Proctors: There were about 3-4 proctors circulating the room, with 1 main proctor reading off the instructions and calling time. When monitoring us, they were very quiet and did not linger for long when passing through the tables. I don't believe I ever heard them whispering during the test either. (Granted, I was towards the back and no one near me asked questions during the test.) With enforcing the rules, I was quite surprised at how strict they were as we were only allowed to wear our jackets if the hood was tucked in. Otherwise, there were no jackets allowed on the backs of our chairs. With the exception of the timing mishap below, I would consider them to be quite good overall.
Facilities: Each floor had men's, women's, and accessible washrooms. Though there was a lineup to use them, it didn't take long as there were about 5-6 stalls available (at least for the women's side). They were very clean as well. For drinking fountains, I don't believe there were any, but you could refill your water bottle on the first floor (only if your test was on that floor) at the refill station.
What kind of room: It was a huge classroom (capacity: 188) inside the Swing Building with fixed, long tables and rotatable chairs. There are stairs to walk down to the front of the room with each level comprised of three rows of tables (i.e. smaller at both ends). In terms of wheelchair access, it is only available at the front and back of the classroom.
How many in the room: I believe there were about 6-7 rows of us with about 10 per row spaced one seat apart, so probably about 60-70 students in our room alone? We were randomly assigned to rooms when we first entered the building. I believe there were 4 rooms in total (i.e. 2 on the first floor and 2 on the second floor), though I don't know how many students were in those rooms.
Desks: These were fixed, long tables with rotatable chairs attached—the ideal desktop to do a test on because it's spacious and comfortable!
Left-handed accommodation: This was not necessary due to the long tables.
Noise levels: Minimal, especially if you've practiced with the distractions on the 7Sage proctor. As I said, I don't recall hearing any of the proctors whispering during the sections. At most, there was just the rustling of pages and the occasional cough. Students chattered a bit during the break, but it was at a tolerable noise level given testing conditions.
Parking: West Parkade is right next door and has plenty of parking space. Because it was snowing that day, there was some backup of cars prior to and after the test.
Time elapsed from arrival to test: I actually arrived at the test centre at 7:20AM and was lucky to have the building open already. Check-in started prior to 8:30AM and I believe the test commenced shortly after 9AM (due to how slow we were in the admin process).
Irregularities or mishaps: In the fourth section, the proctor forgot to call the 5-minute mark but still ended the section at the proper time. However, this caught several students off-guard, resulting in some commotion (approximately 1-2 minutes) between one student and the proctor prior to the start of the final section. The proctor told us that he could not give us more time but he would make a note of it to LSAC and we could file a complaint if need be.
Other comments: I highly recommend taking the LSAT here if you live in Vancouver!
Would you take the test here again? Definitely! In fact, I chose it over a location closer to me because I was more familiar with it and knew it would be reliable.
Date[s] of Exam[s]: February 4, 2017.
