Graphing Calculators

Colleges and Universities A-Z University of California - Los Angeles
1

<p>1.) Do I need/would it be very advantageous to have a TI-89 for Math 31A and B and upper-division economics or accounting classes?</p>

<p>and...</p>

<p>2.) Do I need/would it be very advantageous to have either a TI-83 Plus or TI-84 if I'm going to be taking a lot of statistics classes (if so, which one of the two would be more appropriate?). </p>

<p>3.) and if so, are there places I could rent a calculator from or any especially good places I should buy it/them from?</p>

<p>4.) Should I get two graphing calculators (89 and 83+)? </p>

<p>Thanks!</p>

2

<p>for the 31 series are you not allowed to use any calculators on the test so it doesn't matter much, im not sure about econ classes tho...</p>

3

<p>From what I understand the TI-83 and TI-84 are nearly identical except the 84 may be slightly faster or have more memory. TI was advertising it was the same "keystroke-for-keystroke".</p>

4

<p>can u use any calculators in 32A?</p>

5

<p>im pretty sure you cant. but that was 3 years ago...</p>

6

<p>think of it this way...if a class is teaching you actual math concepts, then theyre not going to let you have a calculator do all the work for you. they are specifically testing you on your ability to manually derive/integrate/prove something. even though just having a right final answer alone wont get you a good grade, it definitely helps in BSing or reverse-engineering the answer to come up with the steps in between. </p>

<p>but if the class is teaching you how to apply certain math concepts and formulas to interpret and solve a problem (eg: physics, econ), then the actual calculations are not the important part. instead, they focus on how you choose to attack the problem and if you used the right concepts and formulas. in this case, a calculator would more likely be allowed.</p>

7

<p>you may want to look into getting the TI Nspire to be futureproof</p>

8

<p>calculators are NOT allowed in any 30-series math class. you can use it for the homework and that's it.</p>

<p>if you're not computer-illiterate, get an 89. it'll do just about everything...though admittedly its stat app is a bit more cumbersome than the one an 83/84.</p>

9

<p>32 did not allow calculators, I don't even remember using it for homework, because it was pretty useless.</p>

10

<p>The only class that I was allowed to use a calculator in was 33A with Laub, which was pretty helpful for checking answers. In most of the 30 series classes, it won't matter that you can't use a calculator because there really aren't too many actual numbers.</p>

11

<p>Professors in the 30 series usually generate numerical questions, but insert simple numbers (easily calculatable if you passed algebra). This ensures that a numerical answer is produced, but the weight of the problem is heavily based on the theory and step to deduce the final answer.</p>