Is Times New Roman (12 pt) still the preferred font for professional communication?

Parent Cafe
1

<p>For a long time, I have considered Times New Roman 12 pt. to be the preferred font for professional communication. Or have I been mistaken? Also, why is the default font for my Word documents Calibri 11 pt.? </p>

2

<p>I’m seeing plenty of opinions on the web which contradict one another, but many do seem to be in agreement on one thing. Avoid Comic Sans.</p>

3

<p>Times New Roman is my personal favorite for all academic/professional things, but fonts like Calibri and Helvetica are also appropriate IMO</p>

4

<p>I would stick with the tradition. When in doubt, use 12 pt.! If the addressees are older, they will thank you. :)</p>

5

<p>Times New Roman has an air of seriousness and professionalism, more than any other font, IMO. You can’t go wrong with it.</p>

6

<p>I don’t think anyone really cares as long as it isn’t some crazy font. Avoid Arial if you are cost conscious. The “fatness” of the lines makes it an ink hog:
<a href=“The right font can save you money - CNET”>http://www.cnet.com/news/the-right-font-can-save-you-money/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

7

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<p>Interestingly enough, some older colleagues and supervisors have complained Times New Roman 12 point was “too small” for their eyes. If Times New Roman was used, they would often specify 12.5 or higher. </p>

8

<p>12 point isn’t “too small” for their eyes; 12 point is too short for their arms.</p>

9

<p>Garamond is favored by some. </p>

<p><a href=“Garamond - Wikipedia”>http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Garamond&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p><a href=“The Tyranny of Times New Roman - Adams on Contract Drafting”>http://www.adamsdrafting.com/tyranny-of-times-new-roman/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>And there’s a lively debate whether Garamond, which uses less ink than TNR, would save the government $400 million/annually–as proposed by a 14-year-old font freak. </p>

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<p>I watched a great documentary on Netflix, Hevetica, about typography, graphic design, and global visual culture. It answers a lot of questions. Personally I like Calibri. I like the way it looks, I find it easy to read, and I don’t find it as stuffy as Times New Roman.</p>

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<p>I like Calibri a lot!!! </p>

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<p>Thanks for the responses. I also like Calibri, and at 11 pt. it would make it a lot easier to fit what D wants to say into the space requirements of the grad school essays she is writing.</p>

<p>However, although the instructions do not say anything about font, I am guessing that they are assuming the essays will be written in TNR 12 pt. The only instructions are, for example, 2 - 4 pages double-spaced.</p>

<p>I am afraid that any font other than TNR 12 pt. might be frowned upon. </p>

13

<p>Your essays get reformatted in the Common App anyway… print them out and you will see. I would not worry about this, it should be the last thing on your D’s mind in her applications. Literally. Not. Important.</p>

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<p>Perhaps recommend she check the school websites?
<a href=“Essays | Stanford Graduate School of Business”>http://www.gsb.stanford.edu/programs/mba/admission/application-materials/essays&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;