Let’s start off with a really quick tip: Bring 2 or 3 calculators on exam day!
OK, now that you know that, here are the two calculators I recommend you get:Â TI-30XS multiview and the BAII Plus.
To see why I like these two, and find out more about why you should bring two calculators on exam day, keep reading or watch the video above.
So at the very beginning of this article, I recommended that you bring at least 2 calculators on exam day. Here’s why:
First, because some questions are easier to do with one type of calculator and others will be easier to do with a different calculator. Since you’re allowed to bring more than 1, you may as well bring two! Especially for Exam FM since the types of problems on Exam FM require different calculator functionality.
Second, is because if your calculator stops working on exam day you’ll want to have a back up. This is unlikely, but it does happen. Don’t risk it!
The best calculator for Exam P is the TI-30XS multiview. (Here’s what it looks like – link to Amazon). The battery operated one is OK too – It will have a “B” instead of an S.
I love that calculator because you can see more than one row of calculations at a time. That makes it super easy to see what you’re doing and it really helps to be able to see what you’ve typed. You can even go back and use answers from calculations you’ve previously done which helps a lot with speed on exam day.
The best calculator for Exam FM is the BAII Plus (again, see it on Amazon here) because of it’s helpful functionality that the TI-30XS doesn’t have. Since you’re going to want that one for Exam FM, I recommend that you get it for Exam P as your back up calculator.
It’s important to note that no matter which calculators you get, make sure that your calculator is on the list of approved calculators that the SOA gives out. You can find that list right here.
