The DigitalLSAT discussion thread

Sami · May 2017

@Mellow_Z said:
Imagine using your ipad.. but instead of drawing you can only highlight text like in a word document. That's basically what it was.

That honestly sounds like a nightmare!
I am glad I didn't take it. I would have felt like somebody crippled my ability to take LSAT.

Apple pencil acts just like a regular pencil on the ipad. I wish they had gone this route.

Alex · May 2017

@Mellow_Z said:

@"Alex Divine" said:

@Mellow_Z said:

@Sprinkles said:

@Mellow_Z said:
For anyone curious.. the tablet sucks. You can't freely write and mark up passages.. only can use their built in underline/highlight functions that is bound to text.

No stylus provided?

There was. The software was just bullshit. Like it gave you the passages in digital format, and I was hoping the stylus basically just functioned as a pencil to where we could mark up the passage and draw all over it. The only interaction we got though, was via choosing the highlighter up top (similar to MS Word) and then dragging the stylus over the text in the passage. It was bound to the text too, so it would sporadically jump across multiple lines and random fuckery. 0/10, don't recommend.

Thanks for the review!

Seriously though: that sounds like some BS. Especially that restrictive highlighting function.

Were these Android tablets or something? I know LSAC's cheap ass ain't giving us iPads LMAO!

Samsungs. Maybe galaxy tab s3? About the height of the short side of paper. They are nice tablets dont get me wrong.. It was all on how they developed the app.

Hmmm not too shabby at all. Thanks again for letting us know how it was! I was really quote curious.

Overall, would you prefer digital if they made some adjustments?

goingfor99th · May 2017

@Mellow_Z said:

@Sami said:
I do a lot of LSAT studying on my ipad pro and use the apple pencil and it works great. Was this not similar?

And ditto on LG. It's hard to see the master game board drawn on the first page because it disappears as soon as you go on page 2. I usually cut it and move it over to page 2. But it still takes more space than needed.

Imagine using your ipad.. but instead of drawing you can only highlight text like in a word document. That's basically what it was.

@goingfor99th said:
I'm also not entirely sure how much the Digital LSAT will do for accessibility considering to best prepare for the LSAT you would need to be able to simulate test day conditions. That isn't very practical unless LSAC plans to release an official test-taking program, which I consider the LSAC unlikely to do given their paranoia surrounding confidentiality. Also, not everybody can afford a tablet, which is a huge accessibility issue.

I don't think they'd care. GRE doesn't release their software.. nor do the other grad tests as far as I'm aware.

@Mellow_Z said:

@Sami said:
I do a lot of LSAT studying on my ipad pro and use the apple pencil and it works great. Was this not similar?

And ditto on LG. It's hard to see the master game board drawn on the first page because it disappears as soon as you go on page 2. I usually cut it and move it over to page 2. But it still takes more space than needed.

Imagine using your ipad.. but instead of drawing you can only highlight text like in a word document. That's basically what it was.

@goingfor99th said:
I'm also not entirely sure how much the Digital LSAT will do for accessibility considering to best prepare for the LSAT you would need to be able to simulate test day conditions. That isn't very practical unless LSAC plans to release an official test-taking program, which I consider the LSAC unlikely to do given their paranoia surrounding confidentiality. Also, not everybody can afford a tablet, which is a huge accessibility issue.

I don't think they'd care. GRE doesn't release their software.. nor do the other grad tests as far as I'm aware.

The GRE and the LSAT are very different tests.

sailcaroline · May 2017

I took it in FL and felt kind of ambivalent about it. I don't like dealing with pencil sharpening and worrying about taking time to bubble answers, so it was really nice to have that relief. I also never really erase on LG because it's faster just to scratch stuff out, so I was happy using a pen. They also gave us the pens as a souvenir (lol). And I never annotate on RC so that wasn't an issue for me. It was cool to be able to flag answers to go back to and click on the different question numbers instead of having to flip through a book. Also nice to see the exact time left on the screen and not have the auditory interruption for 5 minutes left (the warning just popped up instead). Our only technical malfunction was with the keyboards for the writing sample. Some of the keys on mine wouldn't work, but they got me a different one and it was fine.

Edit: The major drawback for me was that it felt harder to comprehend and focus on the RC passages. I think there's some research out there that it's harder to retain information when reading on a screen vs paper.

Mellow_Z · May 2017

@"Alex Divine" said:

@Mellow_Z said:

@"Alex Divine" said:

@Mellow_Z said:

@Sprinkles said:

@Mellow_Z said:
For anyone curious.. the tablet sucks. You can't freely write and mark up passages.. only can use their built in underline/highlight functions that is bound to text.

No stylus provided?

There was. The software was just bullshit. Like it gave you the passages in digital format, and I was hoping the stylus basically just functioned as a pencil to where we could mark up the passage and draw all over it. The only interaction we got though, was via choosing the highlighter up top (similar to MS Word) and then dragging the stylus over the text in the passage. It was bound to the text too, so it would sporadically jump across multiple lines and random fuckery. 0/10, don't recommend.

Thanks for the review!

Seriously though: that sounds like some BS. Especially that restrictive highlighting function.

Were these Android tablets or something? I know LSAC's cheap ass ain't giving us iPads LMAO!

Samsungs. Maybe galaxy tab s3? About the height of the short side of paper. They are nice tablets dont get me wrong.. It was all on how they developed the app.

Hmmm not too shabby at all. Thanks again for letting us know how it was! I was really quote curious.

Overall, would you prefer digital if they made some adjustments?

If they tailored it to exactly what I wanted, I would prefer it as digital. My test center has the tiniest desks in existance and people kept dropping their tablets on the floor because the stands they provided kept slipping off the edge.

http://media.liveauctiongroup.net/i/7780/9410799_1.jpg?v=8CCB068936D52A0

basically that size.

So imagine a tablet and your scratch paper crammed into that little space. With a test booklet it's different, since you can obviously overlap the two and write on the other.. not so much luck with the tablet.

If they just gave us the freedom to draw like a pencil, I would settle with that being the only change. Who knows though, they might have a reason for not doing it that way..

Alex · May 2017

@sailcaroline said:
I took it in FL and felt kind of ambivalent about it. I don't like dealing with pencil sharpening and worrying about taking time to bubble answers, so it was really nice to have that relief. I also never really erase on LG because it's faster just to scratch stuff out, so I was happy using a pen. They also gave us the pens as a souvenir (lol). And I never annotate on RC so that wasn't an issue for me. It was cool to be able to flag answers to go back to and click on the different question numbers instead of having to flip through a book. Also nice to see the exact time left on the screen and not have the auditory interruption for 5 minutes left (the warning just popped up instead). Our only technical malfunction was with the keyboards for the writing sample. Some of the keys on mine wouldn't work, but they got me a different one and it was fine.

What kind of pen souvenirs are we talking about here, lol?

Also, sounds like you had a great experience. Having the time on the side sounds pretty convenient!

goingfor99th · May 2017

@sailcaroline said:
I took it in FL and felt kind of ambivalent about it. I don't like dealing with pencil sharpening and worrying about taking time to bubble answers, so it was really nice to have that relief. I also never really erase on LG because it's faster just to scratch stuff out, so I was happy using a pen. They also gave us the pens as a souvenir (lol). And I never annotate on RC so that wasn't an issue for me. It was cool to be able to flag answers to go back to and click on the different question numbers instead of having to flip through a book. Also nice to see the exact time left on the screen and not have the auditory interruption for 5 minutes left (the warning just popped up instead). Our only technical malfunction was with the keyboards for the writing sample. Some of the keys on mine wouldn't work, but they got me a different one and it was fine.

Edit: The major drawback for me was that it felt harder to comprehend and focus on the RC passages. I think there's some research out there that it's harder to retain information when reading on a screen vs paper.

The inability to erase isn't the only issue with the pen. You can't write very small with it, which is another psychological hurdle if you're used to creating tiny game boards and having plenty of space on your page.

Alex · May 2017

@Mellow_Z said:

@"Alex Divine" said:

@Mellow_Z said:

@"Alex Divine" said:

@Mellow_Z said:

@Sprinkles said:

@Mellow_Z said:
For anyone curious.. the tablet sucks. You can't freely write and mark up passages.. only can use their built in underline/highlight functions that is bound to text.

No stylus provided?

There was. The software was just bullshit. Like it gave you the passages in digital format, and I was hoping the stylus basically just functioned as a pencil to where we could mark up the passage and draw all over it. The only interaction we got though, was via choosing the highlighter up top (similar to MS Word) and then dragging the stylus over the text in the passage. It was bound to the text too, so it would sporadically jump across multiple lines and random fuckery. 0/10, don't recommend.

Thanks for the review!

Seriously though: that sounds like some BS. Especially that restrictive highlighting function.

Were these Android tablets or something? I know LSAC's cheap ass ain't giving us iPads LMAO!

Samsungs. Maybe galaxy tab s3? About the height of the short side of paper. They are nice tablets dont get me wrong.. It was all on how they developed the app.

Hmmm not too shabby at all. Thanks again for letting us know how it was! I was really quote curious.

Overall, would you prefer digital if they made some adjustments?

If they tailored it to exactly what I wanted, I would prefer it as digital. My test center has the tiniest desks in existance and people kept dropping their tablets on the floor because the stands they provided kept slipping off the edge.

http://media.liveauctiongroup.net/i/7780/9410799_1.jpg?v=8CCB068936D52A0

basically that size.

So imagine a tablet and your scratch paper crammed into that little space. With a test booklet it's different, since you can obviously overlap the two and write on the other.. not so much luck with the tablet.

If they just gave us the freedom to draw like a pencil, I would settle with that being the only change. Who knows though, they might have a reason for not doing it that way..

Haha that pic, dude! Holy shit. I hope they weren't as uncomfortable as that wooden desk looks. Well, I hope they make some changes to make it better. I'm sad I probably won't ever get to experience the digital test. I'm sad I wasn't able to take it today. Grateful you guys reported back though.

sailcaroline · May 2017

@"Alex Divine" said:

What kind of pen souvenirs are we talking about here, lol?

Also, sounds like you had a great experience. Having the time on the side sounds pretty convenient!

They let us keep the pens that we used for the actual test. It had a pen on one end and the stylus for the tablet on the other end, so you had to keep flipping it around the whole time. I kept thinking I would accidentally scratch the tablet with the pen! They say "Digital LSAT" on them. Anyway, the better souvenir was the $100 gift card

tmgomez2 · May 2017

I just took the pilot today and have to agree with previous commenters--I really, really hated the format, I think it puts people who use any kind of notations at a HUGE disadvantage, and I am completely disheartened to take the test now if they plan to use tablets exclusively in September or December. When I asked about a survey for our opinions, I was told this was pretty much a done deal so no surveys were necessary, but I'm not sure what that means in terms of a timeline.

The only real pro I can think of is the (digital) timer at the top right corner which negates the need for a watch, but honestly that was almost a con because although you could hide the time you couldn't hide the time progress bar, and it was really distracting. It also gave you a forced 5 min warning you had to manually dismiss, which could be a pro or a con depending on how you look at things. Other pros would be for those with accessibility issues, like color inversion, color blindness stuff, contrast, text size, etc., although those were all irrelevant to me.

The huge, huge con was the clunkiness of the software. I was expecting something akin to J.Y.'s videos on here--a program where you can freely write on/around/under/on top of the prompt. You can't. You get a stylus but you can't "write" on the test at all. The scratch paper is completely blank, not a printed copy of the test. This made LGs very, very difficult, as I've become used to checking off/crossing out rules, and having the diagram immediately underneath the game situation. It definitely sucked looking from one to the other, and like another person posted, I wrote a rule down wrong, which pretty much never happens, so I think the possibility for error is huge. The point of notations is to empty out your brain to just focus on the questions, and I found flipping from one to the other to kind of negate that.

The software isn't quite as terrible for LR and RC, although as someone wrote earlier, you literally only get the choice of 3 different color highlighters and an underlining function, which is just enough notation for a person who really likes to mark up the text. No circling option? No cross out option? Very frustrating. In LR it made little difference for me.

Funnily enough, the best part was writing because you get a keyboard, but that's completely irrelevant as no one cares about the writing sample.

Another huge issue I have with this is economic accessibility. I do think my own hatred of the tablet is because of the notation-heavy style of test taking I'm learning here, but there's a chance it's because I've never owned a tablet and due to financial reasons, absolutely will not anytime soon. Sure I'm computer literate (7Sage is my favorite way to study,) but until I see tablets in most courtrooms I think it's a not-so-subtle advantage to those who are intimately familiar with these sorts of toys. And I absolutely despise when standardized tests blatantly make things less standard, giving those on the bottom less of a chance.

Alex · May 2017

@sailcaroline said:

@"Alex Divine" said:

What kind of pen souvenirs are we talking about here, lol?

Also, sounds like you had a great experience. Having the time on the side sounds pretty convenient!

They let us keep the pens that we used for the actual test. It had a pen on one end and the stylus for the tablet on the other end, so you had to keep flipping it around the whole time. I kept thinking I would accidentally scratch the tablet with the pen! They say "Digital LSAT" on them. Anyway, the better souvenir was the $100 gift card

Word. I forgot all about the gift card, haha. Much better than a pen and I love pens.

JustDoIt · May 2017

@tmgomez2 said:
I just took the pilot today and have to agree with previous commenters--I really, really hated the format, I think it puts people who use any kind of notations at a HUGE disadvantage, and I am completely disheartened to take the test now if they plan to use tablets exclusively in September or December. When I asked about a survey for our opinions, I was told this was pretty much a done deal so no surveys were necessary, but I'm not sure what that means in terms of a timeline.

The only real pro I can think of is the (digital) timer at the top right corner which negates the need for a watch, but honestly that was almost a con because although you could hide the time you couldn't hide the time progress bar, and it was really distracting. It also gave you a forced 5 min warning you had to manually dismiss, which could be a pro or a con depending on how you look at things. Other pros would be for those with accessibility issues, like color inversion, color blindness stuff, contrast, text size, etc., although those were all irrelevant to me.

The huge, huge con was the clunkiness of the software. I was expecting something akin to J.Y.'s videos on here--a program where you can freely write on/around/under/on top of the prompt. You can't. You get a stylus but you can't "write" on the test at all. The scratch paper is completely blank, not a printed copy of the test. This made LGs very, very difficult, as I've become used to checking off/crossing out rules, and having the diagram immediately underneath the game situation. It definitely sucked looking from one to the other, and like another person posted, I wrote a rule down wrong, which pretty much never happens, so I think the possibility for error is huge. The point of notations is to empty out your brain to just focus on the questions, and I found flipping from one to the other to kind of negate that.

The software isn't quite as terrible for LR and RC, although as someone wrote earlier, you literally only get the choice of 3 different color highlighters and an underlining function, which is just enough notation for a person who really likes to mark up the text. No circling option? No cross out option? Very frustrating. In LR it made little difference for me.

Funnily enough, the best part was writing because you get a keyboard, but that's completely irrelevant as no one cares about the writing sample.

Another huge issue I have with this is economic accessibility. I do think my own hatred of the tablet is because of the notation-heavy style of test taking I'm learning here, but there's a chance it's because I've never owned a tablet and due to financial reasons, absolutely will not anytime soon. Sure I'm computer literate (7Sage is my favorite way to study,) but until I see tablets in most courtrooms I think it's a not-so-subtle advantage to those who are intimately familiar with these sorts of toys. And I absolutely despise when standardized tests blatantly make things less standard, giving those on the bottom less of a chance.

On the bright side, I don't think this gonna be implemented this year.

Alex · May 2017

@JustDoIt said:

@tmgomez2 said:
I just took the pilot today and have to agree with previous commenters--I really, really hated the format, I think it puts people who use any kind of notations at a HUGE disadvantage, and I am completely disheartened to take the test now if they plan to use tablets exclusively in September or December. When I asked about a survey for our opinions, I was told this was pretty much a done deal so no surveys were necessary, but I'm not sure what that means in terms of a timeline.

The only real pro I can think of is the (digital) timer at the top right corner which negates the need for a watch, but honestly that was almost a con because although you could hide the time you couldn't hide the time progress bar, and it was really distracting. It also gave you a forced 5 min warning you had to manually dismiss, which could be a pro or a con depending on how you look at things. Other pros would be for those with accessibility issues, like color inversion, color blindness stuff, contrast, text size, etc., although those were all irrelevant to me.

The huge, huge con was the clunkiness of the software. I was expecting something akin to J.Y.'s videos on here--a program where you can freely write on/around/under/on top of the prompt. You can't. You get a stylus but you can't "write" on the test at all. The scratch paper is completely blank, not a printed copy of the test. This made LGs very, very difficult, as I've become used to checking off/crossing out rules, and having the diagram immediately underneath the game situation. It definitely sucked looking from one to the other, and like another person posted, I wrote a rule down wrong, which pretty much never happens, so I think the possibility for error is huge. The point of notations is to empty out your brain to just focus on the questions, and I found flipping from one to the other to kind of negate that.

The software isn't quite as terrible for LR and RC, although as someone wrote earlier, you literally only get the choice of 3 different color highlighters and an underlining function, which is just enough notation for a person who really likes to mark up the text. No circling option? No cross out option? Very frustrating. In LR it made little difference for me.

Funnily enough, the best part was writing because you get a keyboard, but that's completely irrelevant as no one cares about the writing sample.

Another huge issue I have with this is economic accessibility. I do think my own hatred of the tablet is because of the notation-heavy style of test taking I'm learning here, but there's a chance it's because I've never owned a tablet and due to financial reasons, absolutely will not anytime soon. Sure I'm computer literate (7Sage is my favorite way to study,) but until I see tablets in most courtrooms I think it's a not-so-subtle advantage to those who are intimately familiar with these sorts of toys. And I absolutely despise when standardized tests blatantly make things less standard, giving those on the bottom less of a chance.

On the bright side, I don't think this gonna be implemented this year.

Most likely it will be a while before they have an actual digital test. And even so, I think there would still be an option for a paper test. Perhaps it will only be offered 4x a year or something, but I don't see them completely doing away with paper anytime in the near future.

So at least we'll have a choice for a while

Alex · May 2017

David Killoran tweeted: The Digital LSAT that the just administered was the September 2014 LSAT, with an Exp RC from December 2014..."

That's interesting... I guess I assumed it was all new material.

Mellow_Z · May 2017

@"Alex Divine" said:
David Killoran tweeted: The Digital LSAT that the just administered was the September 2014 LSAT, with an Exp RC from December 2014..."

That's interesting... I guess I assumed it was all new material.

Yeah I had seen a couple of those questions before.. glad to know they burned a PT for me without my consent.

JustDoIt · May 2017

@"Alex Divine" said:
David Killoran tweeted: The Digital LSAT that the just administered was the September 2014 LSAT, with an Exp RC from December 2014..."

That's interesting... I guess I assumed it was all new material.

I did too...oh well. It was at least interesting to take it in a simulated environment.

Wasn't sure if we could disclose this but if it's already been tweeted then...

Alex · May 2017

@Mellow_Z said:

@"Alex Divine" said:
David Killoran tweeted: The Digital LSAT that the just administered was the September 2014 LSAT, with an Exp RC from December 2014..."

That's interesting... I guess I assumed it was all new material.

Yeah I had seen a couple of those questions before.. glad to know they burned a PT for me without my consent.

Sorry to hear that my man

A couple people on Twitter were freaking out. It's kind of messed up to do that, especially with such a recent PT.

Alex · May 2017

@JustDoIt said:

@"Alex Divine" said:
David Killoran tweeted: The Digital LSAT that the just administered was the September 2014 LSAT, with an Exp RC from December 2014..."

That's interesting... I guess I assumed it was all new material.

I did too...oh well. It was at least interesting to take it in a simulated environment.

Wasn't sure if we could disclose this but if it's already been tweeted then...

It's not the biggest deal in the world, but someone I know who is retaking only had like 4 fresh tests saved, PT73 being one of them.

Mellow_Z · May 2017

@"Alex Divine" said:

@JustDoIt said:

@"Alex Divine" said:
David Killoran tweeted: The Digital LSAT that the just administered was the September 2014 LSAT, with an Exp RC from December 2014..."

That's interesting... I guess I assumed it was all new material.

I did too...oh well. It was at least interesting to take it in a simulated environment.

Wasn't sure if we could disclose this but if it's already been tweeted then...

It's not the biggest deal in the world, but someone I know who is retaking only had like 4 fresh tests saved, PT73 being one of them.

I mean it kind of is like taking 73 as a PT.. you just don't get to BR and review it afterward. Can't beat "game day" conditions quite like that..

Alex · May 2017

@Mellow_Z said:

@"Alex Divine" said:

@JustDoIt said:

@"Alex Divine" said:
David Killoran tweeted: The Digital LSAT that the just administered was the September 2014 LSAT, with an Exp RC from December 2014..."

That's interesting... I guess I assumed it was all new material.

I did too...oh well. It was at least interesting to take it in a simulated environment.

Wasn't sure if we could disclose this but if it's already been tweeted then...

It's not the biggest deal in the world, but someone I know who is retaking only had like 4 fresh tests saved, PT73 being one of them.

I mean it kind of is like taking 73 as a PT.. you just don't get to BR and review it afterward. Can't beat "game day" conditions quite like that..

Now that's finding the silver lining!

Bevs ScooterMinion · May 2017

@JustDoIt said:
Looks like I'm the only person who liked it lmao

I liked it too. I found it far more helpful in many ways than the pencil and paper method. (my pencils are crying) Sure, some details need refining, but nothing is perfect in every aspect.

Bevs ScooterMinion · May 2017

@goingfor99th said:

@JustDoIt said:
Looks like I'm the only person who liked it lmao

I loved LR--maybe a little too much.

Ditto.

asaunders2010 · May 2017

My wife has taken the GRE, and she was surprised that the LSAT isn't done on a computer with automatic grading like the GRE. That being said, the GRE doesn't have anything that compares to the LG and RC sections. Moving digital was inevitable though, it will save money on paper and will get people their grades faster. I would like LSAC to consider using large touch screen monitors that you can write over and mark up, vise the small tablets.

nessa.k13.0 · May 2017

LMAO I agree with @Mellow_Z the interface was not cute. Also I'm so sorry we had tables.

RC was not fun because the marking (highlighting and underlining) can disappear from an entire paragraph when you tap a line. Forget my notation strategy--that was completely out the window. I wasted precious RC time fighting my tablet to underline or highlight some some lines without my markings getting erased all together.

The good: It was easier to track skipped questions--especially LR. I didn't mind doing doing LG--- I just did it all on the scratch paper and it was fine.

@Sami yeah it would be good practice maybe if you dropped your iPad Pro first (I'd go with hot water maybe) to throw off the touchscreen accuracy it'd be a great way to prepare to take the lsat digitally.

It was fun but I would not want to officially take the LSAT digitally because of wasting time in RC.

Sami · May 2017

@"nessa.k13.0" said:

@Sami yeah it would be good practice maybe if you dropped your iPad Pro first (I'd go with hot water maybe) to throw off the touchscreen accuracy it'd be a great way to prepare to take the lsat digitally.

OMG I think I died laughing at this part.

Sprinkles · May 2017

@Sami said:

@"nessa.k13.0" said:

@Sami yeah it would be good practice maybe if you dropped your iPad Pro first (I'd go with hot water maybe) to throw off the touchscreen accuracy it'd be a great way to prepare to take the lsat digitally.

OMG I think I died laughing at this part.

Nessa is a damn Savage

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