Maybe the old way of applying to colleges is best after all

DATE                  12/05/94
NEWSPAPER             THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER
SECTION               NEWS
EDITION               MORNING
PAGE                  a21
STORY LENGTH          14 INCHES
HEADLINE              Maybe the old way of applying to colleges is best after 
                         all    //       EDUCATION: Some schools prefer  -- or 
                         even require  -- handwritten statements.
BYLINE/CREDIT         DAN FROOMKIN:  The Orange County Register
SUBJECT TERMS         EDUCATION:COLLEGES:PLANNING:COMPUTERS:SERVICES:US
 .
     As students rush to submit college applications by computer,
  here is startling news from the nation's leading test scorers:
     You may be better off writing your personal statements by hand.
     Trying to determine how much of an advantage students with
  computers might have, researchers at the Educational Testing
  Service gave handwritten and word-processed versions of identical
  essays to a group of scorers. The testing service was shocked by
  the results.
     "We found a small effect in favor of those that were scored as
  handwritten," senior researcher Donald E. Powers said. "That was
  sort of contrary to what we had expected."
     The difference amounted to about one-fourth of a point on a
  6-point scale  -- or about 4 points on a 100-point scale. Certainly
  enough to tilt some admissions decisions.
     Powers could only speculate about why.
     "When you word-process essays, some of the mistakes that people
  make  -- inappropriate paragraphing, spelling errors  -- are more
  glaring and, in some cases, sort of jarring," he said.
     And readers seemed to give the pen users "more benefit of the
  doubt," he said, possibly suggesting that "they sort of had a
  better feel for the test-taker as a real person, they felt more
  empathy toward this person."
     Officials at Brown University in Rhode Island have been saying
  things such as that for years. The university isn't just bucking
  the trend toward computerized applications  -- it even frowns on
  typewriters.
     Brown requires that students' personal statements be submitted
  in their handwriting.
     "Part of it is to personalize the process," said Heather
  Woodcock, associate admissions director.
     And, she said, "It really does put some equalizing factor into
  the process, in terms of who has what."
     But Brown, considered by some the flakiest of the Ivy League
  universities, has other reasons as well.
     "It helps me to connect to the applicant," Woodcock said. "When
  I'm reading someone's own hand, I read much more carefully than I
  do when I'm reading a large volume of typed print.
     "It helps me to connect psychologically to the person whom I'm
  reading."
     At Yale University, however, admissions dean Richard Shaw said
  he is not more tolerant of handwritten applications. In fact, they
  bug him.
     "I find handwritten pieces much more difficult to read," he said.
     "I would put in a plug for kids typing the stuff."