2019-05-06 20:10:57

The SAt, a national test is used by colleges all around the united states for acceptance or denial. During the SAT, every student is entitled to a pencil, paper, and a calculator. Wait a minte, excuse me. Did I just say every student? How could I make such a fucking idiotic mistake! I meant to say, every student without disabilities is entitled to those things.

I was supposed to take the SAT last saturday. I signed up and payed the 50 bucks. But I have to retake it in June. Did I fail? No. I have to retake it because... ... ......

My talking calculator had to be approved before I could use it.............

Normal calculators are allowed, but talking ones have to be approved???????????????? Too bad I can't search the web for the answers on my calculator now, or use the speech synth to tell me the letter for the multiple choice answer. Fuck! I wanted to cheat! But they fucking caught me! They knew I would use the calculator for evil!!!!!!

Why should it have to be approved? Oh and it's 30 dollars to retake, so I might have to pay another 30 dollars. Why is it such a big deal that it has to be approved? Um... because they can deny it for my test. Which means even if I get every non calculator question right I still get a big fuck you score because I got all calculator questions wrong because, well, I didn't have that fucking calculator I needed...

Laptop and braillenote, I understnad. But brailler, braille paper, and talking calculator... Fucking really? They are entitled to everyone else, but we have to be granted permission by people we don't even know. Here's why I hate this.

1: Our future is in their hands. If they want to deny it, they can, which means our test scores will be low and there goes any good colleges. People that we don't even know have our futures in their hands!!!!!

2: they can deny for any reason or no reason. They are suppose to do their job of having a focused and related reason why to approve or deny, but we all know that's is not 100% what it is probably like. If someone said fuck you to them earlier that day, or they woke up and felt horrible, they could deny for that reason alone. Exactly like judges and paroll for prisoners.

Wow. Fucking wow. I just compared us to prisoners, and sadly the situation is exactly the same in this case.

Anyone got a problem with this?

2019-05-06 21:18:04

This is the one reason I believe standardized tests need to just die off. They are in the hands of corporate shlobs. Yes, I said it. They have that hidden line in the fineprint that says please do not share anything on the net or social media related to the test, but I frankly couldn't give two shits anymore. The way they mishandle accommodations is a pathetic reiteration of the America's pride and joy, corporate disorganization. So while I was lucky enough to experience no problems during my SAT, you are not the only one and this is no isolated incident. Ask Guillem about his experience as an international student with disabilities dealing with this joke of an organization. If I find the article in my Twitter archives I'll post it here.

2019-05-06 21:20:01

There are a great many colleges that are going test-optional, and even if you take one of those, your score does not even have that much baring on your acceptance status. I would consider a college that doesn't have a requirement, I will say that there are some that not only remove the requirement but have fantastic disability supports. Look for those that are forward-thinking and you'll be good to go.

2019-05-06 21:26:19

Standard tests and Colleges are all bullshit! College is not the only solution, despite what the people paid to tell you it is say. Why do you have to pay for it? I took the ACT I think it was for free in High School. The school is required to provide appropriate accommodations if you wish to take those tests. I'd find someone in charge of the whole mess and file a complaint.

Why can't you use a calculator on a computer? Are they afraid you'll cheat? Here's a hint, why not have someone looking over your shoulder while you use it? It's not the greatest job in the world, but you know what? These people made the choice to get a shitty job when they signed on, so I don't have too much sympathy. Meh, when shit hits the fan most of these useless people will be the first to go.

Grab my Adventure at C: stages Right here.

2019-05-06 22:12:33

So I've never had any issues with the SAT myself, but I have with the ACT. So what happened was, after they approved my accomodations, I was literally about to take the test when, BOOM!  There wasn't a braille test sent with the box. It was just annoying and stupid and I hate the ACT and don't tell me I'm emotional and frustrated a year from this happened (I don't think about it but it frustrates me) it was just astupid  that the people who shipped stuff should have checked.

A winner is you!
—Urban Champion

2019-05-06 22:52:47

Wow, I didn't have that issue when I took the ACT, that really sucks. I actually do understand why laptops or notetakers aren't allowed, and I don't think having someone look over your shoulder is an acceptable solution, either. I would be extremely uncomfortable if some random person was staring me down and breathing down my neck while I was taking any test. I do, however, agree with the sentiment that all standardized testing is bullshit. Just because America doesn't win every dick waving contest we engage in doesn't mean we have to make all children suffer by forcing them to take these kinds of tests at younger ages, and turn the entire educational system into a raging dumpsterfire which values rote learning and one size fits all policies over individuality. But hey, what am I saying? Nobody wants individuality to prevail anyway, after all, that might disrupt the flow of fake news and Trump's tweetstorms.

You know, for awhile, I wasn't so angry and bitter about this. Once I graduated from high school, and decided that college would never be for me, I was able to let it go. But now that I have a niece who is just about school age, I find myself getting more and more upset on her behalf when I hear all the idiotic ways our educational system is breaking innocent kids. I can't do anything about it, though, and when I feel helpless, I get enraged, not that that solves anything, either. The last thing I'll say about this is that it's really no wonder there are tons of countries which are considered to be happier places than the US, and that we've been consistently falling down that scale for the past 20 years or so.

The glass is neither half empty nor half full. It's just holding half the amount it can potentially hold.

2019-05-07 00:28:24

I’m very fortunate to have made it past all of that nonsense in high school.  The SAT exists just to test you on how well you do on the SAT.  Colleges are moving away from holding applicants to their standardized test scores.  It’s becoming more about your community involvement, extra-curricular activities, so on and so forth.
My point here: don’t sweat this too much. Do what you have to so you can get some kind of score, but honestly, that’s about as far as I’d go. I did considerably horrible on my SAT back when it was out of 2400, and still attend a decent school. I have several issues with academia, but that’s a separate topic.

What game will hadi.gsf want to play next?

2019-05-07 00:45:13

I had to take the GRE for grad school it was offel. I bombed it and got like a 40 but still got into school. As for the ACT the first time I my school lost our answers so I had to do them all over again! UGH! I started out in community so I didn't need the ACT or SAT either. Both though have been proven to only measure how good someone is at taking tests.

Kingdom of Loathing name JB77

2019-05-07 10:41:35 (edited by Dark 2019-05-07 10:42:27)

In the UK university applications are more based on A, what your predicted final grades are based on your previous performance in exams and what your teachers think, and B, your ucas, that is universities and colleges application form which is a personal statement you make detailing why you want to study, what your future plans are, what your social interests are etc. If universities like you,  they even give you reduced offers allowing  you in with lower final exam results, this was what happened to me.

As for the school exams themselves, no problem either with laptop use so long as your wifi is off, and with using a talking calculator from what I remember, though depending upon the exam board braille exam papers could be, mmmmmm, interesting to say the least, I remember  the biology exam which required me to write on a braille graph which was too big to fit in a brailler, though again fortunately I had a teaching assistant who I could just ask to make the correct notes for me.

This isn't to say the UK system is perfect either, especially since 2012 when the government basically said "sod you students! universities, charge whatever the hell you like! who cares if students need to put themselves into debt forever since they'll all be getting high paying jobs right?"

ha haa.

Either way though, this sounds very much like  turtlepower describes, ridiculously stupid standardised corporate thinking of the worst order, but hay that's how the world works now, everyone must be cogs in the prophet machine and if you don't fit well that's obviously your fault!

Oh, and for what it's worth I did  write about this sort of thing in my phd and make some more legitimate recommendations.

With our dreaming and singing, Ceaseless and sorrowless we! The glory about us clinging Of the glorious futures we see,
Our souls with high music ringing; O men! It must ever be
That we dwell in our dreaming and singing, A little apart from ye. (Arthur O'Shaughnessy 1873.)

2019-05-07 14:33:12

What phd have you obtained or are on your way to obtaining?

2019-05-07 15:01:40

My phd  is actually in philosophy, more specifically in ethics, and even more specifically the ethics of disability.

With our dreaming and singing, Ceaseless and sorrowless we! The glory about us clinging Of the glorious futures we see,
Our souls with high music ringing; O men! It must ever be
That we dwell in our dreaming and singing, A little apart from ye. (Arthur O'Shaughnessy 1873.)

2019-05-07 20:03:24

That’s interesting. Nice work man

2019-05-08 00:17:42

Yeah, they did the same thing to me with my TSI in Texas

Power is not the responsibility of freedom, but it is actually the responsibility of being responsible, it's self, because someone who is irresponsible is enslaved by their own weaknesses.

2019-05-08 17:17:53

While usually I'd agree that the College Board are a bunch of horrible people who care about nothing other than maximizing profit and making sure everyone has a terrible experience while dealing with them, in this case I'm on their side.
If you waltz in with a programmable talking calculator, one that is unfamiliar to the people administering the test, they will have no idea how to make sure that you have reset everything. That gives you an unfair advantage.

2019-05-08 17:27:59

But it isn't a programmable talking calculator, and that's bs when in my case a note taker was allowed, and the Texas Instruments calculators have been approved.
Meanwhile here's a good reminder that College Board, along with dozens of other companies, is inside the Facebook ad-distribution network. You know that area of fineprint that asks for your email address when you fill out the first page of your SAT? Yeah, never give your real email. Two things:
1. They say it's so they can email you your score. Bullshit, they never actually send and email out.
2. If they can put two and two together, they will, and they can keep tabs on your Facebook profile for, you guessed it, ads, which is yet another revenue source.
The lesson? State tests don't belong in anyone's hands really, but particularly in the hands of corporate shlobs.

2019-05-08 20:02:03

If you can cheat and get away with it, then why would you not?

2019-05-10 01:14:24

zarvox wrote:

My talking calculator had to be approved before I could use it.............
Normal calculators are allowed, but talking ones have to be approved????????????????

No, all calculators have to be approved. The College Board has a page that lists all approved brands. What you should have done was, after knowing that you can only have an approved calculator, talked to your guidance counselor (they have them in high school and they're useful) and asked them to assist you in finding out which calculator you would be allowed to use.

The lesson here is to never assume that accommodations will be met; one should assume the worst and plan for it. When I was taking tests from College Board many years ago I would follow up with them repeatedly to make sure all was in order. Never assume anything; assuming is how you get in trouble in life.

For your reference, here's the link containing a full list of College Board approved calculators.
https://collegereadiness.collegeboard.o … tor-policy

2019-05-10 01:26:45

Some of them can literally solve algebra equations, you just put them in and bam, like that, no biggie. That's why I imagine they wouldn't approve them all. I had one that would do this, that was back in '05.

Facts with Tom MacDonald, Adam Calhoun, and Dax
End racism
End division
Become united

2019-05-11 01:10:00

All I'm saying here is, math techniques can sometimes, not always, but sometimes be used in place of a calculator.
I've done a calculator math exam with no calculator many times, more out of arrogance than denial of use, and managed to get very decent scores.
As any maths teacher will tell you, a calculator is just a tool, and a very recently developed tool at that

Nathan Smith
Managing Director of Nathan Tech
It's not disability
It's ability!

2019-05-11 01:18:08

Speaking of approved calculators, why didn't they give you a TI84+? Considering that's like the gold standard for graphing calculators, and a graphing calculator is a requirement in high school classes (at least in my high school math courses) why didn't they give you the Orion TI84+? That is definitely an approved calculator, as I used it myself. Unless your state agency is hard to convince. Which is not likely, because usually even the state agencies that are hard to convince for other stuff will be quite understanding when it comes to the TI84+ since it is such a widely talked about essential, like I said a requirement in a lot of classes. Just an aside.

2019-05-11 11:57:17

On the calculator issue, in Britain when I was taking GCSE maths back in the mid nineties, there were specific exams that you were or were not allowed a calculator for, and that was true for everyone. I had no problem with the talking calculator when required, though usually liked Dardar I tended to be better at mental arithmetic anyway, particularly because a lot of  material that required calculators also tended to revolve around graphs, charts and representations, and I was never very good at those, I'd always rather just juggle numbers in me noggin ;D.

When I did A level   that is advanced level Biology and psychology in the early two thousands (the exams whose marks got you into uni), , a calculator was required, for calculating things like standard deviation on tests and again, there was no quibbling over makes or anything, particularly since in those subjects the calculations were at best tangential to the answers , EG you'd be required to calculate total energy at different stages of an ecological food chain, then plot a graph, then decide whether the graph was or was not showing a discrepancy in the max energy to bio mass at each level of the food chain.

With our dreaming and singing, Ceaseless and sorrowless we! The glory about us clinging Of the glorious futures we see,
Our souls with high music ringing; O men! It must ever be
That we dwell in our dreaming and singing, A little apart from ye. (Arthur O'Shaughnessy 1873.)

2019-05-12 20:47:49

What brand of a calc was it?
While a couple of my blind friends had no problems with the ACT or SAT's, they should have to provide the iccomidations.
Yeah, america just needs to drop standerdized tests, they're just bullshit.

2019-05-13 01:10:10

Oryan TI84. I believe the plus model. They should have a list of automatically approved talking calculators

2019-05-13 02:27:16

They denied a TI84 plus?
Isn't that from APH?
One of my blind friends was able to use his just fine, maybe it varies from state to state?

2019-05-13 02:53:08

I don't suppose tit would vary from state to state, that'd be a hot mess if it did considering it's supposed to be one test taken by all college-bound students, unless otherwise noted. The TI84+ was said to be approved at launch, and considering the original ti84+ has been around for who knows how long, the fact that they would disapprove it for you means that they were definitely bullshitting you. Hypothetically, Even if it did vary from state-to-state, what the hell kind of technophobic state would refuse an Orion TI84+? Lol!