In college, did you write in cursive or print?

I’m 40 and have never written in cursive. We were taught how to write in cursive in 4th grade, but I had other music classes during those times, so I didn’t actually learn how. After this 4th grade novelty, we never had to write in cursive.

In college we had to type our papers.

I don’t see any need for cursive writing today.

I’ve written in cursive ever since I learned how. The only time I use print is when I have to print and sign my name. None of my college professors ever required me to print on a written exam.

I’m 55, and wrote my exams in cursive and hated it. Writing was always very difficult for me. My hand cramped and hurt, especially when having to write a lot, quickly. It’s why I learned to type. At least when I type, I can keep up with my thoughts to some degree. Writing—forget it! I lost about half of what I thought.

I don’t know what my son will do. He also hates writing by hand. He can print, but doesn’t know cursive. I hope he will be allowed to type. He is diagnosed with learning disabilities so he gets extra time to do tests and some other “accommodations.” It would be nice if we could type on exams, but I guess there are problems with that.

I hardly wrote by hand, period.

When I did it was almost always in print.

2004–2009

When I was in college, my notes were in a kind of mix of script and printing. I think when I print it is more legible, but I if I take my time, my script/cursive is not too bad. I noticed my son who is a freshman in college never writes in cursive, save his signature and none of his writing is very good/legible. Handwriting appears to be a dying art, relegated to the likes of calligraphy.

I’m in high school and I still write in cursive. I’m one of thee elite few!

Yep, I’m not proud of it, but I can hardly write cursive. I can, but it takes me ages.

My college professors don’t specify what kind of writing to use. It just has to be legible.

Crusive. In fact I even handed in a few handwritten papers, not all of them were typed, but most were. I graduated 1990.

I have this glorious doctor-scrawl, somewhere between cursive, print, and chicken scratch, that I used for note-taking. Most everything else was done on a computer.

Whenever we had to fill in forms or take in-class essays / quizzes, I always used print. It’s far more legible, by my hand, and takes less time for me. Otherwise, as @Nullo mentions, almost everything was typed on a computer and turned in as a hard copy.

My printing is much nicer than my cursive. I write in cursive when a lot of writing is needed (to make it faster, the original point of cursive), but I print in all other circumstances.

Whenever I try to print quickly, it ends up in cursive. I’m afraid I don’t understand how some people find printing faster than cursive. After all, cursive is pretty much the same as printing except your pen doesn’t leave the paper. My handwriting is very large and loopy, many people have called it childish, but it’s generally neat and very easy to read.

Everything we submit in university has to be typed, but I think only a quarter to a third of people in lectures have laptops, fewer in seminars and tutorials, so most students must be handwriting their notes somehow. And exams are always handwritten, too.

This is interesting.
I went to a school that was grades 5–12, and you were required to write cursive all the time.
They said it was part of developing “adult skills.”
Now it seems like a waste! I do find that cursive is faster for me as @iphigeneia and @DominicX said.

I’m still in high school (for the next two weeks, anyway) but I’ve written in cursive since middle school. When I learned it in the third grade, I didn’t think that I would ever use it again except to sign my name. But, as it turns out, I use it all the time now! Like @SavoirFaire, I only don’t write in cursive when I am asked to print and when I have to fill out a form, or something along those lines. My print has definitely suffered as a result of all the cursive, though!

I have always written in cursive since 3rd grade. In elementary school after we learned cursive we were not allowed to print; that was for babies. I wrote in cursive for every exam all the way through grad school. I write checks in cursive as well as greeting cards and letters —- yes I write to people on paper and put a stamp on an envelope and mail it.

Mid 1970s. Mostly typewriter, but when that was impossible, print. My cursive was (and still is) horrible.

My teachers in college specifically tell us to write clearly AND in print, not cursive.
However, most of them use cursive when they write notes on my papers, and half the time I can’t read their handwriting.

I’m in my early 60’s, and attended college in the early ‘70’s. My papers were typewritten, double spaced.It was only recently that I stopped putting two spaces after a period. My exams were in written in cursive, and I was extremely careful to keep it legible.

Cursive. However, with the exception of invigilated exams, I never hand wrote anything at university apart from my own personal notes. I typed everything I submitted. Now, with the exception of my own notes, birthday cards, lists – I write even less. My writing is awful.

I’m in my early 40’s and I was taught all serious things are done in cursive so that’s just how I did it. I don’t remember college classes stating a preference because everything was expected to be typed from notes before it made it to hand-in.

A mix between the two, I’m in my 20’s.

I prefer to write in cursive because it is a time saver. I can write so muc more in a shorter period of time and then re print it later on.

I went to college from ‘03 to ‘08, so I did neither. I typed everything.

If I HAD to write something, like to jot a quick note down, I’d do it in script (what adults refer to cursive as), simply because it’s quicker.

I’ve written in cursive ever since I learned in primary school. During exams, I write in cursive.

In the Dark Ages, I wrote with a quill, and made my own ink.

Seriously, cursive as well. Our papers were required to be typed, but for exams, I wrote in cursive, and was amazed at my professors’ seemingly innate abilities to decipher my writing.

Started College in 02’, Nothing was ever handwritten. Everything MUST be typed.
Hell some students never even wrote their notes either, and I bet even less now with iPads floating around.

I am curious about those who never write. Did you not have any written exams? I had to type my papers, and I require my students to type their papers, but they all write out their exams by hand. No professor here would let students take out their computers during an exam.

@SavoirFaire Yep, written exams here. Actually I rarely have the opportunity to type my work because my work is mostly math based….typing math symbols is a nightmare.

@Mariah I know what you mean about typing mathematical symbols. I have the same problem whenever I have to include a logic formula in one of my papers.