As I write this, test-takers across the world are rampantly cheating on their “GRE at Home” tests, achieving near-perfect scores, and nobody seems to be taking notice. It is happening all over the world as can be seen from this NDTV article as well as by this Indiaexpress article. The GRE test has always been revered as a safe and secure test that has emphasized preventing fraudulent activities at test centers worldwide. However, its home-based GRE service is deeply flawed that can be easily bypassed by using a mere $5 HDMI splitter and HDMI cable. Yes, that’s all it takes.
I will uncover the method that is used by fraudulent test-takers so that ETS could take appropriate measures and stop this.
However, before I proceed, we need to look at how ETS’s “GRE at Home” service works so that you, the reader, can fully understand how obnoxiously easy it is to cheat their software.
In this Article
How does the “GRE General Test at Home” work?
The GRE General Test at Home was introduced by ETS early last year in the wake of the global pandemic that caused test-centers across the world to shut down. While it seemed like a worthy initiative at the time to help students take the test despite the pandemic, it has since proved to be an utter disaster.
The test is administered through a downloadable software called “Proctor U.” All you need to be able to take the test is either a laptop or a desktop computer, a microphone, a webcam, and speakers.
You are not allowed to have anyone in the room other than yourself at any time during the test. You are required to wear appropriate clothes so that your ears are visible at all times. You can only use an erasable marker on either a small whiteboard or transparent sheet protector to take notes during the test.
A human proctor is assigned to you who will monitor you live via a webcam. Before starting the test, the proctor will ask you to show them your room by rotating your laptop or webcam (if external) by 360 degrees. This is done to “make sure” there is no one else in the room beside you. You will also be asked to show them your table and the surrounding area.
How do test-takers manage to cheat?
I am sure many of you have spotted several red flags already, but if you haven’t, then here is how the cheating works.
Standard HDMI Splitter
All you need is an HDMI splitter that you will plug into one of the HDMI ports on your computer. The next step is to connect your primary display, the one you will be using to take the test on, to one of the splitter’s female ports. The secondary display connection goes into the second port on the splitter, and voila! Now you have a mirror of your entire GRE test on another screen that is outside your room. You can get HDMI cables that are up to 50 feet in length easily. However, you may need much less depending on how far you place your computer from your room entrance.
Okay, so you have mirrored your screen to another room. What now? Who is to stop you from having some friends over who take pictures of the mirrored screen as you scroll through the test?
This is precisely what test-takers have been doing all along. They employ the help of their friends who take pictures of the questions, solve the problems, then write down the answer choices on big pieces of paper, sneak into the room and slide the paper onto the table without raising any suspicion.
The test-taker only needs to have the written answers in their peripheral vision. They don’t even have to physically turn their head if the writing is big enough and hence the proctor who is monitoring the whole thing via webcam has no reason to suspect any wrongdoing.
There are a few things to note here:
Firstly, ETS has no requirement to have your webcam directed towards the entrance door of your room.
Secondly, even if there was such a requirement, your face would be in front of the camera at all times, and hence it would be far from an effective solution.
Thirdly, what if there are multiple entrances to your room? What if someone is hiding in the washroom? How is it possible to monitor everything inside a room when there is only one camera pointed towards the test-taker?
Now, ETS claims that the “Proctor U” software uses AI to tell if you open your browser or some other third-party application on your computer. However, you don’t need to open anything on the computer you are taking the test on. You only need to patiently wait for your friends to do all the dirty work while you pretend to be solving the questions.
Also, you might be wondering how you can use an HDMI splitter on a laptop? Well, you don’t have to. You can directly plug-in an HDMI cable into your computer and mirror your screen that way, but it is believed that the “Proctor U” software can pick that up and notify the proctor; however, this hasn’t been verified, so I couldn’t tell you for sure. Hence, as a precaution, those who cheat tend to use a desktop computer because it lacks an internal display, and you have to use an HDMI port to connect your monitor.
An HDMI splitter is used because it negates the need for you to establish two different display connections to your desktop. The software may pick up an additional connection, but a splitter requires only one HDMI port, and from the software’s perspective, only one connection is being used.
Is cheating possible without the use of additional hardware?
100%. Even if you don’t have the required hardware to cheat on the test, you can still manage to cheat easily. It may not be as quick or risk-free as the HDMI splitter method, but it is still possible nonetheless. I won’t cover the other way in this article, but you can go here and read all about it.
So what now?
Anyone who has studied for the GRE or any other standardized test, for that matter, knows what kind of hard work it takes to learn and practice for months on end. You read through several prep books, solve thousands of questions, spend hundreds of dollars on prep material and online courses, you put your life on hold in the hopes that you will achieve a score high enough to get into your dream school and for what? So that someone corrupt can beat you without putting in even a fraction of the effort?
I am in disbelief that this has been going on for months without making it onto anyone’s radar. If you google the words “GRE Home Cheating,” only a couple of recent articles pop up from Indian websites detailing instances of cheating at prep centers. Other than that, there is no real discussion on the topic except for a few posts on Reddit.
Whoever is reading this, please share this article on all your socials so that ETS can take notice of what is happening.
This article is meant to shed light on the reality of home-based GRE tests, which I wouldn’t be able to do without going into the detail of how it all works. I don’t want this article to be a tutorial for those looking for ways to cheat on their GRE. Hence, now that I have published it, I want it to reach the concerned authorities. Otherwise, it will only serve as a “how-to” for fraudulent individuals.
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