Alex Sarlin is the Lead Verbal Developer at Knewton, where he helps students with their SAT prep.
Taking the SAT this May or June? Know your rights!
Measuring the distance between your chair and the person next to you will probably be the last thing on your mind on test day, but if you find your test environment to be cramped or enormously distracting, or the proctor to be unfairly harsh, you may want to declare your rights as a test-taker.
• If a section runs more than five minutes over, students won’t receive a score, and a makeup is required. If a section runs more than five minutes short, a makeup is offered but not required. Once the offer is accepted, the original score is canceled.
• You are allowed to bring snacks and drinks, but you must keep them out of sight. You can reach for them only during breaks, which are given hourly.
• Desks must have at least 12 by 15 inches of writing surface.
• Chairs must be four feet apart; no partitions or study carrels allowed.
• If there’s a problem with your desk or seating, say something as soon as you get in the room. If a problem emerges while taking the test, ask the proctor kindly to make it stop.
• Once notified of a problem, a proctor is required to send a report to the Educational Testing Service. If you feel your score was affected, send a complaint by the Wednesday after the test day to testcenter@info.collegeboard.org. But the score won’t be changed. The best you can hope for is a refund or free retake.
For more horror stories about bad proctors on SAT test day, and what to do about them check out this article from the New York Times.
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