Frequently Asked Questions

You should arrive at the testing center 15 minutes before your scheduled examination start time.

Please bring your test confirmation and proper, unexpired forms of identification. You may bring a snack or drink to keep in your locker and access during breaks.

The Testing Center has the discretion to deny access to latecomers. Failure to appear forfeits your test registration fee.

After 30 minutes, any OSU registration is marked as "no show." Other community-based examinations may have different late policies.

If The Ohio State University cancels classes, the Testing Center will be closed. Please contact the Testing Center or appropriate testing authority to reschedule your exam.

Upon arriving at the Testing Center:

• You will present your ID and sign in with a proctor at the Admin station.
• You will store your belongings in a locker.
• You may need to read “Testing Center Regulations,” agreeing to the security terms for the administration of specific Vender examinations.
• You will empty and turn your pockets inside out prior to entry into the testing room to confirm that you have no prohibited items.
• You will roll up long sleeves and pant legs.
• Certain vendor exams will require additional screenings. You will be shown to your seat to begin testing.

• Calculators (unless allowed by instructor)
• Recording devices
• Photographic equipment
• Study material
• Cell phones
• PDAs (personal digital assistants)
• Purses
• Wallets
• Fitness trackers
• Hats and other head coverings, except those for religious purposes
• Coats and outerwear
• Bags
• Tissues not provided by the Testing Center
• Pens and pencils
• Food & Beverages
• Medicine
• Tobacco products
• Any other product determined by the PROCTOR to be a disturbance to other testers or a threat to the security of the examination

We have a 59-seat testing lab set up for all varieties of exams we offer.

To ensure a high level of security throughout your testing experience, proctors will periodically walk through the testing room and will continuously monitor testers through observation windows and video for irregular behavior.

The Testing Center administers examinations for a variety of clients. As a result, other examinees may be in the testing room at the same time.

Ear plugs are available upon request.

Raise your hand to alert the proctor or exit the testing room.

Examples of instances where a tester requires assistance include:

• Hardware or software problems or distractions that affect your ability to take the If an error message is displayed on the computer screen, DO NOT clear the message.
• Need for additional scratch paper or pencils

On rare occasions, candidates may encounter technical difficulties at the Testing Center. If this happens, notify the proctor immediately by raising your hand. Staff will make every effort to correct any difficulties as quickly as possible. The proctor will follow established procedures to resolve the problem. The nature of the problem will also be reported to the appropriate testing authority.

Scheduled Breaks are part of select exams. Scheduled break time do not count against your testing time and are predetermined. Candidates may decline the scheduled break and continue to the next section of the examination, or use a portion of the break time allotted. The allotted amount of time for your break will be displayed on your monitor.

Unscheduled Breaks: If you need to take a break during the timed portion of your examination, you may take an unscheduled break. The examination timer will continue to count down during unscheduled breaks. No additional time will be provided to complete your examination.

*There are several tests that do not allow you to leave the testing room until the test is finished. Read all communications carefully!

The use of phones and other electronic devices during unscheduled breaks is strictly prohibited.

You are not permitted to access any study material or discuss the examination when taking breaks during an active examination session.

Repeated or lengthy departures from the testing room for unscheduled breaks will be reported by the PROCTOR to the course instructor appropriate testing authority

Unauthorized possession, reproduction, recording, discussion, reconstruction of content from memory, or disclosure of any materials, including, but not limited to, examination questions before, during, or after an examination or other certification activities is a violation of OSU policy, specific testing policies and federal copyright laws. Failure to comply may result in the invalidation of examination results, exclusion from future examinations, revocation of certification, or any sanction deemed appropriate, up to and including expulsion from the University.

Any clothing such as sweaters must be worn at all times or placed on the back of your chair while testing. Otherwise, it must be stored in a locker.

You must conduct yourself in a courteous manner at all times when on the premises of the Testing Center.

To protect the privacy of all testers, staff can neither confirm nor deny the presence of any particular individual at the Testing Center.

Persons not scheduled to take a test are not permitted to wait in the Testing Center. There is a lobby located on the first floor of the Student Academic Services Building where visitors may wait.

Weapons of any kind are prohibited.

All materials issued to you by Testing Center staff must be returned at the conclusion of your examination. This includes scratch paper, pencils, ear plugs and tissues. Tissues must be discarded in view of Testing Center staff.

Proctors are required to report any irregular or improper behavior by a candidate. Examples of irregular or improper behavior include, but are not limited to:

• Giving or obtaining information
• Removing examination material from the Testing Center
• Being disruptive
• Violating any Testing Center regulations

Proctors may intervene to stop any observed irregular or improper behavior. Irregular or improper behavior during the examination, as evidenced by careful observation or subsequent statistical analysis of your responses, may result in the termination of your participation, invalidation of your examination results, exclusion from future examinations, revocation of certification, or any other sanction deemed appropriate, up to and including expulsion from the University.

For certain tests, you will learn your scores immediately, while others are sent to the department or appropriate testing authority for scoring. For EM Tests not graded in the Testing Center, you will receive a receipt with contact information to obtain your results. Once you have received your scores and have collected your belongings from your locker, you are free to leave.

Please have the student email the Testing Center at sae-testing@osu.edu. When an advisor emails us, it creates a separate record in Salesforce.

The student should first check their Advising Report to see if their AP scores have been posted to their account. They can generate an Advising Report by logging into their Buckeye Link account and selecting “Generate Advising Report” under their Academics section. All test scores, including AP, will be posted in the left column under “Test results”.

If the student does not see their AP scores on their account, please have the student log in to their College Board account and provide 2 pieces of information to the Testing Center via email:

• A pdf of your AP Score Report -or- screenshots of your AP scores with your name on the account.
• A receipt or screenshot your order history showing Ohio State as a recipient.

They can obtain this information by logging into College Board and following the selection path:

• Home > AP Scores > View Your Scores > Score Send Order History

A reasonable amount of time for a student to wait for score postings is roughly 48-72 hours.

The Testing Center only posts scores that happen in our physical space. Language Placement Tests that do not happen in our physical space are deferred to the Center for Languages, Literatures and Cultures (CLLC). For questions regarding Language Placement Tests, please contact the CLLC.

We do not proctor Language Placement Tests. For questions regarding Language Placement Tests, please contact the CLLC.

For questions regarding Math Placement exams, please contact ASC-mpt@osu.edu. 

To validate their other language written/spoken please contact Language Testing International (LTI).

OSU only offers placement testing proctoring in the Summer for students attending orientation. Otherwise, students will need to contact the respective department regarding their placement.

The turn-around time for exam results once they have been dropped off is three full business day.

Prior to using our service, you need to do two things:

First, be sure there is a purchase order approved for exam scoring in the current semester. If no purchase order has been submitted, have your department’s fiscal officer submit a purchase order for this semester’s charges for exam scoring.

Second, contact  sae-testing@osu.edu to confirm your use of exam scoring services this semester. If you do not already use Microsoft Teams, download this to your computer to be added to the “Exam Scoring” team.

You should have:

• A set of student answer sheets all facing the same direction.
• A scoring key. If the scoring key is to be used for multiple batches, you must indicate this in the "Special Requests" section of the Exam Scoring Request form.
• A filled-out request form, available within Microsoft Teams or on the Registrar Forms website under "Testing Center."

• A batch is any set of exams you would like scored as a single set, regardless of the number of answer sheets.
• A batch can only have one scoring key.
• A batch can yield any score report option we offer. You can choose Group 1, Group 2, or select both to reported. There is no extra charge for selecting more than one report option.

If you wish to use the same scoring key for more than one batch, write "use key to score all batches" in the "Special Requests" field of the Exam Scoring Request form.

To create a scoring key, keep these tips in mind (or see this sample scoring key (pdf)):

• Use a #2 pencil to complete the scoring key. Make clean erasures if needed, and do not stray out of the designated marking areas with your pencil.
• Bubble the first three columns of the NAME field with the letters K, E, and Y. You may print (and bubble) other descriptors in the other columns of this field, but the first three columns must be bubbled as "KEY."
• Bubble the correct response for each question. If more than one response applies, bubble in each additional response. Please indicate which question(s) have multiple correct answers on the Exam Scoring Request form in the "Special Requests" field. If credit is to be given for any response, please bubble in all responses for that specific answer.

You may select any combination of the following reporting options:

• Group 1: Report includes basic student results with statistical information about overall performance.
• Group 2: Report includes all information in Group 1, with the addition of more advanced item analysis and individual sheets showing each student their responses compared to the correct answers. These are formatted so that they can be printed by you and handed to the student for review.
• CSV file: We will generate a comma delimited file to go with your selection of either Group 1 or Group 2 results. This file can be opened in Microsoft Excel for your own analysis.

• Form 4521 is currently available in eStores, listed as OSU Stores item number 53793. Work with your department to purchase via eRequest.
• Form 4887 is currently unavailable in eStores. Please work with your department to purchase them via an alternative method, such as Scantron.
• Work with your department's fiscal office for assistance in finding an alternative vendor to order forms from.

Exam results are available for you via the “Exam Scoring” team within Microsoft Teams. Our office will add you to the team and create a secure channel for you and any approved contact to access the reports.

If Microsoft Teams is not a software you wish to utilize, you will need to come into the Testing Center with a portable storage device to transfer the reports.

You can pick up scored exams as soon as your results appear in your SharePoint folder. Photo identification and a signature are required for anyone picking up exams.

This fee structure for our services is listed on our Exam Scoring Services page under “Fee Structure.”

Your department’s fiscal officer will need to place a purchase order for our services. We will bill an invoice against this purchase order every time exams are brought in to be scored.

Yes, we do offer survey scanning services upon request. Please contact  sae-testing@osu.edu to specific inquire about our process regarding this.