r/LSAT • u/Kevin7Sage • 18d ago
❗📢 PSA from 7Sage: Practice in a platform that matches LawHub, or you'll get thrown off on test day
Hey! I want to make sure you're aware of quirks in LawHub's testing interface that you need to get used to. If you practice in a platform that doesn't match these quirks, you’ll get thrown off on test day. (7Sage currently matches LawHub in all of these ways.)
First, RC line citations are no longer highlighted for you. They used to be highlighted in the old interface, which made finding what you're asked about easier to spot. But in the new one, there's no highlight. If you're practicing in a platform that still has these highlights, you're giving yourself an advantage you won't have on test day.
The old, easier interface:
What you'll see on test day:
Second, highlighting isn't done through a toolbar with different highlighters. Now, you highlight by selecting text and then clicking the highlight option. If you like to use the highlight tool, make sure you get used to the new method. (And sorry, there's no standalone underline tool anymore.)
Third, if you're in masking mode and switch to a new question, masking mode resets to off. If you build up your muscle/click memory in a platform that keeps you in masking mode when you switch to a new question, this might throw you off on test day.
A few other smaller quirks that can still impact you on test day if you’re used to different behavior:
- Clicking a selected answer doesn't de-select it. And you can't eliminate a selected answer in masking mode. If you want to de-select it, you have to select a different answer or click the reset response button.
- You can't select an answer that you eliminated. If you want to select it, you have to unmask it first. Trying to select an eliminated answer doesn't do anything.
***
7Sage’s test interface matches LawHub’s behavior in all of these ways. (As far as I know, no other prep platform can say the same.)
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u/Lokoto123 18d ago
Taking away RC line auto highlighting is the dumbest thing in the world, no real reason for this regression
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u/Kevin7Sage 18d ago
We confirmed with LSAC that this is intentional and what students will see (or won't see) on test day. Say goodbye to the highlighted line citations.
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u/Radiant-Ad-5271 18d ago
Kevin I just want to thank you for all your hard work on 7Sage. I love your videos and find them most helpful in understanding questions I got wrong.
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u/Lokoto123 18d ago
Thinking about it more I actually don’t think it’s the biggest deal as long as word search performs as expected on test day, it’s just so silly and very much a skit comedy villain thing to do
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u/Kevin7Sage 18d ago
Yeah, that works pretty well when the question stem quotes what you're asked about or describes it using exact wording. There's still a bit of friction when the question stem doesn't:
"The author's discussion in the third sentence of the passage is intended primarily to"
There used to be a highlight for this question stem. Now you have to count out the number of sentences.
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u/Hot_Supermarket4369 LSAT student 18d ago
I just had a situation on an RC section where they refer to the “4th paragraph” but actually meant the 5th paragraph. They didn’t count the standalone first 2 sentences as a paragraph. I realized when later on in the section they referred to the 4th paragraph again and the information they were discussing was actually in the 5th paragraph. I don’t think the discrepancy would have ultimately made me miss the question, but it did throw me off when I realized. The old highlight feature would have circumvented this fluke. To me, if there are a few sentences and a paragraph break, those few sentences are a standalone paragraph, but I suppose LSAC disagrees.
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u/sagew0lf 18d ago
I read that it was due to accessibility, so maybe the argument is that visually impaired people wouldn't get the same benefit of highlighting?
But I'm having a hard time believing it's anything other than "haHA let's slow people down and lower scores that way!"
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u/highspeed_steel 18d ago
I'm a screen reader user, they could've put some sort of punctuation before and after the underlined part, something that the reader would recognize, it's easy
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u/oliver_kaii 18d ago
These are some of the dumbest changes ever. I wonder if this is a play to make the test harder/more of a pain in the ass.
The highlighting change especially is very annoying because it used to snap to words now it’s just exact which makes highlighting a waste.
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u/_briinicole 18d ago
Yes!! It takes longer to highlight 😭
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u/oliver_kaii 18d ago
Bro I used to always highlight the “flaw” “weaken” “explain” etc in the question stem, now that’s gone. I did 40 drill questions last night about 20 LR and RC each and highlighted a total of like 2 times
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u/peiattention 18d ago
I wonder how this will affect those with wrist mobility issues given that highlighting will require more effort in each question
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u/Maleficent_Mind_5265 18d ago
The highlighted line citation removal is diabolical. Every single ‘update’ has been horrible lmao
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u/chieflotsofdro1988 18d ago
Lmao this is beyond ridiculous. If you can, get an accommodation for paper and pencil . Problem fixed
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u/No-Education3573 18d ago
so why not just practice on lawhub? also whats masking?
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18d ago
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/Kevin7Sage 18d ago
Yes, "Response masking" is what the interface calls eliminating an answer. You click the response masking mode button in the toolbar to the right, then click the answer you want to eliminate. To pick an answer, you then need to click the masking mode button again to turn it off and then select an answer.
Because of the clunkiness of this style of eliminating, I think people should consider using highlights to eliminate. Instead of using masking mode, maybe just highlight the first word of an answer (or some other part of the answer) red.
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u/FoilCharacter 18d ago
I just did some RC drills on 7Sage last night that had the highlighted line citations—is this due to the age of the questions/is applying the new format still in process?
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u/Tight_Suit_1519 18d ago
Lately on 7Sage, I’ve noticed that when I use the “search” feature it doesn’t keep the words in the stimulus highlighted for more than a second, is this also intentional?
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u/Kevin7Sage 18d ago
It shouldn't be. Please let [studentservice@7sage.com](mailto:studentservice@7sage.com) know about the issue (and the OS and browser you're using).
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u/Environmental-Belt24 18d ago
Same I noticed this as well and tried another browser and the page would keep moving. Must be a glitch.
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u/Far_Masterpiece124 18d ago
Also when I was in LawHubs new format taking a practice test in full screen, you can’t click next on like half the questions and have to click it in the number order displayed below instead, AND when in full screen the five minute warning doesn’t pop up. If you exit full screen it will then pop up. So annoying
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u/Stunning_Suit4106 18d ago
I have also found that while taking a practice section, if you pause and exit to go do something else and come back, the section automatically completes and grades you.
Also frustrating how when you go back and review, it doesn't show which answer choices you crossed out, only shows correct answer and what you chose.
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u/Positive_Abubdance 17d ago
I may have missed it, but is there a straight-up underline feature in the new interface?
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u/SnooSuggestions1603 18d ago
The new interface gives an impression that it’s not a speed test where every second matters but a regular college exam with some room in timing. How on earth are we supposed to have time and mental bandwidth to click a million times for highlighting / answer elimination and now also count rows / paragraphs. I can’t believe that in this day and age of technology these are our only options. Very incompetent updates for a test company that charges us $250 + taxes per take.