Across the nation, students enter the stress and paranoia of SAT testing rooms with facts and formulas racing through their heads. The last thing they need to worry about is their handwriting.
Some students are thrown for a loop when they are instructed to sign an agreement in cursive.
Wait—so we actually had to remember those lessons from first grade about connecting our letters? Apparently so.
Handwriting this agreement for the College Board certifies that this is actually you taking the test through your own unique writing.
Writing the statement in cursive adds an element of formality. As high school students head off into adulthood, they will need to develop a signature for various formal purposes.
Handwriting matters. Even legible handwriting that’s messy can have its own ramifications, says Steve Graham, professor of education at Vanderbilt University. Dr. Graham explains that “people judge the quality of your ideas based on your handwriting.” He cites several studies indicating that good handwriting can take a generic classroom test score from the 50th percentile to the 84th percentile, while bad penmanship could tank it to the 16th. “And even without strictly following cursive guidelines, adults have developed their own cross between print and cursive for everyday use.
Even though this is the 21st century and most of our words are digitalized, writing is still prevalent in our lives and it is able to convey emotions and feelings like no “emoji” ever could.
When you’re given a handwritten note, it reflects the time someone took to hand write it. You’re given the thought behind each word as it was chosen and written carefully. You’re given the sincere emotion behind each word as it flowed onto the paper.
And handwriting does invoke a flow of emotion and thought. The process of free writing is used by professionals to clear up writer’s block or by teachers to get ideas moving for students.
For those students about to go take the SAT, relax. Don’t stress about the cursive because that’s not a test question. There’s no right or wrong answer behind your handwriting.
Look at it as practice for the times ahead when you’re asked to give your John Hancock, or as prep to get any ideas flowing for the essay portion.
But if the thought of joining letters still seems unnatural, eventually you’ll master that tricky lowercase ‘z’ or odd uppercase ‘Q,’ and you’ll create a style that’s completely new. It might be grandiose or minimalist, but regardless, it will be yours.
In an advisory poll students were asked to give handwriting samples. To the right are the results showing spacing, slant, and size differences and what each characteristic means.