Choosing a Calculator

You may think this is an odd topic to discuss, but amazingly its quite important especially if you want to maximize your scores not just on math but other sciences and standardized testing. Before moving to the main topic however its worth noting a few things:

• Its so important you learn how to use the calculator and how to use it well as during an exam you don't want to be panicking or hunting for an important feature you've not used often

• It's important to know when NOT to use the calculator

• It's important to know how to check calculations when using a calculator

• Listen to school recommendations but don't follow them blindly

Ok, for the main event, i do suggest you listen to the school, but also that you make your own decisions. During middle school you will be strictly using a regular scientific calculator. Moving to high school whether for math (Precalculus and beyond) or other subjects there will be exams where a graphing calculator is assumed / required and times when you cannot use a graphing calculator. Let's break it down.

• Regular Calculators

  • Nominally four function (+-*/) but also some others (%, sqrt)

  • Financial and other specialist

  • Scientific

• Graphing Calculators

  • Regular Graphing Calculators

  • CAS Graphing Calculators

The good (and bad) news is in most cases (not all) there are published rules on admissible calculators. The go-to is the College Board list which is very comprehensive. See links below. However, you may find in middle school the rules for school exams are more restrictive - especially about calculators that have lookup for scientific facts.

In almost all cases you are allowed to take two calculators. There are two reasons for this, firstly so you can have a graphing and non-graphing scientific calculator, secondly so you have a spare. I strongly recommend as a minimum buying two calculators - one scientific one graphing. This is because, when you don't need graphing functionality frankly a regular scientific calculator will be faster and easier to use. Ideally i recommend buying two scientific and either one or two graphing calculators. Remember that at least one of them should be able to do statistics functions and one should be able to do complex numbers.

Why two scientific? So you have a live and spare when you cannot use a graphing calculator. Indeed, I recommend two calculators of different brands. That means if you cant find that less often function on one you can, instead of panicking, grab the other and see if you find it quickly. There is a small nuance, and this may drive you to buying two different models of the same brand - as i noted you may find that in middle school you are restricted to a calculator with slightly less capability but there is a big brother that is allowed for AP SAT ACT. Unlike when i was at school the good calculators are multi line and show equations the same as you write them. Many have statistics, some do complex numbers. My favorites in order:

• Sharp WriteView EL-W535TG / EL-W516T

• TI MultiView TI-30XS / TI-36X Pro

• Casio - various

• HP - various

Why two graphing? simply you may want a CAS and NON-CAS graphing calculator. For CAS the goto is ALWAYS TI-NSPIRE though there are others. This is one of the few times i do agree with schools. For NON-CAS, there is a lot of choice. The key is the NON-CAS will be easier to learn easier to use HOWEVER graphing calculators are more expensive. So the cost and the time to learn to use it well may mean you go with just the one. The most common alternatives are some of the lower end TI, and Casio. However, for NON-CAS i strongly recommend NUMWORKS. Terrific calculator super easy to use and actually great price.

• TI NSPIRE CX II CAS (not the non cas version)

• Numworks

• Casio FX-CG50 Prizm

• Casio FX-CG500 Prizm CAS

• HP Prime G2

• TI-84 Plus CE

Perhaps as i noted earlier the important thing is to take the time to learn to use the calculator and use it fluently. In my experience frankly in school they will not spend enough time to get fluent and i have seen students struggle on tests especially in high school because of this. Even on a regular scientific calculator some things like statistics functions are not intuative. Similarly useing a graphing calculator well for key features (min, max, scaling) and even more so using the CAS capabilities does take time.

SMALL CURRENT / FUTURE NOTE: in class they often use desmos on their computer, traditionally you cannot use a computer or tablet for exams. However as exams move digital you may find they have built in calculator in the app and this MAY be Desmos (seems to be with SAT/AP). I still recomend making sure you have physical calculator and you are familir with it/them as well as with whatever is in the app.

NOTE: you are now allowed to use a calculator for Economics (Micro and Macro) AP however this is an odd one as you can only use a "4 function" not a scientific (or graphing). Most likely however you dont really need one!

FYI: I love old calculators, and pocket computers,