Really stupid question about the info screens before the test begins

[e i j i]

Hi everyone, I just got back from the exam, and I already have a question that is perplexing me...

After the tutorials at the beginning of the test, can someone tell me what was the purpose of selecting an institution on the form...? I was incredibly anxious during the beginning of the exam, and for some reason I thought they were asking me where I wanted to report my scores, I looked over the instructions and it was just the spiel about how to pick from the schools list. If it helps, I remember answering questions about ethnicity and such after, which further confused me, because I thought I had clicked the decline button for the search service...

Anyone have any ideas?

Edited July 23, 2011 by mratake

[vitaminquartet]

I have no idea - i took my GRE today too and they didn't list my (British) undergraduate university - so i just skipped it.

[aspiringhistorian]

You're selecting the institution where you are doing your undergraduate work. And then at the end you have the option of filling out the same form for the schools you want to send your scores to.

[e i j i]

You're selecting the institution where you are doing your undergraduate work. And then at the end you have the option of filling out the same form for the schools you want to send your scores to.

Crap, that's what I was worried about! I think I put the wrong institution down because I thought it was for where I wanted it reported, but after it only let me put one and I had progressed to the next screen, I didn't make the connection.

I don't know why I was so nervous for today's test. *banging head on keyboard*

Edited July 23, 2011 by mratake

[aspiringhistorian]

Crap, that's what I was worried about! I think I put the wrong institution down because I thought it was for where I wanted it reported, but after it only let me put one and I had progressed to the next screen, I didn't make the connection.

I don't know why I was so nervous for today's test. *banging head on keyboard*

Maybe I'm wrong but so long as you didn't check a box that said that you wanted them to see certain sections, etc it probably doesn't matter... Although if you thought you were reporting it, then that's probably what you did. I'm not sure how much it matters in the long term, but maybe it's worth giving the ETS a call on Monday to be sure?

[Timshel]

When I took it two weeks ago, I, too, was confused, so I asked the guy at the testing facility and he said it was just a survey for statistical info, so you don't even have to answer them. I skipped half of them.

[elmambo]

Man! I had exactly the same problem! And I even went a little bit further...

I checked my GRE profile, and the institution I (erroneously) entered as my undergraduate university is among my score recipients. So I wrote to ETS asking for an advice on what to do, but they didn't say a thing, they just wanted all my profile information.

I haven't replied yet because I was a little paranoic about it. What if they ask me to take the test again? This probably won't happen, but still... I scored pretty well on the quantitative section so I DON'T WANT TO HEAR ABOUT GRE ANYMORE.

What do we do, any advice???

Edited July 29, 2011 by elmambo

[e i j i]

Man! I had exactly the same problem! And I even went a little bit further...

I checked my GRE profile, and the institution I (erroneously) entered as my undergraduate university is among my score recipients. So I wrote to ETS asking for an advice on what to do, but they didn't say a thing, they just wanted all my profile information.

I haven't replied yet because I was a little paranoic about it. What if they ask me to take the test again? This probably won't happen, but still... I scored pretty well on the quantitative section so I DON'T WANT TO HEAR ABOUT GRE ANYMORE.

What do we do, any advice???

Okay, so I am relieved I'm not the only one who made that mistake! I went back to the testing center this week for more info and they directed me to call the ETS help service. Allegedly the undergraduate institution, and any of the other schools you've requested scores for, are NOT listed on score reports -- which makes sense, I guess, since it's really not relevant for other schools to know where else you've requested.

But my concern was that I had mistakenly listed an undergraduate school and then ended up putting on one of the institutions to report my scores to. (I think) If you've requested for duplicate schools only the one report will be reported. I'm a tad annoyed they didn't end up correcting anything on my profile, because the UI is still listed incorrectly, but the person I talked to assured me that it wouldn't impact anything.

It might be worth calling and asking just in case? Let me know what they tell you!

[Timshel]

I guess I'm confused by what you guys actually did. In the beginning, it asks for your undergraduate institution. I asked the testing moderator if they were asking where I wanted to send the scores, and he said no, that was just a survey for statistical info, so I didn't have to answer any of it, which I didn't.

[e i j i]

I guess I'm confused by what you guys actually did. In the beginning, it asks for your undergraduate institution. I asked the testing moderator if they were asking where I wanted to send the scores, and he said no, that was just a survey for statistical info, so I didn't have to answer any of it, which I didn't.

There was an option to have a score report released to your undergraduate institution if you are applying to the same one you did your undergrad at.

[elmambo]

Hi, this is what ETS told me:

"Thank you for contacting the GRE® Program.

Dear Candidate,

Regarding your inquiry:

The attending institution change you indicated on your score report request cannot be made. Please note that information about your attending institution is not reported to your designated score recipients."

So I'll just forget about it.