<p>Is it frowned upon to use abbreviations like b/c for because, w/ for with, or + for and on the English Lang essays? Or does it not matter?
Thanks</p>
<p>Princeton Review book says to definitely NOT use abbreviations (it specifically mentioned not to use +/& for and). The reason being that the essays are holistically scored, meaning you don’t get a point for “this” and a point for “that”… the reader assigns a score based on the essay as a whole. Your job is to prove to them you can write coherently while responding to the prompt and ultimately demonstrating good penmanship. Shorthand doesn’t support this cause.</p>