Bubbling

marryam_k

What are people's thoughts/preferences on bubbling? Do you bubble as you go or at the end of each section? Also is it safe to roughly fill in the bubbles(by roughly, I mean a quick dark scribble), I have this paranoia of having my answer sheet misread, so I find myself wasting a lot of time filling in the circle "properly"..

zhenders

Time-wise, bubbling at the very end is much, much more efficient -- I highly recommend that. Regardless of where I am, I start bubbling when I have 1:30 remainding (less on LG because I find it's quicker to bubble).

I wouldn't worry too much about filling the whole bubble in -- use your dullest pencil for bubbling, start in the middle, and bubble 2/3 or more of it. It should take less than half a second for each bubble It's definitely overkill to fill up the entire space; the scanner will go right through the center; just make sure you don't leave the center unmarked, and you should be good to go.

Also, a second reason why NOT to waste a lot of time bubbling: In the event that the scanner doesn't read all of your bubbles, You can pay a bit extra for them to re-grade it by hand -- in which case it will be very, very obvious what answer you chose, even if it isn't "perfectly" bubbled.

LSATisland

My habit was to bubble whenever turning pages. In RC and LG, pages turn at the end of each section (1 passage, 1 game). As for filling, I was also a bit paranoid. I filled them fully; it takes less than a second. I also double checked to make sure I transferred properly.

Whatever you decide on, it will be okay. Just develop a habit so that it is seamless and reliable for test day.

As zhenders pointed out, you can always pay a fee for LSAC to hand-check it. But better to avoid that, if you can. (Imagine paying to hand-check and LSAC notices they misread a correct answer, and detract a point or two.)

LSATisland

Man, I totally remember all these thoughts and worries. It'll be fine. It's really just another test. After all the Prep, an LSAT test is just a typical day. (That's probably why I have this LSAT withdrawal.) If I can help in any way, please let me know.

johnscottwilsonsr499

i wait it after the 5 minute mark to bubble. i was scarred too, but after a number of pTs I am not finding a copy error problem.

FerdaFresh

Bumping this to ask a more specific bubbling question -- does anybody set aside a separate "bubbling pencil" that's already dull before the beginning of the test? If not, would you personally consider this strategy?

I find filling in Scantrons with dull pencils to be quicker and I find marking up any section with sharp pencils to be preferable.

Sami

@marryam_k said:
What are people's thoughts/preferences on bubbling? Do you bubble as you go or at the end of each section? Also is it safe to roughly fill in the bubbles(by roughly, I mean a quick dark scribble), I have this paranoia of having my answer sheet misread, so I find myself wasting a lot of time filling in the circle "properly"..

I bubble after every game, every RC passage and between every page turn for LR (so after two pages). I take my time to make sure there is no bubbling error by letting my fingers guide me.

I have never taken more than two minutes combined to bubble in so although it feels like it wastes a lot of time, I don't think its actually the case. Also, I think its well worth it to slow down to make sure I don't make any errors. So up to you, I just wouldn't want to feel rushed about bubbling on the real test.

@FerdaFresh
I have actually thought about doing that because bubbling in with dull pencils is so much quicker. I may give that a go! Thanks for that tip.

FerdaFresh

@Sami I'm glad someone as capable as you gives this idea credence! Hope it makes a positive difference

AllezAllez21

@FerdaFresh and @Sami I bubbled on page turns.

AND DULL PENCILS ARE THE WAY TO GO!! But actually. I just used a dull pencil for the entire test. You get used to it and you bubble way faster.

akistotle

I just realized this is a four-year-old thread!

@FerdaFresh said:
@Sami I'm glad someone as capable as you gives this idea credence! Hope it makes a positive difference

@AllezAllez21 said:
@FerdaFresh and @Sami I bubbled on page turns.

Me too! I think J.Y. does it that way too.

@AllezAllez21 said:
AND DULL PENCILS ARE THE WAY TO GO!! But actually. I just used a dull pencil for the entire test. You get used to it and you bubble way faster.

Oh maybe I should start using dull pencils!

Alex

@AllezAllez21 said:
@FerdaFresh and @Sami I bubbled on page turns.

AND DULL PENCILS ARE THE WAY TO GO!! But actually. I just used a dull pencil for the entire test. You get used to it and you bubble way faster.

The real question is (especially since you scored so damn well ) is what brand pencil do you use?

For bubbling, I bubble in after I finish each question on LR/RC. And I bubble in after every game. I don't know if I do that deliberately or that's just how I do it. I may try it the way Sami and Allez do it though.

AllezAllez21

I'm sure the difference between dull and sharp pencils is like max 10-15 seconds, but it's an easy marginal gain.

@"Alex Divine" I just used the basic yellow ticonderoga pencils. I never really got into all the pencil nuances.

btate87

This is a little off topic from the dull/sharp pencil thing (I do like the dull pencil idea, though). I bubble after every 2 pages as well, but I do something else that seems to save a bit of time (maybe just for me because I get a little paranoid about getting off). If a 2 page set is #'s 12-19, I bubble in in reverse order (19, 18, 17, etc). I started doing this after a minor mishap where I realized I was off by a bubble or two in one section, and I noticed I was then wasting time checking every single number as I went to avoid another mistake. Now I just spend an extra second making sure I'm starting on the right end number and only focus on the order of the letters as I copy. You also know every two pages if you're off because you won't connect properly to the previous set of bubbles, and you won't accidentally keep bubbling in a number or two off from where you should be as you're always double checking the last number of the set.

FerdaFresh

@btate87 that's a great idea!

saturnsun

@marryam_k said:
What are people's thoughts/preferences on bubbling? Do you bubble as you go or at the end of each section? Also is it safe to roughly fill in the bubbles(by roughly, I mean a quick dark scribble), I have this paranoia of having my answer sheet misread, so I find myself wasting a lot of time filling in the circle "properly"..

I actually bubble after each individual LR question, as it gives me the tiniest break to re-gather my thoughts for the next question, and then I never have to worry about going back. For LG and RC, I bubble at the end of each game/passage. I'm usually pretty anal when it comes to filling in the entire bubble. On the Sept. 2017 exam, I did change 1 of my answers and completely erased the bubble I had filled in, and while I was still credited for the right answer, the scan of my answer sheet shows both bubbles filled in! The wrong answer I had erased was just much lighter. Kind of freaked me out. :-)

OlamHafuch

@"gillian.s.hawley" said:

@marryam_k said:
What are people's thoughts/preferences on bubbling? Do you bubble as you go or at the end of each section? Also is it safe to roughly fill in the bubbles(by roughly, I mean a quick dark scribble), I have this paranoia of having my answer sheet misread, so I find myself wasting a lot of time filling in the circle "properly"..

I actually bubble after each individual LR question, as it gives me the tiniest break to re-gather my thoughts for the next question, and then I never have to worry about going back. For LG and RC, I bubble at the end of each game/passage. I'm usually pretty anal when it comes to filling in the entire bubble. On the Sept. 2017 exam, I did change 1 of my answers and completely erased the bubble I had filled in, and while I was still credited for the right answer, the scan of my answer sheet shows both bubbles filled in! The wrong answer I had erased was just much lighter. Kind of freaked me out. :-)

I think that they seriously darken the marks on the scan that they send you in your report. I, too, had a couple of instances where I completely erased marks but on the scan they sent it looked like I bubbled two answers.