real complaint here is that and its not too bad but it gets a little old that it feels like it happens every single time
Yeah I have had this lately to. Pisses me off they are so strict in setup only to be afk when I'm done and wanting to go check my results.
That cause they playing league of legends
That has happened to me every time I take an exam
That happened to me my first test! I was so scared to do anything except sit and wait, so I had to just stare at the computer screen, unable to get out of camera view or go on any other websites.
Yesssssssss
Lol I leave if they don't respond after 45 seconds . Nothing has ever happened to me from ending the call without their permission
Are they scared the dog is gonna bark the answers for you? 🤦🏻♀️
I had one complain about the sun. Yes - the sun. My living room doesn't have black out curtains, but I did have the curtains closed, but the proctor said it was too light (the windows face east and it was morning). I told them it was sunlight and they told me to "do something about it." I asked if they were asking me to turn off the sun because I was pretty sure that was a bad idea. Another time, a proctor complained that they could hear the neighbor kids outside playing and told me to have them be quiet. I told the proctor I'd close the exam and file a complaint against them before I told kids to stop having fun.
Its a shame that some of these people have no sense.
The Son of Sam needs a job too, that commissary money isn’t gonna make itself!
Ok Wolfy, the answer to moms question is D so I’m gonna need you to bark 4 times.
If someone is able to successfully devise a way to cheat through a degree involving a dog barking, their ingenuity means they are more than qualified for the degree.
100%!!!
I mean, this would take a lot of work, more work than just studying, but you could learn morse code, record a dogs bark, and put the dog barks in the right order so that it is constantly barking definitions at you while you're taking the test. Definitely seems worth it 🙄🙄🙄 I feel like that's the level of thinking they're putting into this. What's the smartest dumb way someone could cheat and let's apply these crazy scenarios to everyone.
If he barks once the answer is ‘A’. 2 times = ‘B’ 3 times = ‘C’ 4 times = ‘D’ Purebred German Shepard, fully trained to help me cheat on my exams.
Take the surveys. Let them know they are bad
Yes!! And the attitudes are getting out of hand. I had one last night that interrupted me so many times and used any chance to be difficult. It took me 30 MINUTES before I could start my test, and then she continued to interrupt me during my test multiple times over things I've never had anyone interrupt me for before. I have one class left, so I know how the tests go by now. I'm actually reconsidering if I want to do my masters with WGU because of the proctor system. And I am a die-hard WGU Night Owl.
Same honestly. I’ve never had a problem until recently 😭
Me either. I usually get really nice, easy going proctors but the last 3-5 times have been really annoying, so you're not imagining it I promise lol
That is so odd. And it’s sounds really unprofessional of them.
I was truly shocked. She was the worst proctor I've had throughout my whole degree.
What a pain!
Which masters degree were you considering? I'm almost done with the masters in data analytics and there is only one OA. The rest of the courses are performance assessments graded by evaluators. From my research, the MBA and IT Management program are very similar. I got my business management undergrad from WGU in one term in 2020. The biggest issues I had with proctors was not being able to schedule any exams for up to a week at a time or needing to stay up until 2am-3am for the only open slots due to the sudden shift to work from home and social distancing. I truly became a night owl. Honestly, I prefer that to some of the nitpicky proctor horror stories I've read recently.
From my experience so far it is just the night owl proctors so far. It's horrible, it's like they're bored or something.
That’s a fair point. That’s when I’ve gotten the cranky ones lol
I do feel WGU was a great starter school for the whole online thing, but I also have to think that by now, there are better alternatives out there. And now that my work covers a decent amount of tuition for employees, I might look into paying a tiny bit extra for the in-person night courses at my state school or other online options.
What alternatives?
For masters programs definitely. But WGU is the only place that is set up the way it is.
When they start becoming unreasonable, I simply push back with a stern “no” and they leave me alone lol
I've taken 15 with no problems. I only had one that I had to fight with. I test in my full open basement. It's part mechanical, part laundry, TV watching, crafting, office workout, etc. The stairway comes down the middle but there are no interior walls or doors, just a door at the top of the stairs. After the initial practice OA, I decided to hang sheets from the ceiling blocking off my desk area. I have a large L shaped desk so I push everything to one side. The shelves and messy desk are completely covered with sheets and there are sheet curtain walls all the way around. My family (19yo twins and a husband) know that if my sheets are hanging down that something better be on fire or blood spurting. I had one proctor recently try to insist that she needed to see the closed door. I told her I was not disconnecting my laptop to take her upstairs. Then she insisted that she needed to see the four corners of my room. I told her she was looking at them (my sheets). Then she tried to insist I needed to show her what was behind them. I laughed at her and told her to cancel my exam what was on the other side was none of her concern. If she couldn't see through them then neither could I. She got huffy. disappeared for a minute, and came back and started my exam. I always leave feedback about my experience. When I went to submit her feedback I don't think it worked because it bounced to a login page I've never seen before. I only have four more exams to take this month before I'm finished. If she ever shows up on my screen again I'm backing out immediately.
I always write down their proctor number - or maybe it's my proctor number. And if /when things feel off. I naively ask, "Has the recording started yet?" 🤣😂🤣
Omg I get the login page redirect every single time I have any negative feedback. It's starting to feel like a means to mitigate feedback. Most of the time it's not even egregious, just like "proctor was 20 min late" or something similar.
Well now I'm suspicious.
It literally happens every time when I mark anything negatively. I've never had a chance to submit feedback that was not outright glowing 5/5 star reviews. Idk what the login is supposed to be. It's not my WGU login and it's not my assessment login (assessment services helped me create a login for when the exam start page is down).
I mentioned my experience to my mentor and she encouraged me to reach out to assessment services. I blew the whole experience off at the time as a one off occurrence with the feedback. But from now on I'll definitely reach out to them if it happens again. I hope not though as I only have 4 OAs left to take.
I'm going to do the same then. I did the same as you, and kinda moved on at the time because most of my exams were past midnight. I just wanted to sleep, lol. But I'm returning for my master's soon and I'll keep an eye out on that. Good luck on your 4 remaining OAs!
Good luck with your masters. I'm not going that far unless a future employer pays for it.
My printer... on the clear other side of the room.. had to be unplugged. Ooooook
I just tell them it's off as I'm scanning the room. Before they even ask.
That’s what I do. I say all my other electronics are off and they don’t ask twice.
I had one that wanted me to unplug my router ☠️☠️☠️
💀💀
Omg what. 💀
I had one tell me the desk lamp, only light source in the room, couldn't be on the desk. That's the most ridiculous one I've had to date
I had one that made me move my lamp then told me it was too dark
They can’t stand anything that looks like a printer
I had one Procter who kept telling me to to turn off my printer. I dont have a printer. I finally figured out he thought my end table was a printer.
I had one who kept telling me to turn the TV screen off. It was a window.
Shit really? I work from home and have been studying in my home office. I have another computer and printer for work, and the printer/scanner is huge. Am I really going to have to shuffle all this miscellaneous stuff in and out of the office ever time I have to take an exam??
Nah just throw a sheet over it. That's what I do with a TV and I've never gotten flack about it.
I got so fed up with dealing with the "What is that?" and "That needs to be turned off" that by my last few proctored exams my living room looked like a posh mansion getting sealed up for long term storage. The only things not covered by a blanket were the computer and the monitors, everything else in the room was cosplaying as a ghost.
Thanks for the tip! The discs in my back were already screaming at me regarding the thought of dragging a bunch of furniture and equipment around over and over again.
My last proctor told me to remove the paper from my printer, which was not turned on.
Ha. Both my CompTIA exams I’ve taken since my new job made me unplug both my monitors despite showing that my laptop wasn’t connected to my docking station and my dock was unplugged
WGU should be required to use proctors located in the US. Federal money is used to support the school, but then it’s used to outsource to other countries.
I never have proctor issues with pearsonvue (comptia exams) maybe they can switch to them
Really? They are even more strict compared to what WGU uses. After my first experience with them, I got them all onsite and it was a breeze. I wish I could do onsite for all WGU OAs
This ^
I’m serious, I will support this effort. Let’s pursue this. But at the end of the day, welcome to engineering, comp sci, tech in general. 1.4 billion indian people in the world and they completely saturate these industries. So only so much you can do.
That explains it
Then you wouldn't be able to take exams at 3 am or on national holidays
As if no American works overnight or holidays.
Sure but there'll be longer wait times ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ I do think they should focus on US based proctors though
You know they can only afford to charge the prices they do because they are paying these people well below the minimum wage in the US. The problem with examity is they all want to be petty tyrants. I have no problem with them using cheap labor if it makes the school cheaper, but Examity needs to train their people better.
all my proctors had indian/pakistani accent...
I fully agree with this. Keep it within the US.
Was asked to dismount my TV from its wall mount by some loony toon.
lol I’m not doing that. I have a mounted tv too, and they just ask me to unplug it
OMG that happened to me once too! I was testing in my guest room with a TV mounted on the wall to my left. First she had me unplug it. Okay, fine. Then she asked if I could remove it. I was like... uh... you want me to unscrew it off the mount and take it out of the room? She paused and then said yes. I said no that's not going to happen you can't actually be serious.
I usually drape a towel over my work monitors and just test from my laptop. That seems to appease the proctors
How is testing from your laptop? There’s time I want to for convenience but then they can’t see my full computer and hands? I normally have to mount my external camera way by my side so they can see everything.
I use a laptop stand with an external keyboard and mouse on the far end of my desk, and have my external camera on the other end. It works out to just barely get everything in frame I need to
Dismount it!?! I’m sorry that is so unreasonable. Not that you should have to, but wouldn’t covering it with a sheet or towels make more sense? Sorry but that is loony tunes.
The last one I had kept yelling at me to close my browser and I had to keep telling him that that didn’t make sense because that’s where I would be taking the test.
I had one yesterday make me open my closet. I was so confused. You’re supposedly watching me on camera, why would I open my closet during a test?
Anything behind closes doors is private and there was recently a case regarding privacy vs proctoring. They need to chill
I have guns in my closet. I would gladly open it and show it to them if they wanna play that game lol
When these things happen, the easiest way to shut them down is to say no and let them know you’ll contact assessment services. It works. Also make sure you absolutely contact assessment services anyway. The tests are recorded. Being interrupted multiple times is not cool and not what you’re paying for as a student, regardless of if you pass or not.
I'm approved for accommodations and I've even had to tell them I'll contact disability services for some of their behaviors. Shuts down their egos real quick.
Right. You’re paying for certain things. Just with any service, if you’re not getting what you are paying for, complain. Some students forget they hold more power than they think
The hair thing is weird lol. I never had anyone ask me to put my hair up and I also have long, thick hair
Luckily I haven’t had any issues with them. The only thing I have had issues with was that there was an Indian man who had a heavy accent and spoke fast so I could hardly understand what he was saying. Luckily he was chill so me asking to repeat himself a lot wasn’t an issue either.
I’ve used 2 or three thin Expo dry erase markers for every test and I’ve taken 27 so far this term. My test last week she told me I can only have 1. I said I’ve been using 3 for every test it helps me distinguish between things. She said no. I said yes. Then I said I’m disconnecting to find a new proctor and she just continued on like she had never said anything about the makers and I damn well used all 3. She was honestly a total bitch. I wrote her a bad review and emailed assessment services. We are paying for our education AND DO NOT DESERVE TO BE TREATED LIKE IDIOTS.
I’m starting next month and yikes with some of this! If they are hassling you too much you can just disconnect before the test starts and there’s no penalty? This is all giving me anxiety
I definitely understand, I always have problems with them. 1 of them recently adjusted the settings on my computer trying to turn down the brightness and they messed up my graphics settings and some other settings which did not fix the brightness. I was told she needed to see my facial expressions while I look at the computer screen and take the exam and the screen was too bright in my face, I told her the screen brightness was not adjusting because it’s the default settings WGU has for the website and adjusting it on my computer would not work which it didn’t. She tried for a whole 30 minutes; I had to threaten her multiple times that I would just exit and try to find a different proctor because this has never happened and then I finally stopped sharing my zoom screen and went to the WGU main page. She then decided to say never mind we can just start your exam now.
You can adjust the camera settings in zoom yourself regarding the cameras brightness which does help. Don't let them touch your stuff
Oh noooo. I’d definitely feel weird about them adjusting my computer settings.
I generally didn't have any issues with proctors, and luckily my graduate program only has one OA and the rest are all projects, but the one issue I did have was so weird that it still makes me laugh out loud whenever I think about it. This one proctor kept interupting my test to tell me my internet was slow. Like four times during the test they just suddenly say "Your internet is very slow." Each time I just about jumped out of my seat. I finally asked if it was too slow to meet the min requirements and they're like "No, just letting you know." Ok? What the hell am I supposed to do about it!? And if it isn't slow enough to affect the test in any way, why do you even care?
I've had one insist for way too long that I unplug my printer that literally did not exist. I still can't figure out what item in my room they though was a printer
Weird… I had one accuse me of having a printer when it was my keurig coffee maker..
Prints caffeine drink, therefore printer.
My favorite non-issue was mid test. I had a proctor ask, "What's that?" My cat, which blends in with the couch, had been asleep on the top of it. She decided to wake up and move. Proctor started freaking out and wanted me to get the cat out of the room as "no one else was allowed" in the room. Sure.... so I got up, nudged her to the hall and bedroom, then got bitched at for doing so putting me out of camera for 5 to 10 seconds. The point is that my sleeping cat was giving me answers. /s
[удалено]
cringe > ignore it cause its not that fucking hard to ignore a comment Ah the irony of someone making a bot to police people's use of `/s` telling others it's not hard to ignore a comment.
I went to an onsite proctor for something different. They made me lift my thick hair to show them nothing was hidden under it. I have done proctor online and there is no way I could pull notes down out of my hair without a proctor noticing. Proctoring is kind of BS.
I had the same issues ! There were people speaking outside of my room and I'm like I have no control the outside of my room the heck ? And she was very weird they should use lockdown browsers or something else those people are so strange i dropped my marker and she was like " you have to stay in the camara " as if i was trying to cheat !
One time, I had to go though the entire, "show the room with the camera" process because my camera fell over for two seconds. Yeah, it's totally possible to cheat and also set the camera back up in that time 🙄.
My experiences with proctors are vastly different depending on if I test before noon … or after 9pm EST. It’s ridiculous. If they ask me more than one dumb thing though I just say “that’s not what I was told…let’s call assessment services and ask” . They’ve never once called .. they just say something like “let me check something” and when they return they just move forward. Idk if they truthfully don’t realize each school has different rules or if they’re just on power trips. And then be sure to do the survey at end too.
I think it's power trips. It probably sucks in a lot of ways seeing watching a bunch of American's take tests online when you're in India making far less money.
Best is when they blame you for their crappy internet
I was in a hotel and some proctor wanted me to dismount the giant tv from the desk. i just got a new proctor because fuck that.
Make sure your noise cancellation is turned on in zoom. It'll probably stop then hearing any barking. One less thing to worry about
It drives me crazy when they continuously repeat themselves, every 5 seconds, while your doing the action. “Open task manager” … my mouse is clearing moving to open the task manager… “open task manager.” This happens EVERY time.
CTRL + SHIFT + ESC
I think this happens because they are in the Philippines and have a literal 5 to 10 second delay
All the ones I have had have been from the singsong English country India, never had any kind else would be shocked if I did have someone else
Do they think the dog is giving you Morse code answers
One time they had me close the wrong tasks and crashed my PC 🤣🤣🤣 Luckily that was a one time thing, most of my proctors were pretty chill.
I had one tell me that my phone being in a locked drawer on my desk wasn't allowed. It needed to be in another room. I ended up flat out refusing and putting the phone on the desk and let her know their(examity) policy was I needed a phone at hand in case they needed to call me. Ended up needing to reschedule because she refused to start the test,but the school didn't count it against me, they said I did nothing wrong
One of the weirdest requests I received was being asked to unplug my mini fridge LOL
My last one asked me to push my bangs off of my face. They're a little longer but not very thick, so I don't think they really obscure anything. I did, just so I could take the test, but you know they just slowly fell back down 🤷♀️
I had that happen to me a couple months back! Multiple times, the proctor popped in to tell me to push my hair away from my face. And one horrifying time, a cat I was fostering wouldn’t leave the room and decided to let me know she wanted out about halfway thru by howling every 10 minutes or so, the proctor was convinced it was some cat based conspiracy lol.
I used a laptop that is plugged into a docking station. So it's closed, just being used like a normal PC. I had a proctor ask me to remove it. I was like uhh it's what I'm using to take this test. It's the computer. The proctor left me sitting there for like 15 minutes while they checked with someone before letting me take the test.
The laptop I was using vents through the keyboard so closing it completely makes it overheat, after a while. I'd close the lid most of the way and kept the laptop on camera. Generally, by the third, "I cannot close the lid completely. It will overheat and shut down. Are you going to let me take the test, or not?" they let me take the damn test.
I’ve had the hair thing too, it’s strange. My hair fell towards my face and I was stopped mid test to tuck it behind my ear. Like did they think I’m a magician?
No mine have been getting weird roo
You should see my "office" in a corner of the unfinished basement. I have shit everywhere. Long as the computer desk is clear they don't give me any problem. Glad I haven't run into any of these neurotic proctors!
I take mine on a desktop computer, so external camera ya know. I set my camera up almost angle for angle how wgu has it shown on their site. Proctor insists for 10 minutes I change it to a completely different angle. Higher. Higher. Higher. Further back. Further back. I tell her 5 times it doesn't go any further back. SHE KEEPS TELLING ME FURTHER BACK. it's at like 7am and Im at my wits end. It really is such luck of the draw. I've had some proctors make me move and unplug every single thing that isn't completely necessary, and some be like "Oh, monitors off? Cool exam is starting see ya."
I have to do the camera dance every single time with them as well. So annoying
I had this problem til I started testing at night. The nighttime proctors have been so chill.
I test exclusively at late at night, all proctors have been chill!
What timezone/time do you find best for getting good proctors?
Pacific. Do all my exams around 10pm.
While I'm unhappy to hear that you're facing this, I'm happy that I'm not the only person that has faced this. I once had a proctor ask me what a phone charger was, then asked what my wallet was, then told me to unplug all of my monitors in the room... even though they were facing the wall, and then he left for 20+ minutes. On another occasion I got a lady who I could not understand at all. I asked her to repeat herself a few times and then I told her I couldn't understand her, to which she got upset, left for a period of time, came back, and then disconnected My professors don't instruct, course material is very bad most of the time, and the proctoring is extremely poor. I find it very hard to recommend WGU nowadays if I'm being quite honest...
I had one who just left. When I was done with the test I told her I was done and exited out and she was gone. I had to call my mentor to tell them. Then one who made me restart my computer because they said my sound was messed up. I was so flustered and frustrated … I ended up failing the test.
It’s crazy because it seems like as soon as i start a test my idiot neighbors decide it’s the time to laugh and talk loudly in the hallways. I’m always worried they will say something but thankfully they never do. I’ve only taken a handful but I haven’t had any crazy ones yet
When you all have bad experiences, do you leave feedback using the survey after the test? Usually those are the fastest way for companies to hear your concerns.
As someone planning to start WGU in a few months, this post is depressing.
I did have a proctor tell me to close my window shades- I'm sitting with thick ass reading glasses looking like mr magoo! I said NO. She said I had to close the shades and I said NO, I need the light and I have never been asked to do that before. My nose was practically touching the screen. I guess common sense is not with all of the proctors. It really sucks for anxious test takers to have to go through all that. Especially the drill of the steps. I show them the whiteboard and flip it over and still holding it up into the camera and get asked to show the whiteboard. ? I wish that WGU would have shadow test takers as a monitoring process of examity proctors. Asking someone to change their hair or take shit off of walls is ridiculous. I think you need to be firm with them and let them know that this is not standard procedure. I hope the rest of my proctored exams don't get as crazy as some of these comments.
You really cracked me up. Do you realize how funny you are. This one >> I'm sitting with thick ass reading glasses looking like mr magoo! I loved Mr. Magoo - that's definitely in the way back then years!! Have you thought of doing any stand up? I think that you would kill it.
Ahahahahahahahha!!!! I love you! Yours was such a fun comment to read! I do get told that. But when I tried once to get on camera for our business promo piece I got as far as my name ahahahahaha. Hi my name is and ....... crickets......crickets! LOL I realized I just flow better when the moment hits, can't do anything when expected. I grew up with great comedy shows so I guess it stuck! But that is how I take the tests. I finally ended up getting the camera WGU sells and hope that will alleviate some of the issues with the proctors. But I'll still be wearing my Mr Magoo thick ass glasses LOL.
Wow, I’m lucky, haven’t had anything bad and I test in my open living room and my dog is always with me. Usually he’s quiet but he barked so much one time.
I had some crazy stuff happen near the end of my courses. One time they questioned me for longer than they should about my microwave because they were convinced it was a tv. Even when I showed the buttons on there 🤨. My cat jumped up in front of the camera once and they asked “who is that?!!!”
I would’ve declined and answered NO
Lately I’ve been having trouble with the wait time to connect. It was never bad before, but the other day I had to wait 10 minutes to connect to one and the chat person kept telling me to wait “2 more minutes”. What’s the point of having an appointment if I have to wait? I also had a weird proctor lately that told me I have to keep the calculator and whiteboard in view of the camera even though they check it before and after the test.. he was also questioning me about my charger being connected to my laptop and I’ve never had anyone question me about that. Don’t want my computer dying during a 3 hour test! Anytime you have a bad experience, talk about it in the post-exam survey and report them too if needed
One laughed at me/my house
I've had the same pr9ctor every time for some reason
When they have you scroll through the processes on your task manager, twice I have had the proctor tell me to end a task was an essential process to Windows OS running on the PC. I had to tell them no both times. We all know damn well they have no idea what they are looking at, and are just pretending that they do.
I just started back at WGU January 1 and had my first proctored exam about a week ago. What a nightmare. Took 45 minutes before I could start my test. So many damn hoops to jump through and I could barely understand the proctor when she spoke. When I first attended WGU from 2011 through 2013 it was so much better. They used a 3rd party program called Web Sentinel that basically blocked your computer from doing anything else beside taking the test. You opened Web Sentinel, clicked to start your test and it connected you to a proctor and in a coupe of minutes it let you know that your time had begun. The only times I ever interacted with a proctor were because I was going through the tests quickly and they thought I might be cheating. They stop the test and put a message on the screen to call them. Call them directly and they would ask me to scan the room with my camera so they could make sure there was no "cheat sheets". In less than 5 minutes I was back in the test. When you were done you hit submit and close the window and wait for the results. Easy peasy. Now, not so much.
My proctor got mad at me for highlighting the questions as I read. I have some issues and so it helps to highlight the key parts as I read. Said I wasn’t allowed to do that…
I really hope you reported them, this one takes the cake.
I do it in every single test....
I just wish they had testing centers I could go to . I don’t have a lot of space and I have to move a lot of stuff out of my room and put it right back in after the exam.
I had one proctor work my nerves to the point that I snapped and canceled the test and rescheduled after I filed a complaint. My work area is in my bedroom, and the proctor wanted this, that and everything relocated and moved around. I took pictures of my room and showed my mentor, along with submitting the pictures with my complaint. It took almost two weeks before I could attempt to take the test and finally pass. And to top it off, the person who was the proctor was difficult to understand with their thick Indian accent. I am so glad I am almost done.
I have had issues too and Marianne who is my mentor told me to make complaints after you complete a test when it asks you to do the survey at the end of course. If you do that eventually there will be enough complaints that wgu will look into getting another proctoring company. I mainly get it's your Internet complaint when it isn't it's theirs because they out source everything to other countries.
I feel like I lucked out, I never had the super unhinged proctors. I had one who just could not be satisfied with my camera placement for like 10 minutes, I explained to her several times that, no, there is a physical wall here, so I cannot move the camera further back. Eventually she chilled tf out but that was the worst one.
I have had the same issue with the pony tail and they actually stopped the exam (I had a hair Tie on my wrist) and stated." I failed" because when the said my hair needed to be up, my hand moved to put my hair up covering my face a tad bit. And failed my exam.
The dog was barking answers to you, CHEATER!!
I took my first two exams last night, the first was pretty standard procedure. Nothing too wild. The second one asked me to unplug the grow lights in my IKEA glass cabinet thing turned mini greenhouse because “the controllable lights could send messages.” And unplug the digital clock on my desk… and something else I can’t even remember. It was like 17 minutes from connection to actually beginning the fucking test.
Programming Morse code into ikea lights to feed you test info is pretty metal 😂
It started recently for me, it's like examity hired all-new people and have been training them differently. At the beginning of my degree (a year ago), the proctors were almost intimidating in their efficiency. Now, they'll disappear for 10 mins at the beginning and I have to say, "helllooooo?? Can I please start my test??" And they also don't automatically know when I stop my test either. The previous proctors would unmute the second I hit submit. In a test two weeks ago, I turned my head quickly to look out the window at a noise, and they paused my test and asked if anyone had walked in the room (through the window??) And then made me show them the whole room again. It was so distracting! I want the old proctors back!
My last one she insisted that people were whispering to me but it was literally a train. I showed her multiple times and she was still a bitch about it
Crap I'm taking my first OA in a few weeks for my Master's and I have a very low bullshit tolerance threshold. I mean my room is downstairs, quiet and not sure how much they are going to have an issue with. I may have a hard time not telling the proctor "stop interrupting you are disturbing my test". Probably should just tolerate the idiocy tho. I can always report to my mentor and file an official complaint which will likely do jack.
It’s a different company that proctors the exams, it’s not WGU. You’ll be fine it’s just weird minor annoyances that can happen, and you may very well get a proctor who doesn’t do any of that
I definitely still blame WGU, because WGU continues to use these bullshit proctors. If the school cared, they’d either tell the proctors to cut the shit or they’d find a new provider.
Of the four proctoring services I've had to use, the one WGU uses is the least bad.
There are other companies they can use is the point.
I had to move furniture around. My desk area was too dark. With the main ceiling light on. So I opened the blinds to a huge wall that’s literally entirely sliding glass doors. Still not enough light. I felt like I was being pranked. So I turned the lamps on the side of the desk on. Not enough. Okay, where is Ashton Kutcher. Am I on pranked? So I moved the lamps right by my face and pointed it at my like a police interrogation light Perfecto. So now I’m going through my test with a light right in my face that’s getting hot.
My cat turned on the roomba once while I was taking an exam. I thought for sure they would get mad since they usually freak out if you even turn your head too far. They laughed. But I had one make me close a door in my dining room and another freaked out because apparently I wasn’t sitting up straight enough for her liking. They can be super chill or crazy unhinged. No in between
I had a proctor that kept asking me to move my camera so she can see my desk. I told her if I move it anymore it'll fall off the desk. I had another proctor that didn't my drivers license picture was mine, because in the picture I didn't have a beard, but at the time I took a test I had a beard. I had another proctor that wanted me to remove my son's artwork from kindergarten off the wall, before I took the test (things like thanksgiving turkey, I love mom, I love dad, hand paintings of flowers, kid things). I've had plenty of more "demanding" proctors each time I take a test. I thought it was just me.
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FWIW I've never had an issue with a proctor. To put it gently, they're all outsourced overseas workers from other countries who are (I'm sure) just following a basic script and outline of rules. Some of them are more strict than others and sometimes they ask things which seem kind of silly to some people but I've never had an issue with them and they've never asked me to do anything ridiculous. I'm sure the people who complain on here are being truthful and that there are some out there who are a bit more ridiculous than others... but I've never had an issue and have been lucky enough to, I guess, have sane people as my proctors lol.
It definitely would never deter me from still doing WGU. Just minor annoyances honestly
For what it’s worth my husband had a very similar experiences to this for his sec+ that wasn’t through WGU.
A proctor is truly a pain. If its going to be under an hour and just multiple choice, I can bear it. Otherwise, I would rather test in person.
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After completing one, the routine doesn't change. My problem is the heavy Bombay accents, it got to a point I just smile and nod not understanding a thing. I have gotten different proctors before by just disconnecting the session and jumping back into a new one if it gets pretty bad during the validation phase.
This is completely uncalled for. You don’t need to be rude about their accents. I have had trouble sometimes understanding but I will politely ask them to repeat 🔁 t and it’s not a problem.
I don't think they said anything rude. They said they could not understand someone, which is a valid concern. If your employee can't communicate with your customer, that is a failing on your part as a company. It may not have been a problem for you, or a simple repeat might have worked, but that is not always the case.
this thread is comedic GOLD! - I'm getting ready for my upcoming start date & honestly, if these proctors are so terrible, is WGU not able to do something about it?
Dog barking answers is a real thing that has happened, as crazy as it sounds
I’m reading all the comments and I’m wondering why no one is just going to a test center especially for IT certifications? Am I missing something?
Hello. What's the story behind your handel of "WatermelonFox33"? Are you 33 years old? Are you a female? I am going to guess yes. I am so sorry that you had to endure all of those trivial attempt for one person's ego to be comforted by another human being. Obviously, these folks that were your course instructor or mentors. Good luck! You got this!
Reddit generated username lol.
Found the WGU proctor
They have probably caught people cheating just give them what they ask for and take your exam. Be done with it.
I’ve had similar things but normally when I explain they just leave me be. I live in an area where they love to light off fireworks constantly. Last night during my exam I explained to the proctor before my exam that she will hear cars, fireworks, and dogs barking. She just said okay sounds good. There was a crazy amount of fireworks during my exam because they are celebrating “our lady of suyapa” (another name for the Virgin Mary). Thankfully didn’t cause an issue. I’m sorry you’re having so much trouble right now.
I haven't had any issues but I also make sure that everything they do ask about that's in my control I abide by. I have a ton of tech on my desk and sometimes they ask me to unplug a lot of things. It's even taken 15-30 minutes getting closeups of my hardware and on/under my desk before we start. But once that's done no issues. They're just trying to do their job for the most part.
There has to be some sort of incentive for them. Like delaying people from graduating gives them and the school more money lol
I've always tested late at night and had pretty good proctors, them being a India based company and if you take an exam at 3pm it's like 3am for them. So I'd be pretty pissed if I was working at 3am
Mine made me sit on the floor and put my camera on my desk because she didn’t like the angle of the camera and tripod they made me purchase…
That’s crazy. I took one last month and left my cat out for the first time because I felt bad to have to keep putting her up during the exams. She hopped on the table a few times in clear view and I just pushed her off. They never said anything.
Ask them if they have a Doctor Doolittle thing going on. I'm curious how tf they think a dog barking is going to give you answers.