<p>I'm in the 700s on sparknote's practice tests, however I struggle to finish in 60 minutes. So I was wondering if you guys had any tips - I often find myself spending too much time doing simple problems (especially algebra) because I don't immediately see how to solve it. Also I often waste precious seconds per problem clearing my calculator switching screens etc.</p>
<p>Thanks!</p>
<p>practice makes perfect. There’s really no substitute to strong fundamentals. I hear a Ti-89 helps people who aren’t “fast” at math a lot, so you might want to look into that. Just do a lot of algebra, though, until you are comfortable with it.</p>
<p>How does a TI-89 solve faster than another (TI-84)? Also I heard many people say that a 89 does a bunch of things a 84 doesn’t - what specifically can it do that will actually help you on the Math II test that a 84 can’t? My school has 89s so I could start using one for the next month to get used to it, but I really don’t want to learn another calculator unless it will do something that I need and which my 84 can’t do.</p>
<p>Hmmm… I don’t think the 89 is really that much more useful at the SATII level. The analytic differentiation and integration is quite useful when you don’t feel like applying a mess of quotient rules and crap, but that’s not on the SATII. </p>
<p>The other functions are more useful for math competitions and such, which is why they’re not allowed at math competitions… </p>
<p>The 89 does have an RPN program you can download that really makes everything so much faster once you get used to it. It might take a while to get used to, though. However, it is definitely not needed; there are better things to do to cut down on your time usage. </p>
<p>Side note: did anyone notice the question on last year’s SATII that required derivatives? it was finding the extrema of a cubic function. Although some people said they just graphed the function and traced it… whatever…</p>