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I've never used a scantron for a standardized test outside of a couple of uni courses (where I could always talk to the prof if i missed a number and ended up mis-bubbling 30 Q all off by one etc..). My question is, how sensitive are these things to erased pencil marks? In my PTs i've been bubbling in answers and erasing if I change my mind. Is this a really bad idea on the test? It seems impossible to erase a mark fully (you always have that little smudge) is it possible the scantron might pick up on this and dock me for a double answer? Should I hold off on bubbling until I'm absolutely certain of my choice?

I also sometimes make a little dash on the scantron outside of the answer zone to indicate a question to come back to. Another bad idea? Advice would be appreciated

Erasing fully usually doesn't cause a problem despite the small amount of residue left.

Don't worry too much about erasing. Erase as best you can and you should be fine.

But with that said, I probably wouldn't make other marks on the scantron. I'm not sure if that can result in scoring errors, but I wouldn't risk it. Just circle the question in your test booklet if you need to come back to it later.

Thanks guys. Just to add some more questions. I noticed this on the Lsat ticket:

"If you encounter any problems with the recording of your answers on the answer sheet, you should raise your hand immediately for assistance and report any problems to the supervisor."

what do you think this entails? Stupid mistakes I.e. answers out of sync with questions (they let you fix?), or just if you need a new scantron cuz you screwed things up.

and one more.... Do we get extra time to fill out biographical information? I have a long name and if I have to bubble that shit in during one of my sections I'll be screwed

Don't worry. From my understanding, when you get your score, you'll receive a PDF of your exact answer sheet and a chart of what answers were recorded by LSAC for that sheet. If you see a discrepancy, you can pay to have it hand graded. No biggie.

Don't stress over this. Whatever scans the scantrons is super sensitive. In December, I ran out of time erasing on the last section and it didn't look that great, even to me, but the scanner still picked it up. Literally, it was like probably like 60% shaded (vs. another that was 100% shaded).

I don't advise not erasing fully obviously but I'm not worrying about it.

what about time to fill out the bio info? I'm still curious

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This is what an LSAT answer sheet looks like to the scantron machine, including erased answers. So, yeah. You can't get rid of the mark completely, but the machine really can tell the difference very easily.

Just realized my last name is too long for the bubbles available. What do you guys think? Full last name and partial first. or full first and partial last? (since i can't really study all that much, this is what I'm choosing to be neurotic about)

Saltqjibo wrote: what do you think this entails? Stupid mistakes I.e. answers out of sync with questions (they let you fix?), or just if you need a new scantron cuz you screwed things up.

If you misbubble, you fix it yourself within the normal alloted time on the scantron you've got or you are SOL. LSAC isn't going to hold everything up and give you extra time just because you weren't paying close enough attention.

Saltqjibo wrote:Just realized my last name is too long for the bubbles available. What do you guys think? Full last name and partial first. or full first and partial last? (since i can't really study all that much, this is what I'm choosing to be neurotic about)

I don't think you get a choice about which you put where. So, you have to go with partial last and full first.

For the record, my first name is longer than the space available on a scantron, and it's never been a problem.