My scores have been delayed for a while now (Nov. 7), and I just found out why today. ETS accused me of cheating, although my proctor never told me anything or gave me any information about when to stop. I took the Chinese w/Listening test, and I don’t even think there was any indication to stop on the test. If there was, I didn’t see it, and I continued working like the rest of my class was.
Here’s what I got from ETS:
"ETS is considering canceling your scores because it was reported that you worked on a section of the test during the time allotted for another section.
ETS has not yet made a final decision concerning this matter. No action will be taken until hyou have responded to this letter or December 29, 2015, whichever comes first. Meanwhile, you can provide us with any additional information in the form of a written statement that will help explain the information noted above. If you have not notified us by that date, your scores wil be canceled."
I would never cheat on a test, especially not on one as important as an SAT Subject test. When the proctor announced to the class that we would have to stop working after finishing the first section, I immediately stopped working. At that time, I had only finished one or possibly two questions from the second section. I finished the test with around 2-3 minutes to spare and the mishap had absolutely no effect on my score. The proctor didn’t even notify me in any way about the possible cancellation of my score.
How can I explain my situation without screwing myself over? I’d really prefer to have my scores not cancelled, because everyone’s going to be pretty busy these upcoming weeks with midterms and deadlines approaching.
Perhaps you need to explain more clearly…but it absolutely sounds like you broke the rules and have nothing to contest.
Reading again, I’m still not sure I understand. You say there was no indication on the test to stop working, but you were apparently able to tell where the first section ended and the second section began, which seems like a pretty clear indication to stop working to me?
Sadly, bodangles is correct. If you use the ‘but everyone else was doing it,’ excuse, you must still claim to have been acting out of concert with the stated rules.
Right, I can understand that. However, the proctor gave no indication that we were supposed to stop UNTIL I had moved on to the next section. Again, the extra one or two questions had zero impact on my scores, as I finished with time left to spare. I suppose I broke the rules without knowing, but how was I supposed to know if the proctor didn’t say anything?
So what happens from here on out? Do I retake the test? How would you recommend I explain this whole situation to them?
You can try explaining that the proctor didn’t say there were individual sections, but my guess is that they’ll point out the bit in the instructions the proctor read aloud where it likely says that very thing. I tried looking for the instructions online just now and wasn’t able to find it, but I did find prep materials that say the Chinese w/ Listening test consists of “85 multiple-choice questions in three sections.” An SAT Subject Test site also says
“The test supervisor will tell you when to start and stop each section:
You must work within each section of the test only for the time allotted.
You may not to go back to a section once that section has ended.
You may not go ahead to a new section if you finish a section early.
Do not skip sections. Doing so may result in score cancellation, delays, or both.”
I’d be careful. Cheating implies an intentional integrity violation. From your description, and why would you lie on an anonymous discussion group, it sounds like you just misunderstood the rules or didn’t read what @bodangles just wrote, or didn’t notice where one section stopped and another one started.
ETS has no way of discerning the difference, so either one ought to result in your scores being cancelled. I’m not sure what other sanctions ETS has, but it might not hurt to write a letter describing what you described in your OP.
I don’t understand your situation, OP. You either cheated or you didn’t cheat. You know whether you cheated.
If I was accused of cheating on a very important standardized test and absolutely did not cheat whatsoever, I would be furious. Absolutely furious. I would be on the phone with College Board/ETS until my scores were released, and I’d be emailing them as well. ETS isn’t just going to cancel anyone’s score randomly.
I think you need to self-reflect…did you break any rules, or are you clean? If you broke the rules, you’re busted. If you’re legitimately clean, you should challenge this issue. Good luck, and I hope it works out.