<p>what's the deal w/no mechanical pencils? WTH uses those wooden ones anymore? they said No. 2 only. mechanical pencils are too. i've always used mechanical at school on scantrons and stuff. never had any problem w/it.</p>
<p>does anyone here use mechanical for the SAT's? it should be no problem right? i think 0.5 lead would be okay?</p>
<p>i know peolpe who have used mechanicals, they worked fine
good luck</p>
<p>it should work fine</p>
<p>it's not about the size of the lead (0.5, 0.7, 0.9, etc...)
it's about the number of the lead which indicates hardness</p>
<p>i'd say about 90% of pencil lead is #2
which is what all scantron type of tests use</p>
<p>other hardnesses of lead like #1 and #3 are only used for special purposes like art</p>
<p>how do u know if it's #1, 2, or 3? it doesn't say on the pencil itself. but i guess usually the ones we buy r always gonna be 2's. the others...probably have to go to a special store or somethin</p>
<p>Not necessarily... I don't regularly shop at any special art stores and I once accidentally picked up a pack of #4 pencils that was mixed into the stack of regular #2 pencils. (At the time, I didn't know the difference and thought they were all the same.) I almost used it on a state assessment test, but luckily I accidentally saw the number on the side of the pencil, and decided against it.</p>
<p>so mechanicals other than #2 would have indicators on them showing the number? none of mine has that</p>
<p>i would not recommend using .5 lead... you would waste a lot of valuable time bubbling. I'm personally using a dulled regular #2 pencil, or if they let me use a mechanical pencil i'm using .7 lead.</p>
<p>Can I use mechanical pencils just for the essay?</p>
<p>maybe i should just ask the proctor?</p>