@ I want to say that does not sound familiar

Accidentally posted :)

@ I don't recall black and white lizards, but we had one on some type of amphibian (geckos or lizards) who eats gnats that live in a wet climate. Does that help?

@ Does this help:

I believe my first LR had a question about gnats in wet climates, and my second one had a question about whether a decision could be moral if there was or was not an alternative action that was also morally acceptable.

Updated to confirm which sections were real. LMK if you remember something else that would make my reply more clear!

@ they do often recycle similar questions, though.

Of course, now I cannot remember a single example... but there have been times when a topic, let's say Bees, is on five or six tests in a row, and all of the questions about the bees are extremely similar. There were two PTs I took last week where the answer to the question in the earlier PT was the same answer to the same question in a later PT, but the particular wording of the question and answer was different (so much so, actually, that I had been looking for the original answer, completely missed it under the new wording, and got the question wrong).

Anyone take the Sabbath observer test today?

@

No. They give a different exam for people who do not test on Saturdays so that we can't call yall up and ask what's on the exam :) (or some reason like that, I assume). And to add to that, they give a different exam each day, so someone who might take it abroad tomorrow won't have the same test as you or as me.

@.rizeq actually, this is my second test (of 2) with a reading experimental. I practiced almost exclusively with reading as a 5th section, and it makes me much calmer for the actual exam. I recommend doing the same, and then you'llbe pleasantly surprised if it's not.

That I had 2 readings today did not cause the bad experience. And it was better than last time when they were sections 3 and 5, with section 3 being experimental and my running out of steam before I could finish 5. This time they were 1 and 3, so over and done immediately.

I am a Sabbath observer tester. Had a hellish day, but would love to know which of my two readings was the experimental, if anyone else took today.

@.rizeq thanks! I don't know why I missed that originally :)

Got to love using that calculator on reading comp

Sorry, let me be clearer. I spoke with them last year-- not in 2014-- about applications for last and for this year.

I graduated in 2014 and spoke with Columbia admissions in person. They will accept two professors uf you can acquire two professors. The employer LOR is only to benefit people who cannot get recommendations from professors because they graduated too long ago to still have a really good relationship. If you can get 2 professors, they prefer it, even a few years out.

Glad I could help! The situation sounds terrible. I remember after my incident I was such a wreck for the weeks in between. It's so frustrating knowing you put in all that effort only to have something completely beyond your control happen...

Let me know if you have any more questions about the general process of filing a complaint, etc.!

At least for your situation you have multiple people to corroborate your story, and I think that is likely to get the LSAC to do something for you because a full testing center was affected.

Btw, why didn't the proctor just roll it back to 27 minutes? He could have made that decision himself, lol.

I skimmed, so pardon if I am repeating things other people said...

As far as writing to the LSAT, I know you did, but for anyone else in a similar situation WRITE THEM IMMEDIATELY. There is literally no harm in writing to them for a problem, most problems will be resolved by the time they send out scores and thus will not result in a delay.

I had a very bad test experience in September (proctor did not show up until half an hour after the scheduled time and the testing center had no record of a test being held that day, construction going on in the room next door, etc...) -- not as disruptive during the exam but it did affect my entire performance. Supposedly the proctor also filed a report agreeing with me, but I have my doubts on that (she mentioned it to me today, but the reply I'd gotten from the LSAC makes me suspicious). They did the same form letter "we are looking into this, we have a hold on your file, you can wait to cancel until we reply."

About two to three weeks later-- a few days before they were set to send out scores for everyone-- I received an email basically saying that given the situation, they would allow me to cancel. If I cancelled, I would automatically be registered for the next exam for free but the test would count as one of my three times taking it and would show up as a "cancel" (and obviously I wouldn't see my score). If I got my score, I would have to sign up and pay myself if I wanted to retake. I opted for the latter, as it was counting anyways.

Having spoken with admissions officers from Columbia and NYU, I can answer that they definitely want you to write an addendum in that situation and that they will definitely take it into account. I believe NYU mentioned that if there is a 6+ point discrepancy, they will not average them together if you add an addendum, and Columbia said that they want you to write even if you felt a little sick. Columbia said that a detailed essay is not necessary, they are fine with a short "Someone came into our test room with the intent of distracting test takers in an attempt to make them fail the exam. Security was called, but we lost the eight minutes from that event."

I had seen that on one occasion, a proctor to a large group docked 5 minutes on each section and the LSAC added a point or two to everyone's score from that test center. Another post said a (different) proctor docked 3 minutes and the LSAC decided those scores were not statistically significantly worse and did not add any points. Obviously in my case, they only offered to sign me up for free. I believe that they will at least offer to sign you up for free, but don't get your hopes too high :)

A similar situation happened to me before I took December. I was scoring near target, and then a month befor the test, score dropped. I psyched myself out so much. At the time, for various reasons, I couldn't take a proper break or I'd risk not having enough experience with the full 3 hours, but that was a huge mistake.

You are doing well. Take a break and try not to psych yourself out. Redo some tests you did a while ago (perhaps untimed? It will give you more time to think out what's going on, like a BR the first go-around), and your score will go back up. That confidence will boost you into your next exam, and your score will get better.

My biggest mistake the first time around was not just that I let myself get psyched out, but that I doubted that I even psyched myself out in the first place. I had a lot of subconscious test anxiety.

Since when is the 2x2 requirement new? I strongly recall trying to make sure my December '15 photo fit in a 2x2.