NationStates Jolt Archive

Just found this the other day... apparently some college student has discovered (http://fadtastic.net/2006/03/12/the-secret-lives-of-fonts/) that the type of font you use on research papers can influence the grade you get.

Based on an informal analysis of 52 term papers, the student came to the following typographic conclusions:

Trebuchet MS
Average grade: B-
Number of papers: 18
Possible reasons: The bolded, sans-serif (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sans-serif) font is hard to read. Not "serious" looking. Implies lack of professionalism.

Times New Roman
Number of papers: 11
Average grade: A-
Possible reasons: Common, nondescript font. Blends in with the crowd. Lack of subconscious influence causes paper to be graded on merits alone.

Georgia
Number of papers: 23
Average grade: A
Possible reasons: Serif (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Serif) font looks academic and scholarly. Slight differences from TNR are a relief for the reader.

Pretty interesting findings, if you ask me. Who knows what other subtle factors influence the grading process?

Also, to start a proper discussion, what font do you like to use on your papers?

Times New Roman, always.

Gill Sans - the font used in the BBC logo.

I like Century Gothic.

Times New Roman. Most of my professors clearly laid out requirements for font, font size, margins, spacing, etc. and for those who specified Times New Roman, anything else resulted in a full grade markdown.

Times New Roman. Most of my professors clearly laid out requirements for font, font size, margins, spacing, etc. and for those who specified Times New Roman, anything else resulted in a full grade markdown.
Eh, same here, at least back in high school. I don't think I've ever typed a paper in anything but Times New Roman, 12-point, double-spaced font.

At least my papers were graded on my merits, then...

i find a tenner neatly folded into the pages of the paper does wonders for me.

or alternately, do what my friend (inadvertantly) did and jokingly tell one of your classmates that you'd give the elderly professor a blowjob for an A while he is standing behind you and within earshot.

i typed an essay once in all-caps comic sans once, got it handed back without a grade and told to re-submit it, since then only ever used tnr.

I like Comic Sans - it took up more room on the page so that you could write less and still cover a good amount of space :D

The teacher seemed to like it too as I got good grades.

It's also pleasing on the eye.

I like Comic Sans - it took up more room on the page so that you could write less and still cover a good amount of space :D

The teacher seemed to like it too as I got good grades.

It's also pleasing on the eye.

You're joking, right? :eek:

Looks like a middle-schooler's handwriting to me...

I've always prefered reading sans-serif. I just find it easier to read. And I just don't like serif fonts. Period.

To get marked down for not formating your essay in a certain way... some people need to get a life.

For my essays all I'm asked to do is use a simple font. Use a font size that's roughly equivalent to tnr size 12. Double or 1.5 space the paragraphs. Once of which are requirements, just requests from the tutors.

Font's I like to use are Arial, Geneva, and Tahoma. But I don't think I've ever seen Geneva on a non-apple app. I know Microsoft Office and OpenOffice don't have it.

I used to type in High Tower Text for my A-levels, mainly to make them look different. Now I use Times New Roman. Several of my coursemates use Arial, but it just looks unprofessional for some reason.

You're joking, right? :eek:

Looks like a middle-schooler's handwriting to me...

nope - I like the softness of it.

Courier New, 11 point font. Effectivly mimics traditional typewriter font. Required format in lawschool and most legal documents.

Arial. It tends to be the easiest to upload and read, and it is easily compatible between word processors.

I also like TNR.

I've always prefered reading sans-serif. I just find it easier to read. And I just don't like serif fonts. Period.
I once had a TA who specifically requested that we use serif fonts because they were easier to read. To each his own.

To get marked down for not formating your essay in a certain way... some people need to get a life.
The reason for the requirements was to save the professors and TAs time in having to reformat all papers to the same standard (we submitted papers through email as well as hard copy). There might not be a big difference between two fonts in a short paper, say 10 pages or so, but when you're writing something substantially longer, the differences add up.

I like Comic Sans - it took up more room on the page so that you could write less and still cover a good amount of space :D

:D
I was going to ask, "What, no Comic Sans?" ;)

Edit: Oh, what did I use? (AKA --Spam) Times New Roman for written work, but being a Computing course quite a lot was electronically submitted and marked, so font was irrelevant. Code tends to get printed in a fixed-width font, though.

I once had a TA who specifically requested that we use serif fonts because they were easier to read. To each his own.

I think that's actually right -- I read somewhere that the extra flourishes and add-ons of serif fonts help to differentiate letters, making them easier to recognize.

Also, I just remembered this (http://www.theonion.com/content/node/28261). :p

Ariel Narrow all the way.

Gill Sans - the font used in the BBC logo.

Designed by a chap who fucked his dog, his sister and sexually abused his kids. Leaves a kind of weird taste in the mouth.

I noted that using LaTeX can improve your mark in computer science. Maybe because its fonts look very professional, maybe also because I take the time to make the formulas correctly (in contrast to the correcting person, who uses '(' instead of '\left(' and ')' instead of '\right)' in his corrected versions).

Designed by a chap who fucked his dog, his sister and sexually abused his kids. Leaves a kind of weird taste in the mouth.

the moral of this story is, don't eat font.

Arial. It tends to be the easiest to upload and read, and it is easily compatible between word processors.

I also like TNR.

Arial all the way. No fuss, no muss.

Arial. It tends to be the easiest to upload and read, and it is easily compatible between word processors.

I also like TNR.
I have no Arial, I have not had this font on my PC since ~3 years.

How about this one?

Either Times New Roman or Arial.

Arial Narrow if you want to squeeze MORE stuff on the page. ;)

Either Times New Roman or Arial.

Arial Narrow if you want to squeeze MORE stuff on the page. ;)

What if you suck at writing papers, and want it to take up as much space as possible so the drivel you've written comes out to the page minimum?


... I ask for no particular reason, you understand. :D

I almost always use Book Antiqua, because I like it. Unless the requirements are for Times New Roman (which is silly, because pretty much any legible font ought to do, i.e. a non-script/Arabic/Chinese/symbol font).

Courier New, 11 point font. Effectivly mimics traditional typewriter font. Required format in ...... most legal documents.

Not really. No.

How about this one?

it's displayed as browser standard here... but Comic Sans is annoying!

I like Comic Sans - it took up more room on the page so that you could write less and still cover a good amount of space :D

That's why I require word counts instead of a number of pages. ;)

Hmm... will have to try this out on my next Speech paper.

That's why I require word counts instead of a number of pages. ;)

Facist.

Facist.

Hey, the last thing I want is a bunch of shitty papers written in Courier 13 so they can make a two page paper look like a four page paper. I want some content. ;)

Hey, the last thing I want is a bunch of shitty papers written in Courier 13 so they can make a two page paper look like a four page paper. I want some content. ;)

If they were shitty papers, I would think that the first thing that you wanted would be two pages masquerading as four.

If they were shitty papers, I would think that the first thing that you wanted would be two pages masquerading as four.
They're less likely to be shitty if they have to meet a word count than if they have to meet a page length, in my experience. There's only so much bullshitting you can do.

They're less likely to be shitty if they have to meet a word count than if they have to meet a page length, in my experience. There's only so much bullshitting you can do.

Try me. :)

I think the problem here is that a lot of people are forced into higher education when they really don't want or need it.

I imagine the people who care enough to use a specific font probably write better essays. But, funnily enough, I submitted a CV (resume, americans), and didnt get an interview, so I changed the font from times new roman to Tahoma, and got the job! Tahoma is nice though. I always use arial for essays. dont get A's though.

Hey, the last thing I want is a bunch of shitty papers written in Courier 13 so they can make a two page paper look like a four page paper. I want some content. ;)
Actually, word could would have been very detrimental to me... I am really bad at BSing and formulate concisely (and in German I love using complicated sentences and long words ;) ).

I imagine the people who care enough to use a specific font probably write better essays. But, funnily enough, I submitted a CV (resume, americans), and didnt get an interview, so I changed the font from times new roman to Tahoma, and got the job! Tahoma is nice though. I always use arial for essays. dont get A's though.

Oh, shove off, you pommie bastard. We know what a CV is (curriculum vitae). Please, only condescend to us when we've shown we deserve it, okay? (And trust me, I know we deserve it a lot.)

As for my fonts, I've always had a liking for Avant Garde and Verdana...in fact, NS is in Verdana.

All of my classes require everything be typed up in 12 point Times New Roman. In some of my classes we turn the pages in online through www.turnitin.com (http://www.turnitin.com) so they can see exactly what font and size we used. Some of my classes last semester required page length, but my French classes were by word count.

I don't know about you, but I am something of a fan of 'Wingding'

Oh, shove off, you pommie bastard. We know what a CV is (curriculum vitae). Please, only condescend to us when we've shown we deserve it, okay? (And trust me, I know we deserve it a lot.)
Watch your tongue! I (and many Americans, I assume) haven't encountered the term often enough to know what it means at first glance, so his note really helped clarify what he meant. I know that if he hadn't cleared it up, I would've asked him what it meant or Googled it to be sure of its meaning, even if it could be partway gleaned from context. Don't be so bitter.

All my classes have always mandated Times New Roman.

I like Wingdings2. Improved on the classic, and far better than Wingdings3 in my opinion.

I like Wingdings2. Improved on the classic, and far better than Wingdings3 in my opinion.

:p

I don't know about you, but I am something of a fan of 'Wingding'
O RLY