Many of today’s college graduates are having the start of their careers delayed due to the pandemic, which also affects their ability to take the required licensing exam for their professions.
Photo Credit: Inside HigherEd
The coronavirus pandemic has changed the way law school graduates complete their exams. Instead of gathering at in-person exam centers, online exams have been developed with specific artificial intelligence software.
There are many concerns about how the online bar exam is structured. Rather than developing a straightforward and clear test, the online bar exam will emphasize proctoring the students while completing it. During an in-person exam, the test-takers are allowed to write in a booklet. However, New York examiners have ignored the previous use of booklets during in-person exams, and will not allow students to markup during the online test.
Law students have even been trained in using a booklet during their bar prep course. This makes it increasingly difficult, as it is important for them to have somewhere to write down the specific information needed to answer questions on the exam; according to Above the Law.
The New York Bar Association suggested for a New York University law school graduate Jena Speiser and her classmates to register for the bar exam in another state because an in-person exam was highly unlikely in July. Speiser had planned on applying to Massachusetts when she, unfortunately, tested positive for COVID-19 and was hospitalized. Her weeks being bedridden resulted in missing another application deadline for the New York online bar exam in October.
Now due to her circumstance, she won’t be able to take the exam until February, meaning she cannot practice law until then. “I have $300,000 in loans, and I have no idea how I’ll start paying them off. Now, on top of the stress of the pandemic, we’re unable to make money. Every single day I’m panicking” Speiser said. There are many other graduates who have the same concerns.
The same uncertainties weigh on medical students as their licensing exams also get delayed. They are needed to begin their residency at a hospital. A private company administering the exams, Prometric, shut down in-person testing sites in March; leaving the United States Medical Licensing Examination suspending their exams temporarily.
There were students who were notified of the cancellations less than 48 hours before the exam. Prometric’s lack of communication “disappointed” the medical licensing organization, according to the New York Times. A University of Miami medical student, Sirpi Nackeeran, “was trying to study for the most important exam of my life not knowing if or when it was going to happen. There’s only so many study materials, and you want to time it perfectly.”
Another concern for graduates taking online exams is the lack of privacy and increased anxiety concerns. There are some experts who believe that requiring students to memorize information under the pressure of surveillance in their own homes is a flaw of the software used for the exam.
The artificial intelligence program used for the online bar exam detects audio and captures video recordings of the test-takers as a way to prevent cheating. However, this raises concerns for individuals who are disabled. The software could mistake a test-taker for cheating if they are moving excessively, meanwhile, they could simply be fidgeting or self-massaging to manage symptoms.
Certain online exams require the student to circle their device around the room for the online proctor to ensure there is no prohibited material in the area. However, this can be uncomfortable for some test-takers to display their living quarters to a stranger as stated by Inside Higher Ed.
COVID has certainly presented many schools and their students with unforeseen struggles with administering exams. While many graduate students face uncertain futures, along with big changes in their exams, there is no doubt that this generation of students will prevail and keep moving forward.
