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Multiple watches on desk during proctored LSATs?
From my understanding, watches like the 180 LSAT watch which reset to 0 with the press of a button are banned. I currently have the Perfect Score Watch: https://www.amazon.com/Perfect-Score-Watch-Version-LSAT/dp/B073Z8GG32/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1529022556&sr=8-1&keywords=lsat+watch
It's nice, but a little frustrating because while you can easily reset the "minute hand" to the 0 minutes mark by pulling the crown out and turning it, there's no way to reset the "second hand" to 0 besides pushing in the crown and waiting for it to line up with the 0 mark. This is an issue because you have less than a minute between sections.
I remember reading a strategy by J.Y. that involved having 3 watches on your desk. Each one's set to 0 minutes and 0 seconds before the test, and as each section's starting, all you have to do is press the crown in on one of the watches - this method eliminates the need for reseting your watch in the short ~30 seconds of time that you have in between sections. For sections 4 and 5, you have the ~15 minute break to reset your watches completely to 0 minutes and 0 seconds.
This comes down to your watch hitting 0 within less than a minute of when 35 minutes is actually over, but it's just one of those small things that bug me and these watches cost $20 a piece which isn't too much of an extra cost. Also, I always get worried about when I'm reviewing answers and the last couple minutes, I might get caught in the middle of changing an answer as the test proctor calls that time is up. Obviously these are pretty minor things, but if I can completely reduce these concerns just by spending and extra $40 bucks and dealing with funny looks at the test center, I think it's worth it. Plus, It'd definitely give me a peace of mind knowing that I can look at my watch and know how much time I have left, down to the second.
I've actually done some browsing on the internet and came across some reddit threads about having multiple watches for the LSAT, but most of the replies were calling the OP too lazy to pull the crown out and reset it to 0. I was honestly shocked that none of the posters that I saw even mentioned the issue of the resetting the "second hand" to 0 seconds.
I took a look at LSAC's policies and here is the one regarding what you can have on your desk:
Test takers may have ONLY the following items on the desktop:
tissues
valid ID
LSAT Admission Ticket (until it is collected)
No. 2 or HB pencils
an eraser
a pencil sharpener
a highlighter
analog (nondigital) wristwatch
As you can see, it doesn't really say whether you can have multiple watches, and I could see the policy being interpreted both ways.
One reddit poster did bring up a good point though - having multiple watches will definitely look unusual and may attract attention from others, especially the test proctors. While I honestly don't care about other test takers thinking I'm a nerd, I can see how drawing extra attention from the test proctors could be annoying.
So, does anyone here have insight on this topic?
Comments
Just pull the crown out and reset it
Wow, I just can't imagine having three separate watches during the test. Why don't you try your method when you PT and see how you do? When I PT'd last year I used a regular watch with large numbers and no second hand. I would pull out the crown and reset it to noon as soon as they called time. So, pencil down, reset watch and wait the 30 seconds or so for the next section. It was really no big deal for me - I got used to doing this because I would always do it during my PTs. Good luck - I say do whatever feels most comfortable for you and definitely follow that approach during your PTs.
Have you tried just getting the cheap rotating bezel watch JY recommends? I tried that out first, had no issues, and now can't imagine putting any extra thought into time keeping.
I think you guys completely missed the point of what I was talking about - there's no problem with resetting the minute hand. It only takes me like 5 seconds to do that.
The one I'm referring to is the hand that ticks every second. Like when you count "One Mississippi, two Mississippi, three Mississippi." There are 60 seconds in a minute and this "hand" keeps track of that - I own plenty of watches, and none of them have a crown that lets me adjust this "hand" that I just referred to.
Maybe this is just hard to explain in words? Or do you guys have watches that have multiple crowns? I can't imagine that a cheap rotating bezel watch would have this feature.
@Tom_Tango
@LCMama2017
@btate87
You don’t want to be staring at your watch looking at the seconds while you are finishing an answer. Within the minute is fine, really. Honestly, I doubt you’ll even look at it after the proctor calls 5 minutes. I used the rotating bezel. Never reset the time to 0 or 12 or whatever. Just move the 25 mark to whatever time it was when the section started and knew I ended when the minute hand got to the arrow. I forgot to reset this twice during the actual exam. It’s frantic and it’s fast. Shit happens. The more you practice timed sections the more comfortable you’ll be. I wouldn’t stress out about buying 3 watches and worrying about what one to look at during each section. All that said idk if it’s allowed or not. Probably no one would say anything. Wear one and put one on the desk? If you must.
I had three watches during June 2018 LSAT. It was not an issue. I started each watch at the beginning of new section.
It wouldn't be "staring" at my watch - literally just glancing for half a second. It's not like I'm new to taking practice tests or something - I've taken more than 60 (some retakes). It's just a passing thought I've had, since I've been stuck in the low 170s for the last ~10 or so tests, and noticed in the last minute, I sometimes freeze up knowing that my watch isn't accurate down to the second and time could be called at any moment. And yes, I do glance at my watch when there's 5 minutes left.
It's just a thought that I've been having, and like you said, "Shit happens." An ideal situation would be having all questions answered and all reviewing circled questions done well before time's up, but that's never a guarantee, especially on the real exam. Based on your experience that you described, it almost sounds like you would have benefited from having 3 watches, unless you scored 177+ when you took your test. If spending $40 more for two additional watches gets rid of worrying about a factor like this, then I think it's worth it.
My question was about whether you can actually bring 3 watches and have them on your desk, since the LSAC policy doesn't exactly say one way or the other. I've heard of people being rejected from testing centers for having the 180 watches and that's the last thing I want to happen.
Thank you! This is what I was looking for - actual experiences with having 3 watches at the testing center on your desk!
I called the LSAC about this year and you can have multiple watches and they can be on your desk.
You can also have a single highlighter but it can have multiple colors.
I used three watches for the June test too. No problem at all. Bought each of them from Walmart for 8 bucks each.
Hmm.. this is concerning. I was worried that there might be people who were told they can't have multiple watches on their desk. When was this test?
Was a little surprised reading this thread how many people didn't seem concerned with this at all. I agree with OP that being able to know down to the second, at least for me, is pretty important. I hate the feeling of having to bubble in an answer early because I want to be sure time isn't going to get called. I realize knowing the exact time is only a very marginal advantage but I think it's worth trying to get right. I've gotten pretty good at immediately resetting the bezel at the end of the section so the second hand is at zero. But if I'm off by a bit I just try and make a mental note of where the second hand will be at when it gets to 35:00. I'm thinking about trying to get a second watch as well just to make things a bit easier.
This is a really great strategy idea. I did see people with multiple watches in June 2017.
I have the perfect score watch too and I never thought about the seconds hand not being lined up perfectly...that explains why sometimes I'll be PTing and I think time is up and my proctor app doesnt call time for another minute. I'm definitely gonna buy 3 more perfect score watches and just return them on Amazon after the test lol.
IDK why everyone is tripping at you about looking at a watch. It's usually impossible to see the proctor's clock from most angles and it is good to glance at your watch every so often to make sure you are at a good pace, and it is really important to know whether or not you have 1 minute left at the end of the section or not. That's the difference between getting an answer right or wrong, or getting a chance to finish bubbling. Knowing that your watch is accurately lined up down to the seconds is important.
I don’t think there’s any rule against it, but the proctors definitely are not consistent in how things are enforced. So even if it’s allowed, there’s a small chance a proctor would tell you it’s not.
I dunno though, I’m with the crowd of saying the second hand isn’t that important. Even if you have an accurate second hand, again - even with timing, I’ve heard reports of proctors being inconsistent. Any watch you bring isn’t the official clock, so you’ll never be totally accurate with the seconds. You can’t see the precise second that the proctor starts their timer. I think it would serve you better to not rely on your own watch down to the second.
Thank you! I'm glad someone agrees with me about how it does provide an advantage, albeit marginal. I actually didn't even think about immediately pulling the crown out. It'll take practice but I also am not planning on taking the LSAT any time soon (waiting to push my generally consistent 170-173 average to 175+ consistently). I might try this strategy out, but again there is the risk of messing it up and on test day if you miss it for one section it'll mess with the next sections until the break or the test is over.
Then again, I might just e-mail LSAC, and if I get confirmation, I'll print out the e-mail and bring it on test day just in case a proctor brings the issue about.
Yeah, it's JY's strategy - I remember reading it somewhere on 7sage a while ago but can't seem to find it. I think I'm probably gonna buy 2 more watches (literally only 40 more dollars) and print out a confirmation e-mail from LSAC and bring it with me on test day.
Not to jinx myself or anything, but I did take the June 2017 LSAT (definitely wasn't at my full potential and ended up with a 167) and the proctors at this test site, which I plan on going to for future tests, was really lax. It was pretty funny, this girl was chewing gum while they were going over the instructions and when the proctor said you can't eat during the test, she asked if she could chew gum. The proctor asked her to spit her gum out, and the girl said she shouldn't have to since she's not eating it. The proctor then brought up how the chewing could be distracting to others, and the girl goes, "Well what if I don't chew the gum, just suck on it?" The proctor gave in and let her keep her gum in her mouth lol.
I did notice though - you mentioned you were gonna buy 3 more watches. You said you already have one watch. Wouldn't you just need 2 more? Then you would have 3 total. After the 3rd section, there's the 15 minute break so you have time to reset your watches (including the second hand) to 0 for the rest of the test.
I can definitely see how a lot of people could see this as unnecessary, but I'm at a point in my prep where I have a pretty solid understanding of the test. My ~20 most recent PTs are for the most part consistently between 170-173 with the occasional 169 and 174+ here and there. My BR scores have been 177+ for the last 23 PTs.
I've been trying to simulate test-day conditions and have noticed how little things like what nootropic stack to take, and what caffeinated beverage I drink before the test. For example, I recently made the switch from coffee to 5 hour energy shots since coffee makes me have to pee and I just can't make it 3 sections without having to use the restroom if I drink coffee.
At this point, my main issue is timing. I'm often scrambling during the last few minutes and during the last minute, I find myself freezing up very often, knowing that I might change an answer on a question that I boxed as uncertain and get caught with time being called as I'm doing this. Obviously, if I got to the point where I consistently PTed at 180, something like this wouldn't be an issue since I'd probably be confident with all my answers and have more than a minute to spare. But I'm not at that point, and I highly doubt I will be when I take my next real LSAT.
As far as the last part of your post, I think that's excessive. With how advanced technology is these days, I think the chance of an LSAT test proctor using a faulty time tracking device is extremely slim. Same goes for the watches I would use - when the "second hand" is reset to 0 seconds, it's right on the dot with the 7sage proctor I use. As far as when they start the clock, I'd say it's a fair to assume that they press start on their time tracking device when they say 'now' of "start working now". There might be the rare instance of a test proctor forgetting to start the clock, but if they do and it affects my performance, I can always just retake. They might be off by a few seconds, but that's a lot different than say my watch being off by 55 seconds. At this point, every question I end up getting wrong on my PTs are ones that I've marked as uncertain. I'm always going over answer choices to the last second, and knowing how many seconds are left would definitely make me more efficient since I do tend to freeze up knowing that time could be called any second. Using the last 30 seconds or whatever and switching my answer to the correct answer choice could be the difference between a 172 and 173 on the real LSAT, and if that's the case, spending $40 on some watches is worth every penny.
Honestly the purpose of this thread wasn't really to discuss whether spending $40 on two more watches so I can have a slight advantage is worth it. I just wanted to hear about other people's experiences with having multiple watches on your desk during an official proctored LSAT. Honestly, I'm kind of shocked that people are missing the potential benefit, given that I feel like I gave a pretty good explanation in the OP as to why I'm looking into this. I mean, this is the strategy of the founder of this website and LSAT prep company after all. With that being said, it is comforting that several posters have recognized the potential benefit and added comfort that this strategy provides.
I apologize since I'm pretty much ranting at this point, but I just felt like I needed to provide more context since it honestly feels like some of the previous posters are talking to me like I'm an alien, or someone that just picked up some LSAT prep books for the first time and just needs to take some more PTs and get accustomed to the test.
Would you be able to provide a little more detail on how the conversation went? Like, was it the vibe where if you produced a printed out e-mail from LSAC saying having multiple watches is okay that they would have let you leave them on your desk? Or were they really adamant about it?
Thanks for the info! That definitely gives me some more comfort. As far as the highlighter part, are you saying that the LSAC told you you could only have one highlighter pen? Highlighting isn't a part of my test-taking strategy but it just seems weird that they wouldn't allow you to have, say, an individual green highlighter as well as an individual blue highlighter on your desk.
My proctor was standing next to me majority of the time, i had an aisle seat in a large uni hall and she clearly saw three watches, lol. It was not an issue. Also if you call LSAC they can confirm that multiple watches are allowed (as long as they are analog).
Yep the ticket says a highlighter. Multiple highlighters are not allowed, but a single highlighter with multiple tips a ok. I basically called and ran through a bunch of rules and that was one I asked about.
This is the kind of experience that could rattle someone which would be a lot more important than potentially gaining one point through more precise timing.
Proctors may harass you about anything. Mine were mad that I drank water from my water bottle during the test. They made my put it back in the plastic bag. My cough got worse after that and the proctor glared at me whenever she walked by.
As a generalization, I would say you want to avoid confrontations with the proctors. If I were taking the test again and had to choose between awaking the wrath of a proctor who didn't know the rules and not knowing the exact second the test sections would end, I would avoid making the proctor angry.
I want to point out that if you start your one watch when the proctor says "Now" and stop it as soon as they say "stop," then you should be in sync with them, with maybe plus a second or two. I do not think it's worth the risk.