<p>Has anyone ever used a #3 pencil on all or part of the ACT test and got their score back without any problems? Was it able to scan?
Worried Mother gave daughter the wrong pencil and didn't realize until test was over!!
Please no ridicule.</p>
<p>I actually am a #3 pencil. I jumped all around the answer sheet to fill in my answers, and they were fine.</p>
<p>No, but seriously, I don't think that it will be okay. They stress NUMBER TWO for a reason you know, that reason being that the scanners can only read certain types of lead. Just ask for the test to be hand-scored.</p>
<p>Should not be too much of a problem, google the difference between two of them. I dont think #3 stops any more or less rays during scanning but when erased there might be few problems if not completely erased.</p>
<p>Pretty much any black mark can be read fine. The #2 requirement has more to do with potential smudging, rubbing off on other people's tests, and incomplete erasures than the scanner being picky about lead.</p>
<p>Does the use of a mechanical pencil really make a difference? I hate using regular, and used a mechanical one on most of the test. . . .</p>
<p>u cant use mechanical because you can cheat with it. That's the only reason why you "cant" use a mechanical pencil.</p>
<p>Kevinscool, how can you cheat with a mechanical pencil?</p>
<p>Also, I had a friend who I freaked out by telling her that the essay might not be scanned, but it was, just fine.</p>
<p>I have no idea. It's been mentioned around, i've never thought about it personally. I think you can store little pieces of paper in the cylindrical lead compartment or something. I'm not 100% sure, but i know that mechanical pencils are fine.</p>
<p>Thanks for all the feedback. We will see after the 19th.</p>
<p>
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Kevinscool, how can you cheat with a mechanical pencil?</p>
<p>Also, I had a friend who I freaked out by telling her that the essay might not be scanned, but it was, just fine.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>I've seen this question asked and answered before here on CC. You can hide notes on slips of paper and slide them into the mechanical pencil cavity for lead. You can also click the top a certain number of times to communicate A-B-C-D to another test taker. Anyway, there are ways to cheat with practically any object you bring into the test room. Some high schoolers (or maybe their parents) get pretty damn creative. But I can't imagine any of these strategies producing better results than studying will :)</p>
<p>amb3r, </p>
<p>On the note of storing notes inside one's pencil... why not just store notes in your pocket if you're that desperate, lol.</p>
<p>That's nuts.</p>
<p>Hi Everyone, I am Marie wishing you all a happy holiday!!!!!!!!!!!!</p>
<p>Or maybe a better question: you can only fit like 20 words of notes inside a pencil, how in the world are you going to decide what notes to carry in...?</p>
<p>it doesn't make any sense.</p>
<p>There are pens and pencils with a built-in retractable plastic sheet that you can pull out of the side of it, kind of like a very wide and very short tape measure. I assume that it would be possible to type out what you needed in very small font (may be possible to fit over 100 words on it) and glue it to this plastic strip, which would retract and hide it almost perfectly. The part that you pull on is pretty inconspicuous and unless the proctor actually took it and examined it thoroughly, he/she will probably never spot it. Also, cheating with it may be easier since there's no need to disassemble it or anything.</p>
<p>Pencil numbers are just different harness. Anyone in any sort of drafting or art class should know this. So I would agree with above, the only potential problem is with smudging. Scanning will work fine.</p>
<p>If after the test the score seems odd you should have it hand scored. You may be fine though.</p>
<p>The only reason you aren't supposed to use mechanical pencil is, again, because of the potential for incomplete erasure or smudging/rubbing off. The cheating thing makes no sense.</p>
<p>As I've said before, you can fill in bubbles with a regular pencil that isn't quite sharp a lot faster than with a mechanical pencil.</p>
<p>There is no reason you shouldn't use a mechanical pencil on the essay. Some overzealous proctors might stop you anyway.</p>
<p>I've had overzealous proctors tell me not to use mechanical pencils on all my sittings of the ACT, SAT, SAT IIs. I blissfully ignored each one :) I had a few glares and looks of "follow the instructions!" but I had more important things to worry about.</p>
<p>Thank you for all your input. My daughter's scores were posted today, and they were able to scan the test. Her score did go down a little on the reading and science test where she used the Number 3 pencil but who knows if it was because of the pencil and some of the scores didn't scan or she just didn't do as well as last time.</p>
<p>If she only used the pencil on certain sections and those are also the sections that happened to go down you should have it hand scored. I'd think it's worth it.</p>