Hey.
I took the SAT last Saturday and did one of the most stupid mistakes I could have ever done: Not bringing a legible No.2 pencils.
It may sound idiotic to bring another pencil other than an No.2 pencil but the problem is that they were No.2 pencils but potential fake ones. When I started writing my name, I noticed that it was different that the ones I use(They were new just got them the day before the test) and I didn’t happen to tell the proctor to hand me a legible pencil. They were not sharpened too, but I managed to shade and write my essay.
Will the computer be able to read through this pencil? They don’t smudge.
The pencils are brighter and the writings on them are a bit sloppy not like the ones I had( I compared them). I also tested both and they nearly have the same shade if you pressed a bit harder.
And I did send a message to CB Customer Service but they didn’t reply yet.
I’m sure they will be fine. The restrictions on pencils are, IMO, an attempt to minimize rips in the scantron sheet. The current generation of machines is quite capable of picking up different shades. FWIW, despite the CB prohibition, I wrote my SAT’s with a mechanical pencil without any issues.
i agree…no problem…and if there were, they’d pull out the test and hand-grade it…it’d take a few weeks longer but you won’t lose your score.
Relax.
When a test is illegible, there’s a little radio button the scorer can hit requesting a rescan. If the rescan is also illegible, the essay is forwarded for manual grading by the testing administration. It doesn’t even delay your score.
Both of my boys used mechanical pencils for every SAT, SAT II, AP and PSAT. I alway sent along sharpened #2 pencils but they only used them for students who appeared at exam without any pencils!
Thanks guys, that is a relief.