Prometric Test Center

I don’t know if I should say this place is a JOKE or a NIGHTMARE.
I signed up to take a lame project management exam that no one, including myself, really cares about.
I show up 45 minutes early before my exam. They are super nice to me.
UNTIL: I pull out my 3… yes THREE photo IDs and my credit card for ID purposes.
Then the assyness begins.
Despite my paperwork printed from THEIR site says :
ONE ID with a signature and some other sort of ID– ie a drivers license and a credit card are the examples they use in the paperwork.
They refuse to allow me to take the exam. Even though, I quote «Its obvious you are who you say you are» they tell me.
They claim because my credit card says «see ID», that I am not meeting the rules for proof that I am the right person.
Now who in their right mind signs the back of their credit card anymore?
For 45 minutes, I argue with them– showing them my paperwork stating one signed ID, telling them I brought 3 IDs with pictures… etc etc.
They alternate between demanding my paperwork, telling me to «go sita down» and glaring to me. They make numerous phone calls, they type angrily, they whisper to each other, they glare, they tell me to sit…
Until finally, they hold up the EXACT PIECE OF PAPER I showed them 45 minutes ago and say «wow, look at this, you only need 1 ID»… yes– no shit Sherlock.
I then am «screened» for security purposes… no watches, nothing around my ankles (?), metal detector– what would I bring into a test that would be metal that would help me cheat? What a joke.
BECAUSE– all you need to do to cheat is: get up from your exam, tell them you need a break, go to your locker, get out your cell, go out into the hallway and look the crap up on the internet. Did they ever think of that?
Nope, they’re too busy screening me for metal plates in my head.
SO by now you’re thinking: wow, poor Karen, good thing she got to take that exam after 45 minutes of waiting.
but wait. there’s more!
I enter the exam room– the dude starts my test, types my test ID in wrong 3 times, asks me to read the ID to him cause he «can’t see it» and finally tells me he has no idea whats wrong. Back out into the 8 th plane of hell we go.
They whisper, they type, they tell me to sit. They decide the system needs restarting and weeks of windows updates begin on my chosen crapmachine… no, sorry «computer».
30 minutes later–
I have now waited one hour and 15 min to take the exam– longer than it will take me to actually take the exam.
They let me back into the room– the room that smalls like BO. with the smily mouses that never wash and the fuzzy computer screens and let me take my test.
I will be finding another site of this joke of a company to take my next exam. If I even decide to put myself thru that horseshit again.

Testing
Prometric uses very outdated testing software, operating systems, and computer hardware. They’re still running Windows XP on desktop computers that are about six years old, with tiny 17″ (guessing) LCD screens, and disgusting keyboards and mice. If I recall correctly, the LCDs are not even running at their native resolution, so they look grainy and fuzzy.
As far as the software goes, as stated earlier, it’s incredibly outdated and slow. Every time you advance to a new question, you can hear the hard drive grinding away, the screen goes blank for a few seconds, and then finally the question pops up. This makes it very painful to go back and forth between questions, especially if you want to go back five questions to change an answer, and then back forward.
Test Question
The test questions are extremely vague and the answers are sometimes just as bad or worse than the questions themselves. I work in a highly technical field, and a lot of clarification is necessary in order to fully understand the question, and provide the appropriate response. I’m not sure if this is the fault of the company who provides the tests (Microsoft, in my case), or the fault of Prometric, but either way they need to be overhauled.
Staff
Staff at the testing centers, with very few exceptions, is rude or pretends to be nice, and then turns rude. They must really hate their jobs. I only met one person who was decent, and they weren’t exceptionally nice either, just acceptable.
I showed up at the desk inside the facility five minutes early for my exam, and the first person I met told me that I was «late.» Another person aggressively told me to «go sit in the chairs» while I was waiting. They are like gestapos there.
Environment
The testing rooms are adequate. The earphones they give you, to keep silence, hurt my head after a while of wearing them, and they’re not all that good at keeping out sound either.
Bottom Line
If you can, avoid giving your money away to Prometric. They do not deserve it, however, they also seem to have a monopoly on technical tests for Microsoft. I hope that other industries have more choices available to them for testing providers.

So, obviously no one is probably going to give a testing center 5 stars because… yeah. It’s a testing center. It’s in the burbs, so its much easier to get to than the next closest location in Chicago. There is plenty of parking, and the room is easy to find if you follow the directions on the prometric website. The testing center itself is very standard and corporate. Check in, place your things in a locker. Do the general «stop cheating» inspection and wand waving and you’re in. I’ve had mostly friendly proctors at this location (I’ve been here 4 times now for all-​day testing extravaganzas). There have been 1 – 2 «bad seeds» that were rude, but you can’t win all the time. There is a nice atrium with plants and lots of natural light if you have to stay long enough that you get a lunch break. There is 1 microwave and vending machines downstairs too. I can’t say I like coming here, but it fulfills the requirements!

I took a test here in early December 2012. I arrived among the first batch of students for the day (8am). After the typical anti-​cheating formalities (including metal detector and turning your pockets inside out), I sat down for my test.
Phewy, it stank in the testing room. Whether it is permanent stench or they didn’t clean up the night before, the room wreaked! Remember, I was one of the first test-​takers of the day. I did my best to ignore the smell, but it did make me paranoid. If the room hadn’t been cleaned, had the headphones squeezed on my ears? At any rate, as you can imagine I was glad to leave asap and not look back.
These are just my experiences, and they may atypical.

I took an exam here a few months ago and I have to say, it’s a great exam center. It’s clean and the people are friendly. I called the center a day before my exam and the manager (I think her name was Pam) was nice and took the time to answer my zillion questions. I have a back problem and wanted to take a pillow into the examination hall. She told me that she would put in a request against my name and when I went to the center the next morning Pam was there and knew exactly who I was.
I took a break every hour (an 8 hour exam is long!!) and there was a lady who checked me in and out every time I left (those are the rules of the exam). She was nice, not too friendly but was very prompt and didn’t waste any time doing what she had to. The second half of the exam had a male proctor and he actually wished me good luck every time I was re-​entering the hall.
And the temperature was set just right. Not too cold or hot. I usually feel cold in an air-​conditioned room, but I was comfortable with just a tee. So for those of you who have a low cold tolerance level, don’t worry coz it’s very comfortable.
I loved the center. It’s all that you expect during an exam — clean, warm (comfortable warm), friendly and quiet.

It’s a test center. You can’t hate on the center for following the rules of the test creator.
That said, the center was fine. It was clean, well lit, and quiet. I came a little early to my 12:30 testing and they let me get started early rather than keep me (nervously) waiting outside.
Keep in mind there are a LOT of different tests being administered simultaneously, so don’t freak out if people are being given different procedures.
The administrators on my day of testing were friendly and even had a nice little chat with me as I was signing out for the day.
It’s a little tricky to find, given it’s basically in a basement (it’s the floor below ground level, if you’re coming from the Highland Ave entrances), but just follow the signs for the A building.

And yes, my fears were confirmed. One of the schools has not received my scores and when I got my scores from ETS, it reads, «Department Unspecified,» so I know why. Not allowing test-​takers bring the department codes for the program they’re applying for is a ridiculous rule and needs to be changed.