<p>because I used this really sturdy, comfortable .5 lead mechanical pencil (that doubles as a pen) that I bought in an airport in Japan. I used it because of it's comfiness and as a good luck charm. The only problem was that right before the test, the proctor walked up to me and said, "Are you sure you're allowed to use it?" I responded, "I'm good with that," and began work on English Lit. When I bubbled in my answers, the darkness of the mechanical lead and the #2 Ticonderoga I brought with me to compare were nearly identical. So my question is, will the scantron read .5 lead from a Japanese mechanical pencil, or am I screwed because I pig-headedly refused to heed my proctor's advice?</p>
<p>bumP (10characters)</p>
<p>If you could find out what model of machine the College Board uses to grade scantrons, you could fire off an e-mail to the manufacturer and they could probably tell you.</p>
<p>The thing I'd worry about with a .5 lead pencil is that the machine might pick up some answers but not others (because, say, one sensor is slightly less sensitive). Then you could get a terrible score, but the test wouldn't be auto-cancelled.</p>
<p>I don't know about japanese mechanical pencils specifically, but I always used a mech pencil on collegeboard tests and I've never had any problems. Were you using the original lead that came with it or have you refilled it with regular "American" lead from your local office supply store?</p>
<p>It really shouldn't matter... its not like you can't use pencils other than #2 anyways, its just the college board decided #2 was the best combo of darkness/ease of use.</p>
<p>
[quote]
The No. 2 pencil is ideal for computer-graded tests because it contains the perfect combination of lead darkness and hardness and is reflective enough to be picked up by a scanner, said Tim Loomer from Scantron Corp. The No. 2 is in between the No. 1 and the No. 3 in darkness and level of shine, making it the pencil of choice.</p>
<p>"If you did a mark with a 1, 2 and 3 pencil, each one will get progressively darker; as you go from 1 to 3, each one will get progressively shinier; and each one will get progressively softer," Loomer said. "The number 2 is the ideal blend for the technology that optical mark readers use, because it's got the perfect amount of reflective quality from the graphite and it is also really easy to erase."
[/quote]