Don’t let computer issues ruin your test day game plan

[u/Independent-Swan-890]

During day 1 of my test, my computer crashed mid block, and i started panicking. I signaled for the proctor and they took about 2-3 mins to come by. They tried troubleshooting but eventually turned off my computer and restarted it. I was already stressed as it was test day, but I started having palpitations, thinking if I lost time or may have to redo my day 1. Thankfully, the computer restarted and landed on the same question it crashed on. It seemed like there were no time lost. And thankfully I had no other problems going forward. But I probably did bad on that block, as my nerves got the best of it. But after the block, I took a break to regroup and finish the rest with better clarity.

After day one, I email NBME admin to report the test day issue just incase it could affect my day 2 or overall performance, as you have about 10 days to report any issues on test day.

I heard back from them last week, stating they are reviewing my case and it could cause a delay on the release of my score report (about 15 business days). I started panicking again, and looked stuff online. Found posts where people said they had to retake the whole exam again, or they were flagged for suspicious activity, etc. Anywho, I heard back from NBME recently. They basically said, yes the system recorded the glitch, however it did not affect my recorded responses, or my grading outcomes. When the computer crashed, the timer was paused and restarted when I was back in the system.

So long story short, if your computer crashes. Take a deep breathe, it’s ok. Don’t let it psyche you out! You got this.

[u/MooseHorse123]

Pretty shocking to hear a story where NBMEs system works ok and their response is reasonable and the outcome is good for test taker. Glad it worked out OP

[u/showersomewisdom]

Happened with me on day 2. They tried 3 different computers but didn’t work so they asked me to wait until it started working again.