Watches?

[RBHeadge PE]

I got the W201 but I couldn’t find a mute feature. There’ll be a little beep when I start the stopwatch.  Do any experienced test takers see that being an issue? I can cough when I hit it lol

Depends on how strict the proctors are. One guy had a watch that made a soft chirp on the hour. It went off four times during the morning session and the proctors let it go. My guess is that everyone within 30' could hear it.

Before the start of the afternoon session they approached him and asked him to turn off the sound. It was a cheap drug-store watch and he very quickly offered to throw away the watch. He was clearly stressed out. Instead the proctors had him store it with the other watches and electronics that were accidentally brought into the room and surrendered during the grace period. Those items were stored at the front of the room to be reclaimed after the test. The proctors were much more lenient that they should/could have been per the rules. Do you want to risk it?

It may also be possible to mechanically permanently disable the chirp... with a safety pin.

 

[shmoe]

I know the exam is over, but posting for future exams: Maryland did not allow ANY WATCHES or arm jewelry of ANY TYPE (except medical) to be worn. One of the proctors even checked a girl who was wearing a hair tie on her wrist. 

Four or so big digital countdown timers were placed at the front of the room, I don't think anyone had an issue seeing them. 

 

[breezy_moto]

I know the exam is over, but posting for future exams: Maryland did not allow ANY WATCHES or arm jewelry of ANY TYPE (except medical) to be worn. One of the proctors even checked a girl who was wearing a hair tie on her wrist. 

Four or so big digital countdown timers were placed at the front of the room, I don't think anyone had an issue seeing them. 

Yep. The timers were nice to have! But I'm still butthurt I spent $11 on a watch from Amazon  :laugh:  It shouldn't be that hard to make the rules more clear on the exam authorization.

 

[mhami]

We were allowed to wear watches in Northern CA FWIW.

 

[Mr. Zane]

I was in Austin exam location, the watches were totally fine, but for the clock, I remembered it was not visible for me. 

They provided vocal reminders, at least 3 I think, 1 hr, 15min and 5min.

 

[bsimms89]

NY you could wear a watch, but you had to wear it, it couldn't be on the table. No clocks or timers were provided in the gym the test was given. If you didn't have a watch you would have no idea how much time was left until they said "15 minutes remaining".

 

[Szar]

At our testing location they duct taped a clock front and center of the hall.  My ticket afforded me the nose bleed section of the exam room but thanks to my 20/20 vision the distance was not an issue.  It was fairly easy to estimate the time to the nearest half hour

Then the official clock fell from the wall at around the 2-hour mark in the afternoon session and with a mighty crash, shattered on the floor.  Naturally the space had 3 other clocks all several minutes apart from the official time piece, but who really needs those last few minutes of the test anyways?   Made an otherwise mundane and elementary test far more exciting when you had to guess how much time you had left! 

 

[Surf and Snow]

NY you could wear a watch, but you had to wear it, it couldn't be on the table. No clocks or timers were provided in the gym the test was given. If you didn't have a watch you would have no idea how much time was left until they said "15 minutes remaining".

Same in Salem, OR. If you didn't have a watch you were basically in the dark until the 15 min warning. Or annoying the heck out of the Proctors.

 

[vee043324]

At our testing location they duct taped a clock front and center of the hall.  My ticket afforded me the nose bleed section of the exam room but thanks to my 20/20 vision the distance was not an issue.  It was fairly easy to estimate the time to the nearest half hour

Then the official clock fell from the wall at around the 2-hour mark in the afternoon session and with a mighty crash, shattered on the floor.  Naturally the space had 3 other clocks all several minutes apart from the official time piece, but who really needs those last few minutes of the test anyways?   Made an otherwise mundane and elementary test far more exciting when you had to guess how much time you had left! 

I'm like 98% sure we were at the same exam location! That shit scared the HELL out of me omg I almost fell off my chair  :laugh:

 

[Madpiper]

Go to Walmart and treat yo self to a $2 dollar special kids watch. They usually have an assortment of themes like X-Men, Spider-Man, Minions, Star Wars, Ninja Turtles, etc., etc.  I went with a John Cena WWE watch. I had to punch a hole in the plastic band to fit my beefy wrists, but it was worth it....lol. The looks that I got alone was worth it....people take themselves too damn serious. Just a simple way to lighten things up in an already stressful situation. Watches shouldn't add to it.

 

[SacMe24]

Except at my location, if you had a watch (I agree, analog is best) had to be worn on the wrist! It couldn't be put on the table.

Same here... I'm also in CA (Sacramento) and the 2 guys in front of me were told they had to wear the watch on their wrists...

 

[squaretaper LIT AF PE]

I just took the test in Sacramento. One guy brought a digital alarm clock and placed it on the table but the proctors shut him down and told him to put it away (after some debate).

 

[Kloeb222]

Northlake Chicago didn't mind that I had my cheapo Timex sitting at the top of the table. Right in the middle so the civil guy next to me could see it too.

 

[Mack Eltarhoni]

I just took the test in Sacramento. One guy brought a digital alarm clock and placed it on the table but the proctors shut him down and told him to put it away (after some debate).

I think whoever wants to bring a watch set up on the table should bring the exam guidelines printed with them, and this way, the proctor can't argue with them. 

 

[squaretaper LIT AF PE]

I think whoever wants to bring a watch set up on the table should bring the exam guidelines printed with them, and this way, the proctor can't argue with them. 

Is a clock necklace like Flava Flav allowed???

 

[Rwhit PE]

Whoa that's crazy if true. The exam site I went to in October of 2017 had a big digital clock on the wall but, depending on where you were in the room, you couldn't see it. I wore a nice analog watch without any beeping function at all on my wrist. But, as others have said, absolutely nothing that beeps especially fitness watches. 

 

[Szar]

I'm like 98% sure we were at the same exam location! That shit scared the HELL out of me omg I almost fell off my chair  :laugh:

Did you take your exam in the New England area? 

 

[P-E]

 

[Mack Eltarhoni]

Is a clock necklace like Flava Flav allowed???

I misspoke last time. No clocks on watches are allowed on the table. Some proctors are nice about it and let you have it on the table. But contrary to what i thought, they are no allowed on the table. The following statement is from page 28 of the official NCEES Examinee Guide:

"Examinees may wear wristwatches or place them on the floor. Clocks must be placed on the floor"

Also the list of personal items that are allowed to be on the table as approved by NCEES does not include a watch/clock.

Follow link the guide https://ncees.org/wp-content/uploads/ExamineeGuide_January-2018.pdf

 

[DoctorWho-PE]

I

Go to Walmart and treat yo self to a $2 dollar special kids watch. They usually have an assortment of themes like X-Men, Spider-Man, Minions, Star Wars, Ninja Turtles, etc., etc.  I went with a John Cena WWE watch. I had to punch a hole in the plastic band to fit my beefy wrists, but it was worth it....lol. The looks that I got alone was worth it....people take themselves too damn serious. Just a simple way to lighten things up in an already stressful situation. Watches shouldn't add to it.

I wore a hot pink hello kitty watch my daughter got out of a happy meal many moons ago.  One of my classmates borrowed the same watch when we took the FE, also many moons ago.

For my more recent PE attempt, I had an analog watch that I set to 8am and stopped until they said go, and made my mental math a bit easier than having to figure out adding 13 minutes or whatever past hour.  Then I knew at 10 I had 2 hours, and 11:45 15 minutes.  Worked well.