Scioly.org

Wallytowers wrote:While it's great that they are trying to protect the security of the exams, teams with upcoming competitions are now left wasting valuable days of preparation time without the exams to look through. There has to be a better way to deal with exam distribution. If they knew that this was the method for distribution, then the exams should have been prepared in advance for timely distribution. Will definitely reconsider attending next year because the exam distribution is ALWAYS a problem.

This point has been brought up a lot all over the forums, and honestly, I think a better solution is to use those “valuable days of preparation time” to continue to study other resources on the internet (there are plenty out there, and it’s very likely that there are event supervisors that sourced quite a bit of the content they used on their exams through searching on the internet) rather than to spend them just waiting for the tests to come back. The tests will come, and since they aren’t the only resources available to you right now, you might as well try to get some actual studying done while you wait.

pikachu4919 wrote:

Wallytowers wrote:While it's great that they are trying to protect the security of the exams, teams with upcoming competitions are now left wasting valuable days of preparation time without the exams to look through. There has to be a better way to deal with exam distribution. If they knew that this was the method for distribution, then the exams should have been prepared in advance for timely distribution. Will definitely reconsider attending next year because the exam distribution is ALWAYS a problem.

This point has been brought up a lot all over the forums, and honestly, I think a better solution is to use those “valuable days of preparation time” to continue to study other resources on the internet (there are plenty out there, and it’s very likely that there are event supervisors that sourced quite a bit of the content they used on their exams through searching on the internet) rather than to spend them just waiting for the tests to come back. The tests will come, and since they aren’t the only resources available to you right now, you might as well try to get some actual studying done while you wait.

As a coach that has just had the students/parents pay collectively thousands of dollars to attend, that really is not acceptable in my opinion. It may differ from the MIT board, but you are providing a service to the students and schools in attendance. All other invitationals, you leave with a flash drive or receive the Drive/Dropbox files within 24 hours.

My students have been looking through plenty of resources, but they always look forward to the MIT exams for the final push through regionals. They appreciate the rigor and are huge studying tools for their preparation.

Wallytowers wrote:

pikachu4919 wrote:

Wallytowers wrote:While it's great that they are trying to protect the security of the exams, teams with upcoming competitions are now left wasting valuable days of preparation time without the exams to look through. There has to be a better way to deal with exam distribution. If they knew that this was the method for distribution, then the exams should have been prepared in advance for timely distribution. Will definitely reconsider attending next year because the exam distribution is ALWAYS a problem.

This point has been brought up a lot all over the forums, and honestly, I think a better solution is to use those “valuable days of preparation time” to continue to study other resources on the internet (there are plenty out there, and it’s very likely that there are event supervisors that sourced quite a bit of the content they used on their exams through searching on the internet) rather than to spend them just waiting for the tests to come back. The tests will come, and since they aren’t the only resources available to you right now, you might as well try to get some actual studying done while you wait.

As a coach that has just had the students/parents pay collectively thousands of dollars to attend, that really is not acceptable in my opinion. It may differ from the MIT board, but you are providing a service to the students and schools in attendance. All other invitationals, you leave with a flash drive or receive the Drive/Dropbox files within 24 hours.

My students have been looking through plenty of resources, but they always look forward to the MIT exams for the final push through regionals. They appreciate the rigor and are huge studying tools for their preparation.

I have a couple reactions to this. 1) I think this is another good argument for having immediate public publishing of all tests, as it would decrease the need for transferral of files as the files would be available online regardless. 2) I would argue that the majority of the service that is being provided is the experience of the tournament itself, and the acquisition of resources after the completion of the tournament are more of a secondary benefit. Thus, I'm not sure that the inclusion of the "thousand of dollars" is necessarily the best argument for encouraging quick transferral of test files. Of these two thoughts, though, I definitely feel stronger about the first, as the second is a little more nitpicky and deals with more how the points were presented.

Wallytowers wrote:

pikachu4919 wrote:

Wallytowers wrote:While it's great that they are trying to protect the security of the exams, teams with upcoming competitions are now left wasting valuable days of preparation time without the exams to look through. There has to be a better way to deal with exam distribution. If they knew that this was the method for distribution, then the exams should have been prepared in advance for timely distribution. Will definitely reconsider attending next year because the exam distribution is ALWAYS a problem.

This point has been brought up a lot all over the forums, and honestly, I think a better solution is to use those “valuable days of preparation time” to continue to study other resources on the internet (there are plenty out there, and it’s very likely that there are event supervisors that sourced quite a bit of the content they used on their exams through searching on the internet) rather than to spend them just waiting for the tests to come back. The tests will come, and since they aren’t the only resources available to you right now, you might as well try to get some actual studying done while you wait.

As a coach that has just had the students/parents pay collectively thousands of dollars to attend, that really is not acceptable in my opinion. It may differ from the MIT board, but you are providing a service to the students and schools in attendance. All other invitationals, you leave with a flash drive or receive the Drive/Dropbox files within 24 hours.

My students have been looking through plenty of resources, but they always look forward to the MIT exams for the final push through regionals. They appreciate the rigor and are huge studying tools for their preparation.

Wow, if you really receive tests back that quickly, that’s insanely fast. In my day, there were competitions I attended that never ended up giving us blank electronic copies of the full set of tests at all. So be grateful if tournaments really give you that kind of luxury service and don’t be so nitpicky towards those who don’t. Not everyone can get all that stuff together THAT quickly, and I assure you they’re doing their best to get the tests back to you as soon as possible. And my main point is that in the meantime, just chill, and a good use of time would be to study other resources that are right in front of you, such as the internet, while you wait for the tests to come back.

Wallytowers wrote:
As a coach that has just had the students/parents pay collectively thousands of dollars to attend, that really is not acceptable in my opinion. It may differ from the MIT board, but you are providing a service to the students and schools in attendance. All other invitationals, you leave with a flash drive or receive the Drive/Dropbox files within 24 hours.

My students have been looking through plenty of resources, but they always look forward to the MIT exams for the final push through regionals. They appreciate the rigor and are huge studying tools for their preparation.

In my experience, tournaments typically take between 2-7 days to release the full set of tests to participating teams. I am responsible for this effort at the Solon Invitational, and it is a larger task than you would imagine, even without customized watermarks.

EastStroudsburg13 wrote:

Wallytowers wrote:

pikachu4919 wrote:
This point has been brought up a lot all over the forums, and honestly, I think a better solution is to use those “valuable days of preparation time” to continue to study other resources on the internet (there are plenty out there, and it’s very likely that there are event supervisors that sourced quite a bit of the content they used on their exams through searching on the internet) rather than to spend them just waiting for the tests to come back. The tests will come, and since they aren’t the only resources available to you right now, you might as well try to get some actual studying done while you wait.

As a coach that has just had the students/parents pay collectively thousands of dollars to attend, that really is not acceptable in my opinion. It may differ from the MIT board, but you are providing a service to the students and schools in attendance. All other invitationals, you leave with a flash drive or receive the Drive/Dropbox files within 24 hours.

My students have been looking through plenty of resources, but they always look forward to the MIT exams for the final push through regionals. They appreciate the rigor and are huge studying tools for their preparation.

I have a couple reactions to this. 1) I think this is another good argument for having immediate public publishing of all tests, as it would decrease the need for transferral of files as the files would be available online regardless. 2) I would argue that the majority of the service that is being provided is the experience of the tournament itself, and the acquisition of resources after the completion of the tournament are more of a secondary benefit. Thus, I'm not sure that the inclusion of the "thousand of dollars" is necessarily the best argument for encouraging quick transferral of test files. Of these two thoughts, though, I definitely feel stronger about the first, as the second is a little more nitpicky and deals with more how the points were presented.

The level of frustration is always high this time of year, and at 1am, the lines if reasoning are haphazard. For larger universities, perhaps I could see the release of exams not hurting them from getting the attendance for the experience. Smaller invitationals may go to the wayside, however, as they may not get the draw of teams for the price tags included for bussing. It's easier to justify to parents the cost of an MIT vs the cost of a high school invy in a neighboring state. If these exams were released, the experience may not necessarily be deemed worthwhile for the middle of the road school.

nicholasmaurer wrote:

Wallytowers wrote:
As a coach that has just had the students/parents pay collectively thousands of dollars to attend, that really is not acceptable in my opinion. It may differ from the MIT board, but you are providing a service to the students and schools in attendance. All other invitationals, you leave with a flash drive or receive the Drive/Dropbox files within 24 hours.

My students have been looking through plenty of resources, but they always look forward to the MIT exams for the final push through regionals. They appreciate the rigor and are huge studying tools for their preparation.

In my experience, tournaments typically take between 2-7 days to release the full set of tests to participating teams. I am responsible for this effort at the Solon Invitational, and it is a larger task than you would imagine, even without customized watermarks.

We must be spoiled in the northeast. All of the tournaments we go to have a much quicker turnaround. When we supervise, we usually have to submit digitally in advance or on flash drives at morning registration to facilitate the turnover.

Wallytowers wrote:

nicholasmaurer wrote:

Wallytowers wrote:
As a coach that has just had the students/parents pay collectively thousands of dollars to attend, that really is not acceptable in my opinion. It may differ from the MIT board, but you are providing a service to the students and schools in attendance. All other invitationals, you leave with a flash drive or receive the Drive/Dropbox files within 24 hours.

My students have been looking through plenty of resources, but they always look forward to the MIT exams for the final push through regionals. They appreciate the rigor and are huge studying tools for their preparation.

In my experience, tournaments typically take between 2-7 days to release the full set of tests to participating teams. I am responsible for this effort at the Solon Invitational, and it is a larger task than you would imagine, even without customized watermarks.

We must be spoiled in the northeast. All of the tournaments we go to have a much quicker turnaround. When we supervise, we usually have to submit digitally in advance or on flash drives at morning registration to facilitate the turnover.

We also ask for digital submission in advance, but there are frequently last minute changes, mistakes identified during the tournament, or supervisors who do not submit all of the needed documents. Given all of the other duties a host school has on the day of the tournament (and afterwards with cleanup etc.) it can take a few days for all of these details to be ironed out.

nicholasmaurer wrote:

Wallytowers wrote:

nicholasmaurer wrote:
In my experience, tournaments typically take between 2-7 days to release the full set of tests to participating teams. I am responsible for this effort at the Solon Invitational, and it is a larger task than you would imagine, even without customized watermarks.

We must be spoiled in the northeast. All of the tournaments we go to have a much quicker turnaround. When we supervise, we usually have to submit digitally in advance or on flash drives at morning registration to facilitate the turnover.

We also ask for digital submission in advance, but there are frequently last minute changes, mistakes identified during the tournament, or supervisors who do not submit all of the needed documents. Given all of the other duties a host school has on the day of the tournament (and afterwards with cleanup etc.) it can take a few days for all of these details to be ironed out.

Y’all got your team packets at the end of the tournament containing your teams’ tests. Some of those tests do have the questions on them, and you can put some of the topics from those into google and read up on them while you wait as well.

pikachu4919 wrote:

Wallytowers wrote:As a coach that has just had the students/parents pay collectively thousands of dollars to attend, that really is not acceptable in my opinion. It may differ from the MIT board, but you are providing a service to the students and schools in attendance. All other invitationals, you leave with a flash drive or receive the Drive/Dropbox files within 24 hours.

My students have been looking through plenty of resources, but they always look forward to the MIT exams for the final push through regionals. They appreciate the rigor and are huge studying tools for their preparation.

Wow, if you really receive tests back that quickly, that’s insanely fast. In my day, there were competitions I attended that never ended up giving us blank electronic copies of the full set of tests at all. So be grateful if tournaments really give you that kind of luxury service and don’t be so nitpicky towards those who don’t. Not everyone can get all that stuff together THAT quickly, and I assure you they’re doing their best to get the tests back to you as soon as possible. And my main point is that in the meantime, just chill, and a good use of time would be to study other resources that are right in front of you, such as the internet, while you wait for the tests to come back.

nicholasmaurer wrote:In my experience, tournaments typically take between 2-7 days to release the full set of tests to participating teams. I am responsible for this effort at the Solon Invitational, and it is a larger task than you would imagine, even without customized watermarks.

So, I have two perspectives here. One being that, I agree, getting tests back that quickly is incredibly fast (the 2-7 days that Nick mentioned is accurate in my experience). Until this year, Brookwood was the only Div C invitational in Georgia that gave back blank tests, and it usually still takes a week or so (though all of that has been changing for the better recently). On the other hand, having collected and distributed tests for our invitational for the last two years, it doesn't really take that much effort. If I were not too tired to do anything after the tournament, I would probably have the tests for our invitational out within a few hours of awards, completely ready.

Wallytowers wrote:The level of frustration is always high this time of year, and at 1am, the lines if reasoning are haphazard. For larger universities, perhaps I could see the release of exams not hurting them from getting the attendance for the experience. Smaller invitationals may go to the wayside, however, as they may not get the draw of teams for the price tags included for bussing. It's easier to justify to parents the cost of an MIT vs the cost of a high school invy in a neighboring state. If these exams were released, the experience may not necessarily be deemed worthwhile for the middle of the road school.

Definitely agree here. I doubt we'll see even moderately common public releases in any area of the nation for 15+ years, if/when invitationals and tests become so common that they're no longer as valued.