What's the best font and margin size to use? Does it really matter?

[Cler]

My high school teacher was super strict about formatting—it had to be Times New Roman, 12pt, double-spaced, 1-inch margins. Period. End of story.

Now I'm in college and I have three different professors with three different preferences. One said "anything but Comic Sans" (lol), another said she prefers Arial 11pt, and my third professor didn't mention it at all in the syllabus, which is honestly the most stressful option.

Do professors actually care? Like, will they take points off if I use Calibri instead of Times New Roman? Is there a "standard" that's safe for any class? I don't want to be the person who gets marked down because I used the wrong font.

Also, what about margins? I've heard rumors of people adjusting them to make a 7-page paper fit the 5-page requirement, but that feels risky. Is that a common hack or a quick way to annoy your TA?

Just tell me what to do so I can stop staring at the font dropdown menu and actually start writing.

 

[LarryMertz]

Most professors genuinely do not care about the specific font as long as it's:

• Professional (no Comic Sans, Papyrus, or Wingdings )
• Readable (11-12pt)
• Consistent throughout

But TAs? Some care a lot. Especially newer ones who want to feel authoritative. I've definitely had TAs mention formatting in feedback.

Times New Roman 12pt is the McDonald's of fonts—boring, basic, but nobody's gonna complain about it. Arial 11pt is also pretty safe. Calibri is fine too (it's literally the default in Word now).

Margins? 1 inch. Always. Don't get cute with it. Not worth the stress of wondering if you'll get caught. Just write the damn pages.