TI-81 calculator for the med school pre-requisites?

[Erica1990]

I will be starting on the pre-requisites for med school this fall and i already have a TI-81 calculator. Should I invest in a TI-85 or am I fine with the 81?

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[Jepstein30]

I will be starting on the pre-requisites for med school this fall and i already have a TI-81 calculator. Should I invest in a TI-85 or am I fine with the 81?

TI-85 makes life easier but is by no means necessary.

 

[IndianaGirl13]

I am about to be a senior and have never been allowed to use a graphing calculator for any of my classes in undergrad.

 

[deleted393595]

I am about to be a senior and have never been allowed to use a graphing calculator for any of my classes in undergrad.

+1. I've been using a TI-36X Pro for my entire undergrad too since we aren't allowed to use graphing calculators. But with the Pro's built in equation solver, I haven't missed my graphing calculator at all (and it's actually a lot faster for me to use my pro instead of my TI-84 and Ti-89)

 

[littlelight]

I am about to be a senior and have never been allowed to use a graphing calculator for any of my classes in undergrad.

Same here. We weren't allowed calculators period. No scientific or simple ones. Had to use the old noggin.

 

[Chillbo Baggins]

I made it through all of undergrad with a $20 Casio scientific.

 

[deleted436726]

The TI-81 and TI-85 are both 20+ year old calculators...not sure if trolling.

 

[zeppelinpage4]

If you take the calc-based physics, or if you just take calculus in general the TI-89 is amazing. It's pricey, but I love this calculator beyond death. It can integrate and take derivatives, and it can solve more complex algebraic problems, like solving for x if you just put it in.

However, for general physics (algebraic formulas), bio (genetic crosses, probabilities), gen chem (more formulas and equations) and orgo (might not need a calculator at all) I think most scientific calculators should be able to do the job.

You could also email the professors of your classes to see what they recommend or just ask other pre-meds at the school and see what the majority of them are using for the classes.

 

[sliceofbread136]

You don't have to have one, but I recommend a ti-89 if you are in a math intensive major.

 

[Doctor Strange]

My trusty TI 83+ from middle school worked fine.

 

[loltopsy]

TI-89 is king.

 

[deleted303591]

RPN (Reverse Polish Notation) calculators are the best. However, they have a learning curve and it takes a month to get comfortable with RPN. You do not use parenthesis with RPN, which prevents careless errors and saves time on exams. In addition, you enter all operands and numbers in to the calculator in a certain way. (Entering 1 + 1 in RPN mode will give you an error. In RPN, it is 1 ENTER 1 +. You enter the computations in to stacks - a programming concept.)

The calculators I use:

HP-35s (scientific RPN calculator)

HP 50g (graphing RPN calculator)

They are both much more powerful than comparable TI calculators.

 

[Tear It Up]

That's pretty cool.

 

[cyaneidae]

I used my TI84+ from high school and was fine; I could use it on chem + physics exams (and thus was subsequently frustrated when I had to take the MCAT minus calculator 😛).

This is all undergrad dependent, though.