no additional time, no pause, no nothing. Everyone just acted like it wasn't happening.

fidelio, I took the exam in Atlanta.

I definitely agree that the GMAT is a much more pleasant and risk-free experience (from personal experience - I have my Master's in Finance and took the GMAT in South Korea). They give you noise cancellation headphones, scratch paper, and the timing is completely automated through a computer. Because I finished several sections with plenty of time left, I was allowed to leave and go to the restroom/stretch, etc.

As far as the water bottle thing is concerned, there doesn't seem to be a whole lot of logic to that, so let's try to give them ten reasons:

(1) They don't know what's in your bottle if they can't see through the label. It could be the "special drink" in Space Jam that helped the Tunes defeat the Monstars. On the other hand, the special drink turned out to just be water (like you, they had it in them all along!). On the other hand, you have five fingers.

(2) The LSAT can't tolerate you NOT having water (or any illicit substance) in your bottle. They need to ensure you are hydrated for several reasons, one of which is apparently needing to run from, or put out, a fire.

(3) LSAC will not tolerate you performing product placement to potential law students.

(4) Law students and potential law students are particularly competitive. You wouldn't want a cut-throat fellow student to roofie you to try to break the curve. Being able to see if the water is clear eliminates many possible harmful substances, though not all. I hear drinking Moutain Dew Baja Blast instantly brings down your IQ by 14 points. (I still drink it).

(5) It's common knowledge that if someone turns the Deer on the Deer Park label to 3 o'clock, the answer to number 27 in the Logical Reasoning section is definitely C. It's not technically cheating since there's never 27 questions for LR, but the LSAC admins are sticklers here.

(6) Let's be honest, we can't all afford Fiji (side note, I can). LSAC knows this, and in order to foster culture inclusivity, without other students feeling inferior, they cannot allow students to showcase their purchase power via water bottles. But in my heart of hearts, I know that my square bottle made it crystal clear (get it?) that I was the best person in the room.

(7) Who can forget the Dasani cheating scandal of February 1992? It was just weeks after Tonya Harding put out a hit on Nancy Kerrigan's shins (the key to lying is specificity...)

(8) Only if there is no label will we not be uncertain that there isn't a magical genie in our water bottle that is granting our wishes by giving us the answers. They even used that exact wording in their proposal. The ultimate irony is that genies always find ways to undermine their masters, so LSAC really has our best interest in mind with this one.

(9) LSAC realizes that throwing in a random nonsensical rule or two will give us something to think or talk about that muddles the actual issues that pop up, like fire alarms, bad proctors, and the occassional but not-so-occassional poorly worded question.

(10) They just needed to make up another rule to exert authority and cover themselves in the name of fairness and due diligence.

Now that I've written all those, I've convinced myself. Shame on your for thinking you could bring in your water bottle label!

PS What's extra bizarre is that the water bottle stays in your zip lock bag under your desk anyway. PPS mine said Kroger. PPPS One point that hasn't been mentioned is that no one in the room, including the proctors, moved a muscle either to turn off the alarm, or at least ensure that there isn't a fire that we should be running from.

Follow Up (From Original Poster):

Guys,

Something else weird happened. In the middle of the test (3rd section, post fire alarm), I suddenly had a hand on my shoulder. I looked up and it was one of the proctors, who (politely) informed me that when I cross out an answer choice, I need to only make one line (presumably because it was making noise).

A little background information: I was an LSAT instructor for Kaplan for many years (began while a junior at Duke) and I, like JY, and like all of the test course curriculi, advise students to mark out answer choices completely.

My response to the proctor was a very apologetic "I'm so sorry!" and I did exactly as he requested, but it completely threw me off because I had used this strategy for 8 months (I completed tests every Saturday since April, i.e. 30 straight Saturdays and 3 additional days, hence 33 Practice Tests). It also made me feel embarassed, and looking around wondering if someone had complained, etc. It's bizarre because the last thing I would want to do is distract another student, but keeping your pencil moving is one of the hallmarks of a high scorer test taker, and it's like, am I being told my pencil is too loud in the building where the fire alarm just went off for 8 minutes???

Anyway just venting and thanks for your support and thoughts. :)

Lol I didn't score a 177 on all 33. I have been on the last 8 or so leading up to the test. Thanks for the great advice guys!!

thanks jdawg!!!!!!