<p><em>Sorry for making a bunch of topics but I just have many eager questions</em></p>
<p>People say that you're only as smart as your calculator. I have a TI-84 Silver Edition Plus; are there any hidden tricks or useful things that people graphing calculators for to do well on the SAT? In our math class this year we learned about the graphing functions(Y=) so that can really help. Are there any programs that come built in(I don't want to cheat and make my own) that help such as mean/mode/median, percents, etc?</p>
<p>I might have phrased that wrong, but basically if you don't know how to graph functions, then your calculator doesn't do it either. I know that sounds weird, but if you know your calculator well, then you can get some answers easily. Math is so natural to me, the only trouble I get are some hard problems, but calculators do help tremendously when you can do more with them than just basic operations and graphing.</p>
<p>I scored 800 on my last math section. I remember using the calculator only once. I actually felt better doing everything by hand. As they say, there's nothing on the test that requires a calculator. I really do feel that's true. Personally, it would not have made anything that much easier for me.</p>
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People say that you're only as smart as your calculator. I have a TI-84 Silver Edition Plus; are there any hidden tricks or useful things that people graphing calculators for to do well on the SAT? In our math class this year we learned about the graphing functions(Y=) so that can really help. Are there any programs that come built in(I don't want to cheat and make my own) that help such as mean/mode/median, percents, etc?
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<p>Some people swear by the calculator method. One of the other SAT tutors in my town has written a massive TI Basic program that he loads on his clients' calculators. Note that the College Board does not seem to consider this cheating (If they did, they'd have proctors clear the RAM before you take the test). But most of the tutors I'm friends with agree that overuse of the calculator can only slow you down, which may mean you don't get to answer all the questions.</p>
<p>I'm with Handyandy -- do it by hand. If needed, maybe verify a calculation, but hand is best, and usually fastest.</p>
<p>The SAT I Math section does NOT require a calculator but I strongly feel that calculators are extremely beneficial to test takers. Calculators are good for doing calculations such as 43 x 28. Sure you can do it out by hand but why waste 15 seconds? Also, certain equations near the end of the section are testing you on ax^2 + bx + c but in reality plugging the equation into your calculator and finding the intersection or maximum is much faster than doing it by hand. Other than simple calculations and graphing, calculators should not be used because they waste too much time.</p>