GMAC has announced last week that effective June 11th it will allow candidates taking the GMAT online to use physical whiteboards.
Candidates will now have the option to use a physical whiteboard, online whiteboard, or both supporting their unique test day preferences. Appointments beginning June 11 will include the option to use a physical whiteboard for the GMAT Online exam and the Executive Assessment Online. Registrants should review and ensure their whiteboard meets the required specifications and that they have a functional dry erase marker, eraser, and are familiar with the exam day whiteboard experience and policies.
Candidates who tested without access to the physical whiteboard will be permitted to test again, should they choose to do so.
The decision is most certainly in response to a considerable volume of complaints from the test takers about the awkward online whiteboard that candidates were forced to use since the launch of the online exam nearly two months ago. Nearly 2,500 test takers signed an online petition demanding the right to use pen and paper during the test.
Many test takers who feared they would lose score points while struggling with the technology chose to take the GRE instead or even took the drastic measure of traveling great distances, often across state borders, to take the test in person in a few test centers that have reopened.
The physical whiteboard will have to be erasable, no larger than 12 by 20 inches, and the candidate will be allowed to use one dry-erase marker.
