ETS is EVIL!

[notyourmama]

Those %#^%$@!

So I took my GREs in October and did fine. Then I got my report the first week of November, and it said "incorrect institution code" instead of Institution X (my first choice, of course). So I called 3 TIMES, and finally got them to send off my scores to X. We emailed back and forth for a week, until I got a confirmation email from them.

Institution X's due date was 2/2. Today, I got an email with the header "your X application". After I picked my heart back up, I opened it up to see that they'd never received my scores. They must arrive by Friday in order for my app to be completed, or it won't be considered. I spent the entire afternoon on the phone with ETS...

Only thing they will do is send it out today. Takes 5 days to arrive. They won't call or email the school. They say it's my fault, even though I got the code from their own drop down menu, and even though the person in November admitted they had the wrong code in the system. Even though it was supposed to be fixed. And even though they DON'T ACTUALLY LET YOU take the slip of paper into the test, onto which you've painstakingly copied the codes that you need.

I hates them.

[thundersaber1985]

Hey!

Was it for Tulane? Because the same problem happened for me, except I had the right code the first time and received a letter from ETS confirming it had been sent to Tulane in Late Nov. I checked my application status a month later and they said I was still missing GRE scores. I called ETS and they said it was Tulane's fault for not opening the emailed GRE score, who just sends an email and no hard copy, but they sent out another email free of charge. I kept calling Tulane till they received the email. STUPID ETS

[123456789]

That sucks hardcore man. I don't have any horror stories that come anywhere near that, but I just wanted to voice my agreement that yes, ETS is a bunch of incompetent money-grubbing whores. I don't mind having to pay for the test, but $15 to every damn school? An additional $15 to hear your scores and percentiles over a completely automated phone system? No online score access or ONLINE SCORE REPORT REQUESTS. God damn how fucking long did I spend punching phone buttons on their stupid system. I must have spent 3-4 minutes per school with all of their "press 1 again if you REALLY meant that" bullshit, and even then they won't confirm the name of the school you sent it to, just the number.

Their phone system also won't provide subscore percentiles for subject tests, which were required for a lot of apps. They take SIX WEEKS to grade the damn thing and you end up having to call and pay for the score by phone in order to make the application deadline and whoops: they don't even give you the information you need.

You would THINK that universities/graduate schools could come together and demand that ETS get their goddamn act together and/or not try to fuck students over at every turn. ETS is in a unique position where yes, they have a monopoly, but at the same time a very limited market. If a couple of big schools got together and gave them a hard time, we wouldn't have to deal with this shit.

Sorry, I don't want to take away from your pain. You should plead your case to institution X. I have to think they have enough experience with this company to realize what monumental dunces they are.

[ahug030]

In my experience America = Red-tape = 8-10 weeks for everything... y'all should try living outside of the U.S. for awhile and feel what true freedom feels like :wink: Guess I'm gonna have to get used to it again

[notyourmama]

Thunder,

Yep, sure was.

[NO8DO]

ahug - I don't know where you live outside the US, but I have lived in Spain, and travelled several times to France, Italy, and Portugal, and must say that those systems, with regards to bureaucracy/paperwork at least, are 10x worse than the US. I'm a huge xenophile, but in this case, I simply cannot agree with you, haha. Maybe it's better in Canada, Britain, or Germany, but the rest of continental Europe is intolerable at times with stuff like that! ETS I think is just one of those special cases - try getting official copies of your transcript from a Spanish University!

[Minnesotan]

Maybe it's better in Canada, Britain, or Germany

I can't speak intelligently about Germany, but Canada and the U.K. are ridiculously bogged down in bureaucracy. Even the U.S. Postal Service is easier to deal with than their systems, if that can be believed!

[dmh26]

All I can say is....go to Russia and you will soon learn to love American bureaucracy!

[commoner]

I had to spend hours on the phone with them several times to get my scores sent to Stanford, UCLA, and UT. Seems they split my scores into two accounts. So, they kept sending my subject scores and not my general scores. Thanks ETS.