<p>i know that this question is going to sound very stupid, but does it matter if i write the whole essay in upper-case letters? my lower case is quite illegible.</p>
<p>well, I think it does have to be in lower cases but I'm not sure.</p>
<p>ROFL</p>
<p>say you were grading an essay- you see some essay thats all capital letters- what would you say? </p>
<p>im not sure, but i heard handwriting does matter. but if you really have too....</p>
<p>good luck :)</p>
<p>I know of someone with dysgraphia and yes poor handwriting did affect his score on the essay. All capitals, not sure.</p>
<p>I would say that that person probably has illegible lower-case letters. :-)</p>
<p>Legible is always better than illegible.</p>
<p>The grading standards do not include consideration of handwriting.</p>
<p>is print form necessary or is cursive or script acceptable?</p>
<p>I worry about this for my son. He has Asperger's Syndrome and has horrible handwriting. When he was in elementary school, we tried to get special help for him on this, but everyone said, "Why bother when he can just type everything?" I know that I would personally hate to grade an essay in his handwriting, and would probably not feel generous grade-wise when I was done.</p>
<p>An individual with Asperger's should be able to obtain special accommodations so he can type his answer.</p>
<p>Check out the information at:
<a href="http://www.collegeboard.com/ssd/student/index.html%5B/url%5D">http://www.collegeboard.com/ssd/student/index.html</a></p>
<p>There are three essays on the AP English exams, and about three weeks before exam time my class had a serious discussion about handwriting. Essentially, although handwriting is not a formal part of the grading scheme for the AP or SAT essays, your readers are sitting at a desk looking over countless essays eight hours a day. They don't want to have to struggle to decipher your handwriting. If your essay is easy to read, it will give you a subconscious advantage - my teacher mentioned a study that found that readers gave the same essay higher marks when it was written more neatly.</p>
<p>A few tricks:</p>
<ul>
<li><p>Readers often have a score in mind after the first paragraph or so, and then read the rest of the essay as "confirmation". So put your best foot forward (in terms of handwriting as well as writing) at the very beginning. After a paragraph or two, you can let yourself descend into illegibility.</p></li>
<li><p>The only thing harder to read than illegible handwriting is illegible cramped handwriting. Leave lots of space between words, and skip a line between paragraphs. (If your handwriting is really bad, and you've got enough paper, you can even skip every other line.)</p></li>
<li><p>In making your handwriting neat, focus on using your normal handwriting, but going more slowly and paying more attention to each letter. Don't try to change the style in which you write - i.e., don't go from cursive to print or vice versa (and don't switch to all caps) - the more you change the actual letters you're using, the more you'll have to actually relearn how to write, which will take a lot of time and slow you down a lot.</p></li>
<li><p>Practicing is extra important, whether you were already planning to or not. Trying to write more neatly than you're accustomed will slow you down at first, and the time limits on the SAT are already crazy enough.</p></li>
</ul>
<p>College board "says" they accomodate, but try and get it.The one kid who I said had dysgraphia and it is diagnosed, could not get accomodation for that. </p>
<p>Another kid who has visual tracking issues, all she wanted was the use of a ruler to keep the next line out of her visual field, NOPE, wouldn't allow that either.</p>
<p>The College Board has to accommodate. It's federal law.</p>
<p>However, there is a procedure for obtaining the certification which involves a diagnoses by a professional. A student can't "say" they need an accommodation, it has to be documented.</p>
<p>Both kids had doctors letters stating their diagnosis, the kid with dysgrpahia got extra time, like extra time is going to change someones handwriting, he needed a computer or a transcriber, they would not give.</p>
<p>Both kids have IEP's/504s for school and have full school accomodations for their issues. The boy takes all his school tests on computer, CB would not let him even with the documentation</p>
<p>The other girl had dx for her eye tracking, they offered large print, idiots, she isn't/doesn't have a vision problem and is not going blind. Eye tracking is not a sight problem. </p>
<p>So I guess College Board violated the law with these two kids then.</p>
<p>I'm in trouble... I've got Saccadic Dysfunction (eye tracking) and it was diagnosed when I was 11 and re-diagnosed a few months ago. My counselor is optimistic, but now... I've heard that the SAT/ACT like to see a diagnosis early on. Samiamy, did your friends have an early diagnosis?</p>
<p>yeah, both have the diagnosis since elementary school and redone in highschool My suggestion from my friend is get on them EARLY and FORCE the accomodation. Like if your taking it soon, (October) do it now, don't wait too long. My friend has eye tracking issues, all they offered her was the big print, for visually impaired. You know bigger print doesn't work for that problem</p>
<p>The key phrasing in the law is that they need to make a "reasonable accommodation," Sometimes, there is the need to do some dickering over what constitutes a "reasonable" accommodation. That is why, if you have an IEP, instead of just submitting a note and hoping for the best, having a certified professional contact the CB well before your test date (AT LEAST 6 months to a year) to establish what accommodations will be made. This may take some back-and-forth correspondence that cannot be done in a month or two before the exam.</p>
<p>The good news is, once an acceptable accommodation is agreed to, it applies to all College Board tests.</p>
<p>In a way, it's a little like going to court. If you go without a lawyer you may not like the results.</p>
<p>Of course lefthandedness isn't a disability, but most lefties write more slowly and experience more hand cramping than righties. Being allowed to type essays sure would help.</p>
<p>legibility always put the readers in a better mood</p>