<p>Like I know we can only use wooden number 2 ones. But which one is the best brand that doesn’t break, is very dark, and very sturdy. It will print well during the essay. </p>
<p>And also I have a habit of pencil spinning. If I get some marks on the test book but completely erase them, will that still affect my scores?</p>
<p>What you write in the test book doesn’t matter. Or did you mean the answer sheet?</p>
<p>answer sheet.</p>
<p>My kids have always only used Sumo mechanical pencils for all their SAt test-taking and pretty much everything throughout HS. They’ve taken standardized tests at many different sites and never been hassled because they used mechanical pencils instead of wooden #2 ones & find it reassuring because they know the pencils have spare leads and that the eraser works well. They don’t have to worry about the pencil lead breaking.</p>
<p>If you erase any stray marks on your answer sheet, there should be no problem for the scanning machine.</p>
<p>im always the kid that comes unprepared to tests, but they have those nice CB advertisement wooden pencils, which come sharpened and with a good eraser. It worked for me on the psat.</p>
<p>However because of the sat writing section i will probably bring ample amounts of utensils such as a few bic mech. pencils (.7mm with comfort grip) and great eraser as well as a few regular pencils (whatever is laying around the house), and a pink pearl eraser in case something really really bad that i don’t see coming happens to my answer sheet.</p>
<p>wait, so the answer sheet can verify mechanical pencils? Like the bic ones?</p>
<p>its supposed to, if it is #2 lead, but i would bring regular pencils to be safe. i am.</p>
<p>Don’t worry over what type of pencils is good as long as it is #2 and feels good to use. I don’t see any pencil being better than another, all your doing is filling in ovals except for 1 section the Essay.</p>
<p>Mechanical pencils work. It’s the lead that matters, not whether they put wood or plastic around it, and mechanical pencils almost always have #2 lead (it usually says which kind of lead is used on the package, if you want to check.) </p>
<p>The officials at my school make a big deal about not using mechanical pencils, too, but I’ve used mechanical pencils on 3 SAT’s and 3 ACT’s and never had a problem with my score.</p>
<p>Just bring a fi****l of sharpened #2 pencils like everyone else. If it’s sharpened, and u press hard, it’s all the same. The essay is scanned for the grader, I believe, and scanned pencil marks are all just black.</p>
<p>lol, in the word fist-full, theres an acronym that was censored. For the record, I wasn’t cussin you out.</p>
<p>Servedin14: I completely read your post and thought you were like cursing the op out…lol</p>
<p>I always use #2 pencils, because my usual testing center is very strict on the “no mechanical pencils thing”. From what I understand, it’s more about there being a hollow area in mechanical pencils (you could stuff answers inside of one or something?..it doesn’t make too much sense).</p>
<p>A mechanical pencil also clicks, which some people might find annoying.</p>
<p>I probably would have used a mechanical pencil if I could b/c it’s easier to keep handwriting neat and it’s easier to not leave any stray marks when bubbling w/ the finer tip.</p>
<p>It varies by test center and proctor though… some are “by the book”, and others don’t even care. When I took the SATs at a different center from usual, they didn’t care.</p>
<p>I’ve never seen someone get thrown out for using a mechanical pencil. I’ve seen the proctor ask the student to stop using it or taking it and giving the student a regular pencil, and I’ve seen proctors notice but ignore the rule. So it’ll vary. If you want to use a mechanical, make sure to bring a few sharp regular pencils as backup. If you have both on your desk and the proctor wants to stop you, they usually will just make you use your regular pencils.</p>
<p>I’ve used a mechanical pencil on all the sat’s psats ive given. I was not stopped by anyone.</p>