GRE Prep Club Rules
Posting of Real GRE Questions
GRE Prep Club does not allow posting of real GRE questions - all such posts will be removed by moderators and disciplinary actions will be taken against offenders
Signatures
If your signature has a link, you MUST have a reciprocal link to GRE Prep Club on your site - otherwise your signature will be promptly deleted.
We do not wish to restrict your right to display personal views, ideology, etc. but please remain respectful of others in your signature lines. Members whose signatures include any of the following will be promptly banned:
- Affiliate links
- Commercial links
- Spam
Here are some suggestions when creating your signature:
- Use the regular font size.
- A few lines should be more than enough for a signature.
- Signature should comply with regular posting rules.
- Do not make your signature too long or disruptive.
- You don't need to put your username in your signature as it's already on the top of each of your posts.
Should you wish not to view signatures, you may disable them. To do so, go to User Control Panel and click on Board Preferences --> Display Options and then switch Display Signatures setting into the "No" position.
If you have any signature questions, send a private message to a moderator or administrator
Multiple Usernames
For a number of reasons, members are not allowed to have multiple GRE Prep Club accounts or usernames. Multiple accounts will be closed.
Abuse of Kudos
Any kind of Kudos cheating might lead to an immediate permanent ban (without any warning). Administrators will investigate the cases of possible cheating and impose necessary disciplinary actions as soon as possible.
Use of Usernames in Chat
Our chat is open to both registered members and guests. When in chat, guests are not allowed to impersonate other members or use any username other than their own. If you do not have a GRE Prep Club username, one will be offered to you upon login.
Post Your Thread to Just One Forum
Don't post the same thread more than once; duplicate threads will be removed.
User's Grant of Limited License
While members own the content and interest in their posts, posting on GRE Prep Club grants GRE Prep Club and its subsidiaries the right to reproduce the content in any medium without notification or compensation. Members' posts cannot be printed or duplicated in any way by a third party without the consent of the authors. Once you submit a post, GRE Prep Club has no obligation to remove or edit that post's content.
Abuse of Private Messaging and E-mails
Private messaging and e-mails obtained through GRE Prep Club while "private", still fall under the rules established here. They should not be used for commercial purposes, to send spam, to solicit cash payments, or to threaten or harass any of the members. Members who use them to circumvent the rules of the community will be subject to disciplinary action. If you receive this type of communication, report it to a moderator/administrator immediately.
Disciplinary Action
Discipline Purposes
The purpose of discipline for violating the rules is not to punish members, but to protect GRE Prep Club users and to facilitate effective discussion in GRE Prep Club forums. Moderators and administrators may consider all relevant facts before imposing discipline, including the likely effect of the member's conduct on the forum, the experience of the member, the nature of the violation and the history of discussion in the forum. Discipline may be imposed even if the member did not intend to violate the rules or even if similar conduct was tolerated earlier in the same or other forums.
Levels of Discipline Actions
If a moderator or administrator deems it effective, progressive discipline may be imposed for a rules violation. In general, progressive discipline has the following levels and each level need not be used if the moderator or administrator deems the violation to call for a different progression:
- Warning. The moderator or administrator identifies the member's improper conduct and notifies the member that future violations of that or other rules will result in suspension or revocation of membership.
- Suspension for one week. The moderator or administrator suspends a member violating the rules for one week and notifies the member that future violations of that or other rules will result in suspension for one month or revocation of membership.
- Suspension for one month. The moderator or administrator suspends a member violating the rules for one month and notifies the member that future violations of that or other rules will result in revocation of membership.
- Revocation of membership. The moderator or administrator revokes membership privileges for repeated or serious violations of the rules.
Membership Revocation
A moderator or administrator may revoke membership privileges as a first discipline if deemed reasonably necessary to prevent immediate and serious disruption in one or more forums. Examples of rules violations which may result in summary revocation are: posts from members which constitute "spam" or unbridled commercial posting, repeated cross-posting to multiple forums or posting obscene, fradulent or defamatory material.
Appeal
Discipline imposed by an administrator shall be final when imposed. If discipline was imposed by a volunteer moderator, the disciplined member may appeal to the administrator within 20 days of imposition. The appeal shall set forth the details of the discipline imposed, including the moderator's stated reasons for it and a concise statement of basis of the member's appeal. To request an appeal, submit an email via the Contact Us page. The administrator's decision on the appeal shall be final when communicated to the member.
Reinstatement
Not less than six months after revocation of membership, the former member may request reinstatement. The member shall address that request to the administrator and set forth a concise statement identifying fairly the date and grounds of revocation and the basis for seeking reinstatement. If the request is denied, a later request for reinstatement may not be made until at least one additional year has passed, unless the decision denying reinstatement sets forth a shorter time period.
Examples of Actions That Will Lead to Disciplinary Response
- Posting of Real GRE Questions
- Deliberately misquoting other members
- Using more than one GRE Prep Club account to mislead posters
- Using a username other than yours in chat
- Using GRE Prep Club for commercial purposes
- Posting private emails and messages without the author's permission
- Attempting to defraud any member
- Discussing specific moderator actions
- Personal attacks or threats on other members or groups
- Obscene or offensive language/material
- Furthering illegal activity
- Invasion of another's privacy
- Posting copyrighted material
- Padding post counts
- Padding Kudos counts
- Repeated posting of disruptive posts
- Abuse of private messaging and emails obtained through GRE Prep Club
The First Rule of GRE Prep Club
Finally, the first rule of GRE Prep Club is that you do NOT talk about GRE Prep Club (for those too young, this is a Fight Club movie reference)