Proctor Messed Up--What Do I Do? Forum

[AVBucks4239]

My first section of today's test was LG. This was my most critical section, since as long as I did no worse than -5 (which isn't guaranteed), I would be where I wanted to be.

I set my watch to high noon and started it at the start of the test. When my watch read 12:25, the proctor called 5 minutes. Everyone began looking around at each other, knowing that we should have 10 minutes left.

He ended up giving us the full 35 minutes, but obviously a 5 minute warning call 5 minutes early severely distracted me at the end of the section. I had no choice but to rush through the fourth game. Once my watch read 12:30 and he didn't call time, I tried going back through the end of the third game and the entire fourth, but my performance was obviously negatively affected.

Is there anything I can do? The only reason I took this was to get off a waitlist, so there is no chance of cancelling my score.

Thanks in advance,
AVB

[LSAT Blog]

Sorry to hear it, AVB.

You can tell LSAC, but chances are they won't do anything to remedy the situation for you.

What could they really do to help someone in your situation trying to get off the waitlist, anyway?

If I were them and had a huge budget, I'd fly you to Asia/Australia so you could take it on 6/27.

[alphagamma]

Did you have two LG sections? If so, then the first one was experimental, and you have nothing to worry about. (The real one had a game about mulch.)

[AVBucks4239]

Sorry to hear it, AVB.

You can tell LSAC, but chances are they won't do anything to remedy the situation for you.

What could they really do to help someone in your situation trying to get off the waitlist, anyway?

If I were them and had a huge budget, I'd fly you to Asia/Australia so you could take it on 6/27.

The only reason I mentioned taking this to get off a waitlist was to let everyone know that this was my last shot. I am on Case Western's waitlist, and a better score could improve my position on that waitlist.

The proctor said he was going to file an "irregularity" with the LSAC. Should I notify the school about this irregularity?

[mpj_3050]

I hear you man, that screwed me up too. Idiot said 5 minutes and I kept looking at my watch thinking something was wrong with it. I hope mine was the experimental, maybe you had the experimental too.

[AVBucks4239]

Did you have two LG sections? If so, then the first one was experimental, and you have nothing to worry about. (The real one had a game about mulch.)

'
Yes. My test went LG-LR-LG-LR-RC.

How do you know the first section was experimental and the 3rd was not?

[AVBucks4239]

I hear you man, that screwed me up too. Idiot said 5 minutes and I kept looking at my watch thinking something was wrong with it. I hope mine was the experimental, maybe you had the experimental too.

Did you take it in Columbus at Franklin Memorial by chance?

[mpj_3050]

I hear you man, that screwed me up too. Idiot said 5 minutes and I kept looking at my watch thinking something was wrong with it. I hope mine was the experimental, maybe you had the experimental too.

Did you take it in Columbus at Franklin Memorial by chance?

Yep, took it at Vets Memorial. I was on the first LR and freaked out, I was on perfect pace too. I don't know what happens with the letter or whatever he is going to put in there, but really how hard is it to tell people when there are 5 minutes remaining out of 35.

[YCrevolution]

..

[tadams86]

This happened to me on the september test during RC which freaked me out so bad. I had my watch set just like you, and started to question myself after the warning. I began speed reading and answering questions quicker than I should have, and totally fucked myself. I didnt complain and I should have. If I were you do everything you can to remedy this. hth

[AVBucks4239]

I hear you man, that screwed me up too. Idiot said 5 minutes and I kept looking at my watch thinking something was wrong with it. I hope mine was the experimental, maybe you had the experimental too.

Did you take it in Columbus at Franklin Memorial by chance?

Yep, took it at Vets Memorial. I was on the first LR and freaked out, I was on perfect pace too. I don't know what happens with the letter or whatever he is going to put in there, but really how hard is it to tell people when there are 5 minutes remaining out of 35.

Yep, that's where I took it too. I knew he was wrong and actual called my "local proctor" (for lack of a better term) over with about 6 minutes left. I told him, "Look, I know my watch is set right, and it's only been 29 minutes." He went over to the proctor with the microphone, told him about the time issue, and he just got this smirk and kind of laughed about it. I felt like going up to him and punching him square in the face.

[LSAT Blog]

Sounds like a real jerk. Something you might want to list on the test center wiki:

--LinkRemoved--

You can write an addendum about your experience, but admissions is still a numbers game. And, believe it or not, there are people who've had much worse test center experiences.

I'm not sure how much an addendum in this situation will really help. Some admission consultants would probably tell you not to call attention to it, others might tell you that including more info is better.

This sort of thing is really not much of a science. I'd say it's a toss-up whether you should write an addendum or not, but I'd lean toward not.

[Mr. Matlock]

In the EXACT situation this past February. Unfortunately, since you are only using it for a waitlist, there is NOTHING that can be done.

However, if you are interested in pursuing it, you will need to do the following:

1. Call in the complaint.
2. Write a complete overview of the event in question and send it/fax it in before the cancel deadline. Your score will then be held.
3. Sit and wait for the LSAC investigation.... for me it was over a week AFTER scores were released.
4. At that point they will offer you 2 options>> 1) Accept score 2) Cancel and accept free re-take in October. PLUS, the cancel still counts as one of your 3 takes. If it was your 3rd, you'll still get the re-take, but it will show as a student cancel on your LSAC forms sent to schools and that you did take it 4 times.

And that's what happens when a proctor fucks you over for being too stupid to know how to keep fucking time. Good times.

[wdennison82]

The EXACT same thing happened to me at Mercer (in GA), except it was section 4... crazy distracting

[lifestooquick]

I was also at Vets Memorial and that stupid mistake by the proctor gave me a mild panic attack!

I had 3 LRs and that was during my first and I really hope that was my experimental because, despite having my own watch, it freaked me out a bit. I saw him laughing about it too, definitely made me want to punch him in the face. Oh, and I loved how he did it TWICE! Ridiculous. At least the second time was during writing so it really didn't matter.

PS - how awesome was it that we had a whole table?! After hearing tiny auditorium desk stories, I was pretty happy about that.

[lifestooquick]

Did you have two LG sections? If so, then the first one was experimental, and you have nothing to worry about. (The real one had a game about mulch.)

'
Yes. My test went LG-LR-LG-LR-RC.

How do you know the first section was experimental and the 3rd was not?

Historically, the experimental has been before the break.

The real games section was the one with the quilting/activities, mulch, interns/tuscany,romania,spain games.

[AVBucks4239]

I was also at Vets Memorial and that stupid mistake by the proctor gave me a mild panic attack!

I had 3 LRs and that was during my first and I really hope that was my experimental because, despite having my own watch, it freaked me out a bit. I saw him laughing about it too, definitely made me want to punch him in the face. Oh, and I loved how he did it TWICE! Ridiculous. At least the second time was during writing so it really didn't matter.

PS - how awesome was it that we had a whole table?! After hearing tiny auditorium desk stories, I was pretty happy about that.

I took the test at OSU this February (at Mendenhall) and had a tiny desk. When I walked into Vets, saw that we each had our own huge table and heard the loud fans, I thought they were the perfect testing conditions. That was until I found out we had an incompetent proctor, haha.

Oh well. Thank the Lord the first LG was experimental. I was still flustered going into my second section (LR), but the only adverse effect was that it slowed me down just a little more than I would have liked on the first ten.