<p>My son has messy printing and cursive writing. I am wondering if his writing score(s) will be lower because of this? I have heard that it is not supposed to "matter" but I can't help but think that the readers will subconsciously think an essay is "not as good" simply because it is more difficult to read. (After all, if an essay is more difficult to read, it would seem that it hurts the "flow" of the reading and dilutes the essay's strengths.)</p>
<p>My son also says that his writing gets even worse when he's nervous -- such as when writing any test essay. Yikes -- as if there could be even worse writing....</p>
<p>Also, does anyone have any advice about improving his writing rather quickly? I'm not looking for beautiful results, just modest improvements. I was wondering if teaching him calligraphy would help him learn more "control" and accuracy for his lettering? What do y'all think???</p>
<p>It may be messy, but if it is legible, it should be OK. Here is what the College Board says:
[quote]
Your essay must be written on the lines provided on your answer sheet - you will receive no other paper on which to write. You will have enough space if you write on every line, avoid wide margins, and keep your handwriting to a reasonable size. </p>
<p>Remember that people who are not familiar with your handwriting will read what you write. Try to write or print so that what you are writing is legible to those readers.
<p>I wish I could scan in an example of his writing. Frankly, I'm surprised any of his teachers can read it (they all have written comments about his writing on tests and such). He types all of his homework (except calculus). I really find it to be illegible (shocking, actually)!</p>
<p>Should I have him do some kind of practicing?</p>
<p>JL, I very much have the same concerns about my sophomore son. He will probably take the ACT instead, because the essay is optional. True, most colleges say they require the option, but at least it's not part of the composite score (yet) and the schools aren't really using the essays (yet). </p>
<p>My S's handwriting is not "doctor" bad, it's "childish" bad and is all over the place. He <em>can</em> write better (not great, but better) but it requires a great effort. When he has to sign something, he'll practice his signature several times on a piece of paper, but it really doesn't help. None of his teachers have ever mentioned it as an issue; they agree with me if I bring it up, but don't make any recommendations; gee thanks.</p>
<p>I cannot read my son's handwriting about half the time and the other half it is difficult. Messy and tiny, half printing-half cursive (I guess, who can tell?). I told him he needed to work very hard on writing neatly for his SAT. He got an 11 on the essay and I seriously doubt it was any neater than his regular writing. </p>
<p>His teachers managae to read his scribbles and I think teachers grade the SAT essays, so maybe they're used to it.</p>
<p>My son's handwriting used to be the same way. He made a concerted effort and improved it within a couple of months. I believe that a drafting class he took in high school helped, but it was mostly the fact that he decided it mattered to him, period.</p>
<p>I have scored standardized exam essays, and I can tell you that, after reading those things for hours, illegible handwriting gets really old. If I could read it, of course I would, but straining to read words one at a time, well, the exam scorers are only human, after all. That's not to say that anyone would intentionally lower a score for bad handwriting, but I think your concerns are justified, and I do believe that people can change these things if they care about them.</p>
<p>One possible diagnosis is dysgraphia, if it truly is a learning disability. The College Board can provide an accomodation (use of a computer to type the essay), but it is very hard to get ... much testing by psychologists, documentation required, etc. </p>
<p>These days almost everything (in the real world) is written on a keyboard of some sort, so requiring the essay to be hand written doesn't make much sense. But since the SAT is administered in high schools around the country and perhaps 2 million exams are given a year (I think I read that somewhere), it would probably be cost prohibitive for the College Board to allow use of computers except in very rare cases.</p>
<p>But how many college students turn in hand written essays these days, I wonder? Do they still use those old blue books for essay exams, or is that an anachronism like slide rules and mimeograph machines?</p>
<p>Ok, guys, it always seems to be the boys that have this problem. You can get an Occupational Therapist (preferably with a doctorate) to do a complete workup for handwriting/small motor control. Much less expensive. </p>
<p>However, CB will probably not give you the accommodation solely based on that evidence from a professional. You need to demonstrate that your student already had an IEP or 504 plan in place ("reasonble and customary," like health insurance thresholds for reimbursement.)</p>
<p>If you have time, hop to it. It may make all the difference between an average score and a great score reflecting your student's true abilities. My son has accommodations for handwriting in college now as well, and the UK Exams Schools are very strict about it, but the former accommodations and the latest OT writeup convinced them.</p>
<p>I am trying to teach him the D'Nealian (sp) printing which is half printing and half cursive because I think it will yield a more readable essay. Like cursive, you turn the page at an angle and the letters are slanted like cursive. Supposedly, a person can write faster this way.</p>
<p>(he prints because his cursive is uglier than his printing -- by teacher requests!)</p>
<p>I agree that sloppy handwriting (my kid has it, too) can give the reader a negative impression, though it is not supposed to lower the score. I doubt it would lower the score more than one point. </p>
<p>Improving essay content would be much more likely to raise a score than improving handwriting. Practice with the sample questions in a review book. What my kid learned: Write A LOT. Short essays--even if the kid thinks that's all he has to say on the topic-- will not get maximum points. Acknowledge opposing viewpoints with several DETAILS. And be aware that factual accuracy is NOT important (make up details--dates, names, places, etc. if you have to). Use transitional phrases like "for example," "on the other hand," etc. </p>
<p>To improve handwriting quickly and cheaply, just get some handwriting practice books--the kind homeschooled kids use.</p>
<p>""I doubt it would lower the score more than one point.""</p>
<p>But that is huge! Each essay is given two grades 1 - 6 by two readers. If each reader dropped a score by 1, then an essay that normally would get an 10, 11 or 12 would end up with a 8, 9 or 10. That is a big difference.</p>
<p>My son is an excellent essay writer - his English & AP teachers are blown away by what he writes - quality, structure, etc. But he types his school assignments.</p>
<p>My 7th grade son is also a typer by necessity...handwriting is terrrrrible! (This does have to be a boy thing!) But on his Duke TIP SAT essay, he managed to score only one point less than his NMF sister did on her March 2005 SAT essay. So the graders must have seen past the 'chicken scratchins'. </p>
<p>(Btw...his sister was none too pleased....)</p>
<p>My handwriting was considered illegible by my high school teachers and I got a 12 with no practice on the SAT. I think they err on the side of caution with grading handwriting, as a possibly misspelled word or grammar error may just be the person’s handwriting. That being said, in a STEM field in college, my handwriting is usually among the neatest in the class. I have improved it greatly by learning how to use italic handwriting and using a fountain pen instead of a cheap crappy ballpoint pen.</p>
<p>My son has dysgraphia, and his handwriting looks about like a first or second grader. He taught himself how to type after second grade and has always just uses a laptop. We saw an educational psychologist when he was in 7th grade, and it carries through 5 years. Because of their really good documentation, and the school also saying he’s been given accomodations, he was able to use a computer for the essay. </p>
<p>I hear it’s extremely difficult to get this accomodation, and I think we got it because of the documentation and the accomodations he has received at school for years. </p>
<p>Given the effort it takes him to handwrite I knew it would be disastrous to not have that keyboard for the essay. He fights using it at school, and I know his grades suffer on mid-terms because he doesn’t want to go to the “special” room.</p>
<p>D2 is a freshman with TERRIBLE handwriting. She has always gone to small private schools, so accommodations were made without an official IEP. She’s very bright-- scored in the 98th percentile on verbal section of ISEE’s–but the writing part of the SAT’s are going to kill her. She has very childish, illegible handwriting, and like many of the above posters’ kids, it takes a LONG time for her to write something legibly.</p>
<p>We’ve approached the HS learning specialist to begin formal documentation about her need for computers for in-class essays. She’s meeting at the end of this week with a pediatric neurologist to get the official dysgraphia diagnosis. It’s strictly for the SAT’s–as I said, her schools have always been fine with the substitution of computers on tests, taking class notes with computers, etc., but ETS is notoriously strict.</p>
<p>I think my son lost some points on the SAT writing portion because of his extremely poor handwriting. While graders are not supposed to be judging on the basis of handwriting, it stands to reason that they would be subconciously less inclined to give a good score to an essay they really had to struggle to read.</p>
<p>I am not sure there is much that can be done about it. I have had poor handwriting my entire life. When I was in grammar school a handwriting teacher would come once a month to evaluate the writing of everyone in the class and those that did badly were singled out for public humiliation. I practiced for hours since I dreaded the day Mrs Donnely would come each month but month after month and year after year the results were always the same; I would end up being made to stand in front of the whole class while being told that my penmanship was the worst she had ever seen. Unfortunately, in 1960 there were no computers for typing essays and no sense that that kind of treatment can cause terrible anxiety in a child.</p>