<p>I was told by a former McGill parent that one of the reasons Calc at McGill is so difficult is that calculators are not allowed. Is this true? Do they use slide rules??</p>
<p>No slide rules. Calculators aren't needed (and, trust me, it's better to learn calculus without a calculator). And usually the problems are set up so that number crunching is kept to a minimum.</p>
<p>Plus, and I speak from experience, TAs hate it when one writes "pi" or "e" in truncated or rounded decimal expansion form.</p>
<p>/same goes for irrational roots and fractions...</p>
<p>What if he took Ap Calc in HS with a calculator? Will it be a huge disadvantage to start Calc 2 at this point without one?</p>
<p>I have no idea, I guess it depends on whether the student learned calculus or just learned how to input functions to be differenciated or integrated into today's fancy calculators... Of course, outside of exams and tutorial quizzes, there's no way to prevent students from using calculators for Webwork assignments.</p>
<p>Thanks - he'll call the dept.</p>