September test-takers - your takeaways from the digital experience?

ExcludedMiddleExcludedMiddle Alum Member
edited September 2019 in General 737 karma

Do those of you who took the test Saturday have some takeaways/advice on how things went, your experiences with the tablets, differences for those who prepared/PT'd using laptops/desktops, etc.? It'd be much appreciated. I'm likely sitting for it in October and am planning on probably preparing exclusively by PT'ing on my laptop. I haven't seen many complaints, so I'm guessing it went swimmingly for most aside from the LG section.

Comments

  • kkblessingkkblessing Free Trial Member
    18 karma

    Hi there,

    I prepared solely on my laptop as well, and I thought the transition to the tablet was really quite seamless! If you use the LSAC familiarization tool, the format is truly identical, with the caveat that the screen will obviously be smaller. If you really want to account for this, you could just downsize the browser on your laptop a bit. You also get time at the beginning to set up all of your preferences before launching into the actual test, and it takes you through a tutorial, as well.

    Other than that, they give you a stylus that co-functions as a pen. I used the stylus sometimes, but also found using your fingers and clicking was easy, as well.

  • IgnatiusIgnatius Alum Member
    382 karma

    I took all my practice exams on my desktop, so the difference in screen size was most noticeable as I was taking the real thing. Screen touch was also new as I was used to a mouse. I would suggest taking a few PTs on a tablet if you have one, but if you don't you'll be fine. The surface pros were quick and responsive enough.

    My only complaint was the pen-stylus. It seemed to require just the right amount of pressure and angle to accurately select what you wanted. Highlighting text was a pain and didn't work well for me. I kept fucking up so I quickly opted for my finger.

    Overall, I like the digital LSAT especially for LG and LR. I do miss the paper version for RC.

  • TrusttheprocessTrusttheprocess Member
    776 karma

    I second the paper version for RC and LG... but for LR its okay!

  • ALLCAA123ALLCAA123 Alum Member
    125 karma

    Thought it was a good experience. I had no issues with glare/battery problems reported by a few other people.

    The format you see on the core curriculum for the digital tester is the same thing you'll see on test day, just on a Microsoft tablet. It's good you don't have to spend time bubbling in answers (makes a huge difference to your performance). It's slightly annoying for LG, b/c you have to write on a separate sheet of thin paper with LSAC's name all over it (there's a huge logo on the middle of each sheet, found that to be very distracting). And I recommend getting used to LR/RC without highlighting and note-taking-- the highlighter tool is terrible with a stylus, and you won't have the option of writing notes off to the side unless you plan on using your paper.

  • mariaapimentel4mariaapimentel4 Member
    43 karma

    Only problem I had with the digital test was highlighting during RC. I wasted a good solid five minutes trying to highlight with the stylus and my finger to no avail. Other than that everything was pretty similar to the 7sage digital format!

  • kstiffler09kstiffler09 Alum Member
    53 karma

    We were divided into three lecture halls at my testing center. The hall I was in lost the wifi connection to the tablets after section 4. The head proctor was on the phone with lsac, and they said they didn't know what to do. We each had to turn in our tablets and we have to retake the whole test. It's unclear to me why LSAC didn't have a contingency plan. I called them today, as we were instructed to, and they said to expect an email sometime soon about the rescheduled test. They had nothing else to offer. Has anyone had any luck with reimbursements from LSAC? I spent $300 on a hotel room to be there the night before, because they moved the testing center to two hours away and with an 8:30 arrival time I wasn't going to chance it and leave the morning of...

  • salonpapassalonpapas Member
    138 karma

    @kkblessing said:
    Hi there,

    I prepared solely on my laptop as well, and I thought the transition to the tablet was really quite seamless! If you use the LSAC familiarization tool, the format is truly identical, with the caveat that the screen will obviously be smaller. If you really want to account for this, you could just downsize the browser on your laptop a bit. You also get time at the beginning to set up all of your preferences before launching into the actual test, and it takes you through a tutorial, as well.

    Other than that, they give you a stylus that co-functions as a pen. I used the stylus sometimes, but also found using your fingers and clicking was easy, as well.

    That's great to hear that we can set up our preferences beforehand! I was worried about that! Thanks for letting us know. What center did you take it at?

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