The majority of test days were planned during Monday to Friday when I was more often than not occupied at uni. And on the odd day that I was free to attend the test, so were dozens of other students. What this meant was that there seemed to be an everlasting waiting list for one, take the test and two, to pass it before being able to apply for advanced education.
More recently, I happened to come in touch with this kind of testing procedure again, but to my great joy, I found out that it had developed into online testing! Now although that may seem like an ordinary and natural transition, only someone like me who once went through the rigors of ‘offline’ testing can tell you how welcoming online testing really is. It certainly does away with most of the hassles of conventional offline testing. For starters, you no longer need to squander hours and days waiting for slots to be freed up. You can enroll online, arrange a suitable time, and show up for the online testing, assured that your slot will be available to you. The other thing is if there needs to be some change of schedule, it can be done almost instantly. I still remember how may journey back and forth I had to make to the testing office in order to reschedule my testing hours due to some problem or other that kept popping up. But this is history and no longer the case with something like online testing.
These days, nearly all the various kinds of tests have migrated to the online testing format. The best example is the TOEFL, GRE and GMAT tests that scores of foreign students take in order to come and study in American Universities. But why are online testing services so popular, or even necessary. Simply put, it's a convenient way to evaluate who is worthy of admission. By attracting the greatest number of applicants and evaluating them in a non-controversial and unbiased manner, online testing enables the separation of the wheat from the chaff.
Online testing also has a social purpose. By enabling students from all over the world, no matter what their status or social standing to get access to the testing opportunity, it gives them the chance to better their prospects. If they had to rely on testing opportunities other than online testing, they might not even be able to dream of getting to some of the finest universities in the world.
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