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Thanks to at least 250 threads on "What is the best College?" I now have a pretty good handle on what is the best college... but now I am challenged to find out what is the World's Best Pencil? I need to find out soon, because I will be using many pencils while I am in college.

I am very confused by the profusion of brands... the Dixon Ticonderoga, the Sanford Eagle, etc... not to mention the various hardness ratings and erasers.

USNews ranked pencils at one time, but I cannot find a link to that page.

Can anyone please help? I certainly don't want to be caught jotting down notes with anything other than the worlds best pencil! Please do not even mention any 3rd tier pencils. Thank you.

By Thedad (Thedad) on Thursday, June 19, 2003 - 11:32 am: Edit

250 threads per inch would make for very coarse linen.

Regarding pencils, what's the point?

By Jje (Jje) on Thursday, June 19, 2003 - 11:52 am: Edit

Dixon Ticonderoga all the way!

By Morgantruce (Morgantruce) on Thursday, June 19, 2003 - 12:37 pm: Edit

Is Dixon Ivy or just "near ivy"?

By Carolyn (Carolyn) on Thursday, June 19, 2003 - 12:44 pm: Edit

Jje, you are a fool. Everyone knows that Dixon Ticonderoga is a third rate pencil. Only an idiot would waste their money on a pencil like that. It doesn't have a name that is recognized by people who matter and you will never get into medical or law school if they find out you did your undergraduate work using a Dixon.

The only pencil worth using is a Sanford Eagle. I have a friend who says that people who use Sanford's make an average of $50,000 more a year when they graduate from school than people who use any other brand of pencil. My father says he will only pay for me to use a Sanford Eagle because nothing else is as prestigious. Certainly, a Sanford Eagle is one of the top five pencils in the world.

By Uncchlocalmayor (Uncchlocalmayor) on Thursday, June 19, 2003 - 12:46 pm: Edit

what in the world?! who gives a shize what kind of pencil you use--as long as it writes well!

By Morgantruce (Morgantruce) on Thursday, June 19, 2003 - 01:02 pm: Edit

My SATs were in the low 1400s...will I be able to use the Sanford Eagle? Or should I retest in the fall?

I heard that the Dixon Ticonderoga erasers could be used to change your GPA that appears on your transcript. Has anyone tried this?

Carolyn: I heard that Sanford is going with EA this year. I wonder what effect that will have on their pencil yield? There will probably a long waitlist for the Eagles at Staples.

By Carolyn (Carolyn) on Thursday, June 19, 2003 - 01:05 pm: Edit

MorganTruce: Yes, I have also heard that Sanford is going with EA. I am not worried, however, as I am both a Sanford legacy as well as being an under represented minority (an armenian-peruvian). Therefore, my 1200 SATs should not hold me back from being able to get a box of Sanfords even if Staples runs out. I feel sorry for people who don't have this advantage. They will probably face a life of ruin with their third rate Dixons and generic brands while I triumph with my Sanfords.

By Morgantruce (Morgantruce) on Thursday, June 19, 2003 - 01:21 pm: Edit

My uncle sold Sanford pencils during the Depression. His favorite spot was just outside the Student Union. Some times he got as much as a nickel for a new Eagle. Most of his customers were professors. Will that qualify me as a legacy?

Do you think it would help if I got several recommendations from current pencil vendors? I don't know what I'm going to do if I don't get Sanford. This has been my dream since 7th grade!

I agree about Dixon--they really need to get the lead out and improve their prestige among the College Confidential crowd.

By Texas137 (Texas137) on Thursday, June 19, 2003 - 01:45 pm: Edit

It's terrible the degree to which we will stress our children to ensure that they use the best pencil. I've heard that the rate of suicide by lead poisoning is very high among Sanford users. I even heard of one father who caught his child using a Wal-mart pencil and proceeded to beat him with it. I'm sure that was an extreme case, brought on by that family's cultural background (they are armenian-peruvian, and we all know the stereotypes about THEM!)

By Thedad (Thedad) on Thursday, June 19, 2003 - 02:11 pm: Edit

Armenian-Peruvian? Oh, yeah...I've heard about those dreaded AP Exams.

By Hollaratme (Hollaratme) on Thursday, June 19, 2003 - 02:22 pm: Edit

this convo is scary

By Sunshine916 (Sunshine916) on Thursday, June 19, 2003 - 03:46 pm: Edit

hahahahahahahahahahahaha

By Sprite (Sprite) on Thursday, June 19, 2003 - 04:09 pm: Edit

Bic Mechanical with a .5 lead.
Low tuition (2.50 for six) and great returns!

By Sony (Sony) on Thursday, June 19, 2003 - 04:21 pm: Edit

This thread is so funny...good job people.

By Mattymatt (Mattymatt) on Thursday, June 19, 2003 - 04:37 pm: Edit

What a pathetic attempt at humor..

By Morgantruce (Morgantruce) on Thursday, June 19, 2003 - 04:42 pm: Edit

What a humorless attempt at pathetic..

By Carolyn (Carolyn) on Thursday, June 19, 2003 - 04:43 pm: Edit

Texas137, If what you have said wasn't so true, I would be laughing right now. The pressure to use Sanford Eagles and only Sanford Eagles can be extreme at times but I know it will all be worth it in the end. What type of EC's has everyone done to increase their chances of using Sanford Eagles? For example, I have avoided athletics because athletes do not tend to have the sharpness required for such a fine pencil. I have also done 1,000 hours of community service with orphans who are so poor they are forced to write only with crayons. Do you think that this will help an admissions committee overlook the fact that I sometimes write in pen?

Sprite, Since you prefer Bic Mechanicals, I can only assume you are one of those MIT-bound engineering types.

By Carolyn (Carolyn) on Thursday, June 19, 2003 - 04:48 pm: Edit

MorganTruce, lot's of kids try to pad their applications with recommendations from pencil vendors these days so I think it will only help you if they know you personally. Can they give specific examples about how sharp you are? If so, it can't hurt to include one or two vendor recommendations in your application file. We have to do whatever we can to get a competitive edge.

By Texas137 (Texas137) on Thursday, June 19, 2003 - 04:50 pm: Edit

Sprite, be careful about using only mechanical pencils. They're great if you only want a technical education, but if you're interested in liberal arts you'll want to use something else.

BTW - I've amassed over 100 speeding tickets. Would having a lead foot be a "hook"?

By Morgantruce (Morgantruce) on Thursday, June 19, 2003 - 05:09 pm: Edit

The superiority of Borrowdale English graphite was evident to American consumers as well, and they regularly preferred imports to domestic brands. American pencil manufacturers had a hard time convincing the public that they could make a good native pencil. In 1821 Charles Dunbar discovered a deposit of plumbago in Bristol, New Hampshire, and he and his brother-in-law, John Thoreau, went into the pencil business. By 1824 Thoreau pencils were winning recognition. Their graphite, however, was not as pure as Borrowdale, and since the Conte process was unknown in the United States, American pencils, though cheaper than imports, remained inferior.

Henry Thoreau set about to improve his father’s pencil. According to Petroski, Thoreau began his research in the Harvard Library. But then, as now, there was little written on pencil manufacture. Somehow, Thoreau learned to grind graphite more finely than had been done before and to mix it with clay in just the right proportion, for his improvements on the pencil-making process, combined with the high import duty imposed on British pencils after the War of 1812, led to great demand for Thoreau pencils.

Thoreau did not ascribe transcendent value to pencils. As Petroski sees it, Thoreau’s purpose was simply to make money. Once he developed the best pencil of the day, Thoreau saw no sense in trying to improve on his design. His pencils sold for seventy-five cents a dozen, higher than other brands, a fact which Emerson remarked on, though he still recommended Thoreau pencils to his friends. It is easy for us to think of Thoreau only as a romantic who lived deliberately, disobeyed civil authority, and turned Walden Pond into a national historic site. But to do these things, he was also an engineer and marketing expert. When pencil competition grew, shaving his profit margin, Thoreau stopped pushing pencils and sold his graphite wholesale to electrotypers because this proved more lucrative (Petroski, 122). WWW

By Sirmoreau (Sirmoreau) on Thursday, June 19, 2003 - 06:49 pm: Edit

HAHAHAHHA funny thread. thanks for the dose of reality.

By Texas137 (Texas137) on Thursday, June 19, 2003 - 06:51 pm: Edit

Morgantruce - would IB be better than AP if a student wants to use British pencils?

By Jje (Jje) on Thursday, June 19, 2003 - 06:53 pm: Edit

Carolyn, this thread is a joke. The pencil name is irrelevent, it is the writer that matters. If you need a pencil to make up for being a poor student, parent, person,etc. so be it.

By Morgantruce (Morgantruce) on Thursday, June 19, 2003 - 07:40 pm: Edit

Jje, this thread is a joke. The college's name is irrelevent, it is the student that matters. If you need to go to the best college to make up for being a poor student, parent, person,etc. so be it.

By Jje (Jje) on Thursday, June 19, 2003 - 07:46 pm: Edit

Morgantruce, did you even read my comment. By writer i meant student, not college.

By Morgantruce (Morgantruce) on Thursday, June 19, 2003 - 07:56 pm: Edit

Jje, of course I read your comment--and I completely agree with it. I just used the format of your sentence to express a slightly different thought. The "different thought" I tried to express is the very basis for the spoof of this thread. I started this spoof because of the perception that "being the best" is the most important thing about a college. So I am poking fun at which is the best pencil. No offense to you intended.

By Carolyn (Carolyn) on Thursday, June 19, 2003 - 08:03 pm: Edit

Jje, this thread IS a joke. But, while you may not think pencils are important, they are so important that I have read that Democratic politicians across the country are starting to sue pencil manufacturers for making inferior pencils. Here's an excerpt from just one story I read about this important national crisis:

"One of the cities suing the pencil industry is Oakland, California. Said one Democratic City Councilwoman in Oakland,"It is an undisputed fact that 99% of all American public school students use pencils on a daily basis. These pencils are faulty because they allow students to spell words incorrectly, as well as commit grammatical and mathematical errors. It is time that pencil manufacturers be held accountable for their role in producing inferior students."

You can read the FULL story at www.pencilpages.com/misc/lawsuit.htm

Even so, I am still wondering, which pencil brand is better for undergraduates?

By Morgantruce (Morgantruce) on Thursday, June 19, 2003 - 08:07 pm: Edit

Texas, As you know, British pencils are far superior to Yankee pencils in the same way that Cambridge is better than Yale. It's just plain geography.

----

My adolescent belief in the superiority of British things evaporated the first time I added lube oil to the gearcase of an MG...

By Morgantruce (Morgantruce) on Thursday, June 19, 2003 - 08:11 pm: Edit

You know those big fat pencils that are used in early primary grades? Those are "the best" pencils. Really!

By Uncchlocalmayor (Uncchlocalmayor) on Thursday, June 19, 2003 - 09:57 pm: Edit

Carolyn, you don't play sports, do you?

By Uncchlocalmayor (Uncchlocalmayor) on Thursday, June 19, 2003 - 09:59 pm: Edit

i use pens to take notes btw. lol. this is a very stupid thread

By Thedad (Thedad) on Thursday, June 19, 2003 - 10:24 pm: Edit

Tarheel, it's a lot less stupid than any number of threads on this forum that people take seriously.
This is somewhere between a parody, a conceit, and a Noh play.

By Uncchlocalmayor (Uncchlocalmayor) on Friday, June 20, 2003 - 10:27 am: Edit

then go with the Samsonite! Samsonite makes pencils now, right?

By Morgantruce (Morgantruce) on Friday, June 20, 2003 - 11:10 am: Edit

The excuse... even better than, "I have to go to the restroom."

"Miss Smith, I need to sharpen my pencil!"

Miss Smith might delay your request to go to the restroom, but she knows that you're not going to be able to continue with the school lesson if you have a broken pencil lead.

So... you're up out of that desk chair and on your way over to the pencil sharpener, looking around and savoring each different angle of view of the classroom as you go... slowly. Very...slowly. No reason to rush here... right? Miss Smith knows better than to show annoyance---that would only invite the next student to somehow make the pilgrimage to the pencil sharpener... at an even slower pace.

Cranking away at the little handle gives a certain sense of satisfaction: making something dull into something with a point. You wish that the same thing could magically happen to this class...

Then: the walk back to your chair, the looks of admiration, and finally you have to sit down again. You notice your buddy Steve in the next seat... he's thinking about that pencil sharpener: he's got his pencil at an improbable angle---pressing harder and harder against the desk. The whole class sees that Miss Smith has picked up on Steve's plan... and is watching to see what happens next...

"Snap!"

By Carolyn (Carolyn) on Friday, June 20, 2003 - 12:15 pm: Edit

MT - I can't believe you'd suggest that those big fat pencils are the best. The people who use those are destined for community colleges and will probably never score higher than 950 on their SATs. Are you equating size with quality?

Uncchlocalmayor, no I do not play sports. I play the ukelele. However, you do bring up something that I have been wondering about. If I am good at writing with both pencils AND pens, can I claim to be bi-lingual on college applications?

Also, I'm surprised no one here has mentioned the importance of eraser quality in pencil choice. Although I think Sanford Eagle's are the most prestigous pencils, I am kind of worried about the tendency of their erasers to smudge under pressure.

By Uncchlocalmayor (Uncchlocalmayor) on Friday, June 20, 2003 - 12:24 pm: Edit

i can say that the ulkelele is a great little instrument that can...hmmm...where are we going with this? how about the flute? how about band camp?

the bi-lingual thing actually caused a grin to come upon my face. thank you.

By Morgantruce (Morgantruce) on Friday, June 20, 2003 - 12:39 pm: Edit

...and here I thought Mayors were supposed to smile all the time.

By Sunshine916 (Sunshine916) on Friday, June 20, 2003 - 12:49 pm: Edit

i used powerpuff girls pencils in green, pink, and blue on my SAT's a year ago and everyone was jealous! this year i had Harry Potter ones but dont think i did so well on my SAT's...

*sigh* i guess harry potter pencils aren't magical...or did someone put an evil spell on mine? help! I need to find a defense against the dark arts teacher!

Powerpuff Girls pencils rule!!

By Anotherdad (Anotherdad) on Friday, June 20, 2003 - 01:01 pm: Edit

Real Scholars use pen only for the NY Times crossword and Ph.D. Comprehensive Exams. That will forever be the shameful secret of the SAT exam and its pandering to the #2 pencil crowd. And that is why the search for the #1 pencil is futile.

By Carolyn (Carolyn) on Friday, June 20, 2003 - 01:30 pm: Edit

Sunshine, I have long suspected that you're the type of person who doesn't follow the crowd in her choice of pencils. You choose the best "fit" for your needs, based on a host of factors, including your desired level of magic and favorite fantasy characters. If only more people were willing to be like you and make up their own minds about what is best for them, regardless of the US News & World Report Pencil rankings, the world would be a far better place. I only wish I had the same strength of convictions, but since I don't I am doomed to a life of only using Sanford Eagles.

By Supernova (Supernova) on Friday, June 20, 2003 - 02:49 pm: Edit

Personally, i can't believe you people thinking that buying the best pencil is the only way you will be able to succeed.

It's not just about the brand name and the prestige it's about WHICH pencil is right for you.

That's right i'm not like you nerds who spend all their time with the Sanford pencils, i am perfectly happy with my Dixon. Dixon is just the right size, texture, and has the best performance!

I have certainly found a match, good luck to all you pathetic losers who think having a Sanford will actually get you anywhere.

By Thedad (Thedad) on Friday, June 20, 2003 - 02:51 pm: Edit

That's the spirit!

By Morgantruce (Morgantruce) on Friday, June 20, 2003 - 03:13 pm: Edit

Sanford rules! All you other pencil pushers (of lower prestige pencils, that is) will be left in the dust when it come to future earnings, social hierchy, and membership in the Who's Who of Pencil Fanatics.

And, more importantly, when you leave this earth and are show up at the gates of heaven... what are you going to be carrying... a Dixon???

Repent now--while there is still time! Better to get the right pencil NOW, than spend an eternity in an all-consuming fire of Dixon Ticonderogas.

By Sunshine916 (Sunshine916) on Friday, June 20, 2003 - 04:47 pm: Edit

Carolyn-yes you are right. although harry potter is all the hype right now, especially with the new book coming out in less than 8 hours, i just can't seem to perform my best with those pencils. although the powerpuff girls are losing the popularity contest to harry potter right now, i guess i'm just more drawn to them for my own reasons. *sigh* just because PPG aren't as "great" as HP doesn't stop me from being their biggest fan. they suit my purpose the best!!! now, nothing's wrong with harry potter pencils, and i respect harry potter to the utmost degree, but they just arent for me! forget book sales and movie sales numbers, im a powerpuff kinda girl!

By Sluggbugg (Sluggbugg) on Saturday, June 21, 2003 - 12:48 pm: Edit

Alright, all of you elitist overachievers with your fancy pencils...where I come from, we use rocks that have been baking in the Nevada sun for so many years, they're like chalk. You just walk outside, look down, pick one of them things up, and start writin'. Pencil, my a**!

My family of rugged individualists forged the West without pencils, certainly not pens, and not even crayons ('cause they'd melt and they'd get stuck in the cows' hooves)! My parents had never even seen a pencil until my mom found one in the front seat of her car the first summer I was home from college.

The first time I used a pencil, I was a freshman in college at Santa Cruz. We were down at the Boardwalk, and my boyfriend's roommate had a fat Ticonderoga. In the Seventies, everybody used pencils! If either one of my teenagers tried to use a pencil, we'd know. There's no mistaking that pencil smell, and you can't hide those little shavings that fall out all over the floor when you try to sharpen one. I hope they're not using pencils with their friends. This generation is so spoiled, every kid has a backpack full of Sanford Uniball Onyx Ultrafines and Staedler Cool Rollers in designer colors.

:::Sigh::: Makes me a little verklempt for good, old, reliable Bics. To think that my husband applied to Stanford in 1973 and wrote his essay on a yellow, legal pad in pencil...he didn't get in, but that's not the point! We both come from humble beginnnings, and as we ride off into the sunset, we'll continue to teach our progeny the value of rocks.

:::Hey kids, gather 'round! Grampa wants to tell you about rocks!:::: (Oh, jeez, not again!)

By Morgantruce (Morgantruce) on Saturday, June 21, 2003 - 01:20 pm: Edit

Come to think of it, going down to the store and looking at the variety of things to choose from...nothing seems so daunting as the incredible array of choices among pens and pencils. Every week brings several new inventions to the writing tools market--drawing even from space research!

For the truly sophisticated buyer, however, the shopping dilema is quite easy solved: you just reach for that nice familiar package of Sanford Eagles...

By Sluggbugg (Sluggbugg) on Saturday, June 21, 2003 - 07:22 pm: Edit

Boulder City, Nevada...home of the Fisher Space Pen. Neat-o!

By Morgantruce (Morgantruce) on Saturday, June 21, 2003 - 07:34 pm: Edit

Janesville, Wisconsin... one of many locations where Sanford pencils are manufactured. (sorry sluggbug! )

By Cremebrulee (Cremebrulee) on Saturday, June 21, 2003 - 10:18 pm: Edit

Best thread
heheheheehehehhehe

By Gianscolere (Gianscolere) on Saturday, June 21, 2003 - 11:11 pm: Edit

this thread is funny i have to agree

By Morgantruce (Morgantruce) on Saturday, June 21, 2003 - 11:54 pm: Edit

I wrote my college essay with the little green pencil I got while playing miniature golf with my Aunt Edith in Belmar.

Will I be able to get an athletic scholarship in golf? (I saved the pencil... as proof!) Since there were 9 holes, will I qualify under Title IX ?

Thank you.

By Thedad (Thedad) on Sunday, June 22, 2003 - 03:30 am: Edit

I thought that as long as they were long, yellow, and sharpened they were good enough. This adds a new dimension of stress to the process.

By Morgantruce (Morgantruce) on Sunday, June 22, 2003 - 10:11 am: Edit

Length, color, and ease of sharpening are criteria that adcomms certainly consider---along with other stats. You may choose these criteria as the subject of your major essay. Many applicants who have done so have been admitted to the best schools.

By Carolyn (Carolyn) on Sunday, June 22, 2003 - 05:13 pm: Edit

MorganTruce, you have left out THE most important criteria considered by adcoms: GIRTH. Let's face it, so many people these days have the standard stats or better: 6-plus inches on length, yellow color, 30 seconds or better in sharpening time, that one simply HAS to have something to stand out from the crowd. I think the way to do this is with girth. Length doesn't matter any more but if you can somehow prove that you've personally trained a pencil to have more girth than the ordinary pencil, well, what adcom is going to pass that up? I plan on writing my essay about how I spent my summer developing superior girth in my pencil. Of course, I'm still wondering about the importance of eraser quality. No one seems to want to talk about that. And I STILL want to know which pencil is best for undergraduates...

By Fender1 (Fender1) on Sunday, June 22, 2003 - 06:36 pm: Edit

I am currently enrolled in the stupendously super secret special selective summer system for the U.S. department of writing implements. My job is to test various pencils on standardized tests and see which ones yield the best results. These pencils will then be distributed by agents of the Federal Bureau of Pencil Investigation to preselected students in the hopes of competeting against foreign students in international exams.

Under threat of persecution, I will reveal to you that so far in testing the best pencil is the <removed due to national security concerns>

By Fender1 (Fender1) on Sunday, June 22, 2003 - 06:40 pm: Edit

Personally, I use the Mirado Black Warrior. It's perfectly round desgin facilitates a comfortable grip and the writing mechanism was recently redesigned to use a special non-radioactive form of uranium which dulls every 3,000 pencil strokes versus that cheap graphite which dulls every 300.
Plus the sexy black lacquer finish makes it stand out and signafies my special importance.

By Fender1 (Fender1) on Sunday, June 22, 2003 - 06:43 pm: Edit

Does anyone else treasure the fragrance of a newly sharpened pencil?

It's a heavenly smell.

By Thedad (Thedad) on Sunday, June 22, 2003 - 07:15 pm: Edit

What a stereotype being played out here: Morgantruce is concerned with length, Carolyn with girth.

Time to invoke that ancient quote: "It's not the wand, it's the magician."

By Aparent (Aparent) on Sunday, June 22, 2003 - 08:51 pm: Edit

Actually, size doesn't matter. It's all about confidence. The key is: no eraser.

By Morgantruce (Morgantruce) on Sunday, June 22, 2003 - 09:28 pm: Edit

Aparent's got a point: all these students are feeling so insecure in their abilities, the pencil companies have the markets flooded with pencils with attached erasers. It's difficult to find a back to school sale that offers plain ordinary pencils.

But we should be aware that certain unscrupulous pencil pushers claim to have great confidence, order their eraserless pencils from the office supply---and then have a stash of those erasers that you slip over the end---and use them when the door is locked. These people are without any dignity or moral boundary.

By Savoirfaire87 (Savoirfaire87) on Sunday, June 22, 2003 - 09:42 pm: Edit

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA you guys are the best!!!!!!!!! Monty Python all the way!!!!!

By Anotherdad (Anotherdad) on Monday, June 23, 2003 - 09:19 am: Edit

The worst is to be caught with no pencil at all. Just last night, DD and I were right there next to Tony Hawke with no pencil or any writing implement. Eventually the memory will fade and DD will forgive me.

By Kissy (Kissy) on Monday, June 23, 2003 - 10:00 am: Edit

I'm training my pencil point into the shape of a HOOK and hope to patent my invention and form a lucrative internet start-up venture to market them.

By Thedad (Thedad) on Monday, June 23, 2003 - 11:36 am: Edit

LOL!

By Sluggbugg (Sluggbugg) on Monday, June 23, 2003 - 11:50 am: Edit

Pencils to the left of me, jokers to the right, here I am...stuck in the middle with you!

It's hard for sluggs to hold pencils, but we get by...with a little help from our friends!

By Nealp (Nealp) on Monday, June 23, 2003 - 12:30 pm: Edit

I have #3 pencils for drafting.

By Morgantruce (Morgantruce) on Monday, June 23, 2003 - 12:36 pm: Edit

There you are: you need to write something down, you check all the pockets---no pencil! So, you ask your buddy if he's got a pencil, and he holds out to you a pencil that is lined with teeth marks from the point right back to the eraser! My goodness---even the little metal band has been chomped down on. At this point, you aren't quite sure if this pencil has been worked over by a human or something with more legs... might have been a possum... Your eye catches the glint of what is probably fresh saliva. You immediately reconsider if your need for writing exceeds the various health risks lurking in that pen being held out in your direction....


....what do you do?

By Sluggbugg (Sluggbugg) on Monday, June 23, 2003 - 01:46 pm: Edit

This, in fact, is the opening scene from Stanley Kubrick's cousin's daughter's compelling 1997 student film, Full Metal Pencil, the story of a slothful enlistee's acute transformation into a snapped man.

By Autodidact (Autodidact) on Saturday, June 28, 2003 - 10:51 am: Edit

Great thread, all, but I have to differ. If you want to build a great career you need a carpenter's pencil. Fits nicely in your pocket, never rolls away, has built in versatility (you can use it as thick and thin,) and the local DIY place will probably throw it in for free with an order of 2X4's. The lack of eraser will encourage you to measure twice and act once, but you can always purchase the optional additional eraser, if you're the type who looks as mismarks as learning opportunities--afterall, if you knew it all going in, what'd be the point of doing it. Personally, I think that pencil sharpener:college and pencil:student would be a more apt analogy for the college selection process, as the admissions process certainly eats up and spits out alot of them, in the process of sharpening the superior and destroying the less admirable. Just don't make parents/students use a feather, ink, and blotter--too many birds get plucked as it is, spill their resources, and still require assistance to clean up the mess while leaving an indelible stain.

By Autodidact (Autodidact) on Saturday, June 28, 2003 - 10:53 am: Edit

Offtopic, but more outhouses stocked with USNWR paper would give them proper credit and legitimate use.

By Morgantruce (Morgantruce) on Saturday, June 28, 2003 - 11:18 am: Edit

Ahhh... the carpenter's pencil has one great shortcoming: it does not at all fit into any standard pencil sharpener---it's not round! This requires carpenters to carry a utility knofe to crudely sharpen their pencil.

Which reminds me---how many times have you used a kitchen knife as a substitute for the misplaced pencil sharpener... tsk, tsk!

Back when I was in grammar school, I used some of my allowance to buy an "APSCO Midget" pencil sharpener--the kind that screws on to a wall or desk---and you manually turn the little handle to sharpen your pencil to a very fine point.You get to see the volume of shavings build up through a transparent window. Neat. APSCO, by the way, stands for the American Pencil Sharpener Company. According to the well-worn printing on my little machine, the well-made product from the 1950's was manufactured in "Hollywood, Calif."---a place not well known for industrial manufacturing. The "Calif." (instead of CA) is a good indicator of its true vintage.

Besides a Cub Scout merit badge, my APSCO sharpener is one of the few childhood mementos that continues to follow me around.

By Morgantruce (Morgantruce) on Saturday, June 28, 2003 - 02:00 pm: Edit

AutoD, Kinda scratchy I think. Remember---this is being posted from WV: the state with the most expertise in that area.

By Sac (Sac) on Saturday, June 28, 2003 - 03:14 pm: Edit

I know I should ignore the rankings and choose the pencil that's the best fit for me. I'm left handed, by the way. Will that help? One of my passions is chewing the erasers off, so I'd like only to consider pencils with erasers that taste good. (I did overcome my addiction to chewing the wood, cause everyone thought all the teeth marks were gross. Should I write my essay about that?) I admit that it's really hard to ignore the brands that are only sold in less than 12 percent of the stores. I don't think I'd buy Sanford pencils, though, because no one around here has ever heard of them. Are you sure you're spelling the name right?

By Morgantruce (Morgantruce) on Saturday, June 28, 2003 - 03:33 pm: Edit

Sac-- Pencil rankings, left handed pencils, and teeth marks have already been covered in this thread. Please try to cover some entirely NEW aspect of pencil.

By Sac (Sac) on Saturday, June 28, 2003 - 04:07 pm: Edit

Is there any aspect of pencil that hasn't been covered in College Confidential?
I will add that all this talk about pencils is making my son want to avoid thinking about pencils. He can't hear "pencil" without making a face. He can't look at a piece of mail with "pencil" on it and bear to open it. I, who honestly believe that many pencils would work just fine for him, can't help worrying that he'll feel terrible when he finally goes to choose and finds that the best pencils are on the highest shelf, just beyond his reach because he didn't play basketball and we don't own a store with his last name on it. But when I tell him that would not be his fault -- the pencil market has gone insane -- it doesn't help.
One of the major differences I've noted between our generation and his is that they do their math in pen. Is this a sign of confidence, overconfidence, or a rejection of the entire pencil gestalt? I have made a vow to myself not to mention pencil, wave a pencil, or poke him with a pencil more than once a day all summer.

By Thedad (Thedad) on Saturday, June 28, 2003 - 04:27 pm: Edit

Then there's the question of what kind of pencil you should use if you're underhanded.

By Elazar (Elazar) on Wednesday, July 02, 2003 - 10:46 pm: Edit

The best pencils are Prismacolor soft thick lead pencils( the 24 color set). The quality is amazing, I'll tell you.

By Obh100 (Obh100) on Sunday, July 06, 2003 - 11:35 pm: Edit

TECHNICLICK...