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Related Discussions
LSAT Flex dealing with proctor interruptions?
emmorens
Core Member
Hey all,
I will be taking the Flex next Tuesday and understand that soft foam earplugs are allowed. I will be taking advantage of this because I have been studying with ear plugs but had a few questions, as I want my test to go smoothly.
In LSAC's guidelines they say ear plugs are allowed so long as you can hear the proctor, this shouldn't be an issue as I can usually hear myself typing but during a timed test that requires extreme focus, I'm just trying to avoid any fuss.
1) Do proctors speak verbally to you or type in a chat to let you know if your head is out of the camera?
2) I had planned on asking my proctor what to avoid doing (in a polite way) so that they won't feel the need to interrupt me me, has anyone done this/do proctors react well to it?
3) I guess I'm looking to hear from anyone else who has taken flex with earplugs - what was your experience and did it cause any problems?
If anyone else has advice or suggestions regarding proctors or the flex please don't hesitate to leave it below for myself or someone else. Thanks and good luck everyone!
Comments
ive literally never had them interrupt me and ive done the flex twice already
I had a proctor interrupt me twice before because she couldn't see my whole face in the camera when I was writing on paper during LG. They usually speak to you. I think she may have also typed, but I can't remember exactly because I was focused.
They can do either (come on audio or send a chat message), and also have the capability of taking control of your screen mid-test. Before you start just ask them to stop the time if they have to interrupt you for any reason.
@canihazJD thanks so much that's great advice! I'm definitely going to do that.
And thanks everyone else for your comments, I do appreciate it!
I took it once and was interrupted by the proctor for moving my lips while reading a passage. She told me I wasn't allowed to read aloud, which I wasn't. It completely threw me off and made me lose focus. You might ask her/him to go over what not to do during testing and let her/him know that you are hoping to prevent interruptions.
Mostly I was interrupted when my connection is lost which you should prepare no matter how great your WIFI is. I found that the Proctor U system is finicky and you can run into some connection issues per section which can throw your focus off. Other than that, foam ear plugs are fine and they try not to interrupt you too much.
Additional note: in the past, disconnections ProctorU blamed on the student's internet connection correlated with higher volume days. This occurred even to students with strong, wired connections, leading to suspicions that ProctorU's system might not be up to handling large numbers of testers. This is especially concerning with 35k+ testing this month. If true, hopefully they fixed this, but just have a plan in case you get screwed. Tell the proctor to stop your time if they need to interrupt you, and if you get disconnected, try to make note of the time as best you can. Above all, realize that a lot of them dont know what the hell they're doing, so know what you are allowed to do, and advocate for yourself. Ask for another rep or a supervisor, or another supervisor if necessary.
@canihazJD thanks for this! Do you know what the protocol looks like for if I were to get disconnected? Ie: would I lose time and they just force me to continue, or does it pause and allow me to resume where I left off? It doesn't seem fair to lose out on time due to connectivity issues.
Where did you hear there are 35k for Jan?? There were more writing days for November and I was told there was only like 28k for that round!
It's on the LSAC site. I think it peaked at 40k+... as the test gets closer it will go down some more as people withdraw. In fact, since the 35k figure was a week or so ago, I'll correct myself and say it's probably somewhere around 32-33k now. November ended up just over 27k.
Do you mean to say you were allowed to move your lips while reading a passage? Or is that banned and the proctor was right to say you were not allowed to do so? That's the kind of thing that would really bother me if I was interrupted with and make me want to just argue with the proctor and get annoyed. Is there a list of full rules like that?