Clep test freezing

[mamaknox28]

I have a question for anyone who might have come across the same problem that I have. I took the American Government CLEP today and on question number 42 the screen froze and the computer needed to be restarted. When the program restarted I was prompted to type in my name and I started where I left off. When I completed the test I went back to make sure I answered all the questions I did not fill in but did not check to see if the answers from 1-42 were what I filled in with 'my' answers. I felt VERY confident that I knew most of the answers to the questions and that I would pass with a relatively high score. When I received my grade it was a 40! This leads me to believe that something with the system went very wrong. This is not my first CLEP and it was not an error on my part.
Someone please give me some feedback
Thanks!

[beargins]

Hello mamaknox28 and welcome to the forum. I have taken test before where I had to have the admin reboot the system 3-4 times, however I was never as far into the test that you were, and was able to pick up right where I left off. "I think" the answer you chose is transmitted to the test server (on the local network) immediately, but I'm not 100% sure. Either way its unfortunate that you had that problem since you may have to wait 6 months to retake the exam, unless you can contact college board and your school to see if you can retake it sooner. They may be able to pull your entire test and make sure everything was marked and graded properly.

Thats just my input, others will most likely provide you with valuable info soon! Best wishes!

[mamaknox28]

Beargins, Thank you so much for your response. I did request for the college board to look into it. They said that 'computer freezing' is common but it is so hard for me to wrap my head around the 40! I really felt confident with my answers and put in a good month of studying. I pray that there was a grading issue and that they are able to pull up my answers. To be honest I fear that I was too confident... and am incredibly embarrassed. I am not sure myself how the system works. This is giving me a lot of self doubt considering that I am enrolled in summer classes with a pretty heavy load. I can't imagine feeling so confident and actually performing so poorly.

[anew789]

This actually happened to me recently. My CLEP test froze in the middle of it and when they rebooted it was completely lost. The test admin called CLEP services and they told them I would need to retake it again from the beginning. I retook it again, finishing this time and right when I was about to have my score tabulated, it froze.......yet again!!! oh........I was irate!!!! :reddevil: However, there was a more experienced test admin there at this point and she was able to fix it somehow. My score ended up being a 54, and I did feel like it should have been higher than that. Since it was at least passing, I decided to let it go. But if I had failed, I definitely would have disputed the matter with CLEP. They need to be making sure their systems work! I know exactly how you feel---it is so frustrating when something like this happens!

[Publius]

I've had a CLEP and DSST freeze up on me before. The CLEP froze up in the very beginning, and the DSST after about 12 problems. Each time my progress was saved, though I can see how this can be irritating for you. Hopefully it will work out for you.

[frankiebleyes]

I was taking the English clep and had gotten to the point where I was doing the essay portion when it froze up. The test admin rebooted and stated I would have to finish the test the way it came up (upside down). I failed by one point despite taking the essay upside down and didn't feel like all of my answers had been properly recorded. The test admin said my time would be up and I would fail because of that if I did not finish the essay upside down. I contacted college board and they agreed that the test was administered upside down and some of my test answers from the first part of the test had not registered, but I could retake the test in three months instead of six and I would have to pay to retake the exam. I was so angry that I said the heck with it and did SL for my freshman english. This was three years ago, college board was not fair to me, but I am hoping with this happening to others they will hear your complaint and allow you to retake it at no cost or find the missing unregistered answers you had posted. They did admit to me that they had two versions of my test, but threw out the first one as only some of the answers had not registered and the essay part had not been completed in that version (right, my first test that locked up).

[BGSU_Alum_86]

^^All I can say is "Wow!" That test administrator was so wrong in forcing you to complete your exam when it was not delivered in the proper way. I also do not believe the rep from College Board was correct in their final determination of your test results. You certainly should not have had to pay again!

Going back to the OP, as the test administrator, we are required to make sure your allotted time is correct from where you left off and that the test picks up at the question where the technical issue was noticed. There is no hard and fast rule regarding checking the previous test questions answered. This would take valuable test time, so usually it is left as completely up to the testing candidate. If the candidate notices during review time (assuming there is any!) that answers are now missing, this needs to be communicated to the test administrator who must file a report. I am not certain how much more forgiving College Board might be in allowing retests (and at no additional cost) if there is a report filed by the test center and not just a follow-up complaint from a testing candidate.

Reports are to be filed if there is ever anything "out of the ordinary" and I would say having your exam delivered upside-down would qualify for that! As I have shared previously, if there is a problem with a test question (whether you do not feel the correct answer if among the multiple-choice offerings or that you feel there is more than one correct answer or your marked answer has now disappeared, etc.), communicate this to the test administrator, and then make sure that you ask them to file a report if they do not offer to do this without any prompting.

[mamaknox28]

Thank you everyone for sharing your stories and for your concern. I just wanted to say that I did get an e-mail back from them and everything was fine. Apparently I did preform VERY poorly. I'm not sure exactly how I did so bad considering I studied so long and felt I did well. I guess I will try again in 6 months. If anyone has any input on how to do better on the American Govn't CLEP I would be more than happy to except your input. Thanks again.