I had a rising concern about identification last night, when I discovered that I would need my passport to be considered legitimate. Ok...problem is that my parents have it for safety reason. Naturally I called Z and other friends who have taken standardized test before to verify this situation. I became too comfortable after confirming that Z presented his driver's license when taking MCAT, and he wasn't even a green card holder at that time.
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I entered the Testing Services Center at Tech to take my GRE. Right when I noticed a question about U.S. citizenship, I began to feel a chill on my back. "Great..." Seemed like the ambiguous rule was coming to reality. I needed my passport. I explained the administrator about my situation and confusion about the instruction mentioned online. One page explained I needed a passport, other one indicated that I merely needed a government-issued id card (ex: driver's license). I, then, asked her why she needed my passport in particular. "Because I need to fill out your passport expiration date" is what she said. "That's it?" After she confirmed, I told her that I have a photocopy of my passport (which seemed acceptable in all places except under GRE rules) that indicated my expiration date. She said she is not allowed to read from the photocopy (which, by the way, was never mentioned on ETS website).
In the end, I took the exam with a condition of cancelling my score at the end. There goes my $150. I'm going to have to find another date on October becoming another burden I never wanted to carry. Why didn't I keep fight for it? Because I knew there was nothing I can at that point. And it was also because I partly felt guilty for not thoroughly researching the id requirements.
So here is my analysis as a business major. What I wanted to process on my mind was her ethical level and the way she handled the situation.
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1 - ETS (organization that conducts GRE) states that anyone who is taking " country outside of his/her citizenship" must present a passport.
2 - There is no guideline as to what permanent residents should do. According to the administrator, green-card is not enough. Therefore, passport is needed. What if you don't have a passport or has been expired?
3 - After the completion of the exam, the ETS, supposedly, goes through a background check to verify whether the info you provided was correct. As a consequence of incorrect info, the ETS has a right to cancel your score.
4. The contract states that the administrator has no penalty for misguided-action, only the test takers do. So if anything happens, I get the punishment not her.
So what were my options?
1 - I can state that I am a citizen, take the exam and hope that ETS will not find out.
2 - Don't take the exam and go home.
3 - The administrator can simply look at the expiration date on the photocopy and record it. If the info is correct, no one would know about it.
4 - I take the exam regardless but cancel the score in the end.
Although I was wishing for #3, my action was #4. I went ahead and took the exam to make sure $150 was worth something, at least. At the end of the exam, I cancelled the score. No reports to school, no score on my permanent record, and no illegal action taken (for the most part). And, I have no idea what I scored.
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So here is my analysis. The fastest and simplest way to resolve this situation was simply for her to read my photocopy and record the expiration [because that's all she needed] date. Done deal. However, she refused to do so. Why? My best guess would be she didn't want to get fired in any sort of way. Yes, I do somewhat concur with her action. She was just following rules. And perhaps that is what American culture is all about. American workers are bound by rules. There is no room for exception or flexibility unlike Asian countries. Was she being ethical? I think so to an certain extent. In fact, that's why rules exist - so people can follow. But how much is too much following? Are we in a society that people MUST obey rules. Is there a room for people to think about and be a little flexible with the the set of rules they follow? Maybe or maybe not. There is a fear that once exception has been made it creates a chain reaction. What's obvious was "rules" rule in her mindset. Perhaps that's why Americans seem to portray a lot more ethical and less corrupted by other nations. But then, I could elaborate numerous things that could be unethical in this country as well.
Question still remains though, should such strict rules be enforced? What are we really training these people about? Are we really training people to become robot to the rules or someone who can actually think and do something about it when it's not a textbook-case. Nevertheless, is this something what we call "ethical"? For my case, I think she could've used her thought for a little bit. Is passport really that much more important over than sending a student away who paid $150 for nothing? I don't know. I guess it all depends on which perspective you are in. As objective I've tried to be with this situation, it seems ridiculous. If green card and driver's license are unacceptable, then what was the point of me getting green card after spending 3 years and unaccounted hours of work getting it?
Why is passport so important to ETS when no one is using it? I mean no one including jobs, applications, etc - none except ETS. No other standardized test companies act that way too (except GMAT, I suppose). Why such a big deal? What is the significance of such strict identification policy?
Am I perceiving everything wrong?
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