Hey! I’m in twelth grade in an Indian school (CBSE board) and we’re NEVER allowed to use calculators. Even in our most competitive exams like the entrance exams for Undergrad Engineering and Medical, we solve without calculators of any sort. We do use log tables for calculations requiring logs, though. As a result, all the methods taught to us, even for the most complex calculus in our syllabus, are such that we don’t need graphing calculators. This means computing limits etc, everything without the convenient graphing calculators students in the US can use.
I don’t have any problem doing a majority of the pre-calc qs you have on SAT math II. There are plenty of questions in the collegeboard book and even barrons that explain how to do them with a calc but I do them algebraically.
Unfortunately, there seems to be a class of questions specifically designed to be done on a graphing calculator. I’ve been taught how to draw graphs manually for all the general functions, but when the function is complex, it’s very hard to achieve accuracy, for eg, when it comes to finding the zeros of a higher degree polynomial.
I can’t afford to buy a graphing calculator for just one exam, since I mostly won’t be using it in the future, neither are there any at my school that I could borrow.
I’m afraid that I’m going to miss out on the best score I can get on math II just because of this mysterious graphing calculator. Does anyone have any suggestions for a strategy to get a 750+ score without using one? Can I just skip the questions that require it? I think you don’t need to answer every q to get an 800, right?
Do you people really go through high school math using calculators in class and even on tests? Wow!
haha I’m with you, fellow cbse mate. Tis a pity we don’t use calculators.
I want an answer to this question too.
Logarithms to any real base are easy without a graphing calculator using change-of-base (most scientific calculators I’ve seen only do base 10, e).
It’s been a while since I took Math II, but I don’t remember many questions where the graphing calculator was necessary or extremely helpful (that is, most Q’s could be solved without one). If anyone else has differing opinions or questions that involve the graphing calculator, go ahead and let me know.
Math II has a pretty forgiving curve; you can miss a few questions and score 800.
I used a “scientific calendar” that was about 10 dollars, and I did okayish (770)- I would at least invest in this kind of calculator because of all of the trig and log stuff on the exam.
I didn’t use a graphing calculator and got an 800, and Collegeboard states that all questions can be done without one, which in my experience is definitely true. I just used a scientific calculator. There were certain questions which took longer on the scientific (for example I had to work out where the asymptotes were rather than just looking at the graph on a calculator) but if timing isn’t an issue then you should be fine 
I used my scientific calculator for Math II and scored 800 (granted, my scientific calculator is amazing). There was one question that I did use a graphing calculator for, but if you’re already comfortable and have taken tests without using a calculator, I say you should go for it!
It is totally possible. I think it’s way harder, and I used mine a lot because I’m a lazy person (scored 800), but if you’re used to taking tests without a calculator, go for it. And yeah the curve allows you to miss quite a few questions and still get an 800, so you could skip any question that make it helpful to have the graphing calculator.
@potatoprincess what scientific calculator do you have?
@RiceEater108 TI-36X Pro it saved my life