It's time to go back to school! If you're a high school student then you'll probably be taking a math class this year. And taking a math class usually means you need a calculator. When buying a calculator you'll want to take a number of factors into consideration including price, functionality, usability, and perhaps your teacher's requirements. However, you'll also want to make sure you take into account another important factor, standardized tests.
If you're a high school student with the intention of going to college you'll spend these years taking a number of standardized exams. They will include some mix of nationwide exams (PSAT, SAT, AP) and state specific exams. Most of the math and many of the science based standardized exams allow and recommend the use of calculators, especially graphing calculators. Unfortunately, each set of exams is organized by different governing bodies each with their own policies dictating what calculators are approved for use by test takers.
If you're a freshman you are most likely not yet thinking about college and AP exams. However, if you are in the least bit interested in math and/or science then you will probably end up taking one or more math and science based AP exams. Given the cost of today's graphing calculators it is certainly wise to take the extra time to at least be aware of the calculator policies for these exams lest you find out later that you will need to buy a new graphing calculator.
Most testing organizations provide at least one web page dedicated to explaining the calculator policies for each standardized exam. Since these organizations have the final say on what is and is not allowable be sure to consult these web pages. Also be aware that although some calculator policies provide a list of acceptable calculator models others provide guidelines of acceptable or non-acceptable functions and/or features. If the latter and you are unclear about whether the graphing calculator you own is acceptable to use on a particular test then remember you can always contact them. A few minutes of your time is well worth it to ensure that you won't have to add to your worries on a day many students already consider to be stress inducing.
Bruce Bernzweig is the owner of Calculator Town, an online provider of calculators and related information. He also writes about calculators at his blog CalculatorTown.Blogspot.com.
Disclaimer: All information on this site is provided for informational purposes only! By no means is any
information presented herein intended to substitute for the advice provided to you by any health care or other professional
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