Last visit was: 09 Jun 2026, 01:44

It is currently 09 Jun 2026, 01:44

Toolkit

Practice Tests

Business School and MBA

Business School Life

GMAT Club Daily Prep

Thank you for using the timer - this advanced tool can estimate your performance and suggest more practice questions. We have subscribed you to Daily Prep Questions via email.

Customized
for You

we will pick new questions that match your level based on your Timer History

Track
Your Progress

every week, we’ll send you an estimated GMAT score based on your performance

Practice
Pays

we will pick new questions that match your level based on your Timer History

Not interested in getting valuable practice questions and articles delivered to your email? No problem, unsubscribe here.

Go to My Error Log Learn more

Request Expert Reply

Confirm Cancel

Jun 09
How to Get into Columbia Business School: 10 Things You Must Know
08:30 AM PDT
-
09:30 AM PDT
Join us live on GMAT Club's YouTube Channel on Tuesday and learn 10 Critical To Dos
Jun 09
6 Fatal Mistakes that Sink Wharton EMBA Applications: Free Webinar
11:00 AM EDT
-
12:00 PM EDT
. From MBA Admit.com and Dr. Shelle. The deadline for Wharton’s Executive MBA program is 4.5 months away! Learn to avoid 6 fatal mistakes that can SINK a Wharton Executive MBA application!
Jun 09
FREE access to the largest MBA database
11:00 AM EDT
-
12:00 PM EDT
Download the MBA Launchpad App, for FREE access to the largest MBA database - Data backed read on your profile - Identify gaps before you apply - Build a balanced school list - Track your deadlines - Mock interviews - Extensive content library
Jun 10
MBA Spotlight Fair
06:00 AM PDT
-
06:15 PM PDT
Register for the GMAT Club Virtual MBA Spotlight Fair – the world’s premier event for serious MBA candidates. This is your chance to hear directly from Admissions Directors at nearly every Top 30 MBA program..
Jun 11
MBA Banking Recruiting Starts Now
07:00 PM EDT
-
08:00 PM EDT
Discover how top MBA candidates prepare strategically for investment banking recruiting before arriving on campus. June 11th
Jun 11
The Last 90 Days Matter: Winning Strategies for Early Action, INSEAD & LBS Applications
09:00 PM IST
-
10:00 PM IST
Don’t Let the Final 90 Days Decide Your MBA Outcome by Mistake. Join this FREE live webinar to learn how to maximise your chances through Early Action and smart application planning.
Jun 12
Live Coffee Chat - How to stand out as an Over-represented MBA Applicant
08:30 PM IST
-
09:30 PM IST
Join us for a live Coffee Chat where we discuss how applicants from competitive backgrounds can differentiate themselves and build a stronger MBA application.

Back to Forum

Create Topic

CALCULATOR FOR SCHOOL

1 2 3

johnnyx9

Joined: 28 Jun 2006

Last visit: 18 Oct 2008

Posts: 958

Own Kudos:

100

Posts: 958

Kudos: 100

24 May 2007, 05:27

Kudos

Bookmarks

Any idea what sort of calculator we should be buying for school? I know we need a financial calculator with certain functions, but is there some gold standard in calculators for b-school?

I have a friend who carries this weird calculator around with him all the time, he said when he went to b-school ten years ago it was THE calculator to have. The last time I needed a calculator was for calculus when I had the Texas Instrument TI-85 graphing calculator, so I'm a little out of the loop nowadays.

riverripper

Major Poster

Joined: 10 Apr 2007

Last visit: 20 Aug 2022

Posts: 4,306

Own Kudos:

806

Given Kudos: 5

Location: Back in Chicago, IL

Concentration: General/Operations Management

Schools:Kellogg Alum: Class of 2010

GMAT 1: 740 Q49 V42 Verified score

Posts: 4,306

Kudos: 806

24 May 2007, 05:41

Kudos

Bookmarks

You can get specific financial calculators. I would go with the HP 17bII+ the HP financial calculators are a lot more advanced than the TIs I believe. I actually remember reading on the web somewhere that it is the required calculator at Wharton and some other top schools...and to use anything else actually can require permission from the professor.

johnnyx9

Joined: 28 Jun 2006

Last visit: 18 Oct 2008

Posts: 958

Own Kudos:

100

Posts: 958

Kudos: 100

24 May 2007, 06:36

Kudos

Bookmarks

That HP model you mentioned is exactly the model my friend has, guess things haven't changed much in the calculator world since he was in school.

Thanks for the info.

3underscore

Current Student

Joined: 11 Dec 2006

Last visit: 16 Mar 2016

Posts: 1,428

Own Kudos:

234

[1]

Given Kudos: 6

Location: New York, NY

Concentration: Finance (Corp Fin, Financial Instruments)

Schools:NYU Stern 2009

Posts: 1,428

Kudos: 234

[1]

24 May 2007, 06:51

Kudos

Bookmarks

The calculator to have is the HP12c.

Legendary, retro, and also about $80. Very much the standard for Finance, it will be the calculator that your lecturers are likely to refer to (they did in the lecture at NYU that I went to, actually).

edit - and is pretty much the same as the other one mentioned, but sideways.

Ugly ruddy thing, it is.

cnc2

Joined: 13 Feb 2007

Last visit: 29 Mar 2008

Posts: 51

Kudos: 0

24 May 2007, 06:55

Kudos

Bookmarks

An HP 12c Platinum Financial Calculator. You can use either RPN (reverse polish notation) or Algebraic mode to calculate. Plus it is very stylish and professional.

3underscore

Current Student

Joined: 11 Dec 2006

Last visit: 16 Mar 2016

Posts: 1,428

Own Kudos:

234

Given Kudos: 6

Location: New York, NY

Concentration: Finance (Corp Fin, Financial Instruments)

Schools:NYU Stern 2009

Posts: 1,428

Kudos: 234

24 May 2007, 06:59

Kudos

Bookmarks

cnc2

Plus it is very stylish and professional.

Ha!

It looks like it is straight out of Risky Business!

naturallight

Current Student

Joined: 24 Aug 2005

Last visit: 21 Apr 2010

Posts: 260

Own Kudos:

Posts: 260

Kudos: 7

24 May 2007, 08:18

Kudos

Bookmarks

Ugh, I would seriously recommend staying away from the HP12C unless you are already familiar with it. The reverse polish notation is nasty.

I used the TI BAII Plus for the CFA exams, and think I'll stick with it for b-school. No graphing, but lots of time value functions, cash flow fuctions, standard dev calcs, etc. Plus it's easy to use.

johnnyx9

Joined: 28 Jun 2006

Last visit: 18 Oct 2008

Posts: 958

Own Kudos:

100

Posts: 958

Kudos: 100

24 May 2007, 08:29

Kudos

Bookmarks

I've never used reverse polish notation, the things I've read online that attempt to explain it don't quite make sense.

For instance, to add 3+4 you would type: 3 4 + right?
How do you add 34+5? Would you type: 3 4 5 + ? Wouldn't that just add up 3 plus 4 plus 5? Or do you hit enter after every single operand?

Not sure if I should learn this since this seems like the standard b-school way to go, or just use what I'm used to. Thoughts?

dabots

Joined: 18 Sep 2006

Last visit: 28 Apr 2014

Posts: 955

Own Kudos:

Location: Chicago, IL

Schools:Chicago Booth 2010

Posts: 955

Kudos: 34

24 May 2007, 08:29

Kudos

Bookmarks

why not just use your ole TI and load up some finance apps?

3underscore

Current Student

Joined: 11 Dec 2006

Last visit: 16 Mar 2016

Posts: 1,428

Own Kudos:

234

Given Kudos: 6

Location: New York, NY

Concentration: Finance (Corp Fin, Financial Instruments)

Schools:NYU Stern 2009

Posts: 1,428

Kudos: 234

24 May 2007, 08:58

Kudos

Bookmarks

hp12c's are ubiquitous in the banking world. they're the standard.

While I understand that RPN may be a bit tricky to begin with, if you can't get your head around how to work a calculator... It is one of those things that just clicks at some point.

londonluddite

Joined: 30 Aug 2006

Last visit: 28 Jan 2008

Posts: 221

Own Kudos:

298

Posts: 221

Kudos: 298

24 May 2007, 12:39

Kudos

Bookmarks

I agree HP 12c

sm176811

Joined: 29 Apr 2003

Last visit: 13 Jul 2008

Posts: 1,038

Own Kudos:

Posts: 1,038

Kudos: 94

24 May 2007, 13:34

Kudos

Bookmarks

Make sure that u get the platinum edition.

lepium

Joined: 24 Sep 2006

Last visit: 22 Oct 2012

Posts: 1,359

Own Kudos:

209

Posts: 1,359

Kudos: 209

24 May 2007, 15:39

Kudos

Bookmarks

johnnyx9

Johnny, I though the Polish stuff didn't make sense back in undergrad when I first got my HP 48GX. 2 days later, I was hooked! If you yave several layers of screen (which I'm not sure is the case with the hp 12) you calculate stuff way faster than with any other inputting standard. I had to keep a standard Casio scientific for some classes which did not allow programmable calculators, but every time I was using those, i had to write down stuff on paper and calculate again, and then write some more. With the HP I would be able to calculate a whole bunch of stuff without writing anything down.

On your example (again, based on my experience with the 48GX):

34 <Enter>
5 <Enter>
+

But that's not where it is faster (I'd say it's neutral). It's faster at stuff like:

{[(34+5)^2 + (1/10 + 3/4)^1/2] x (3/78)}/1^-2

johnnyx9

Joined: 28 Jun 2006

Last visit: 18 Oct 2008

Posts: 958

Own Kudos:

100

Posts: 958

Kudos: 100

24 May 2007, 16:01

Kudos

Bookmarks

Lepium - Thanks for the info, that's what I wasn't getting, that you have to hit Enter after each operand. Guess I should order a calculator now and start getting used to it.

sm176811

Joined: 29 Apr 2003

Last visit: 13 Jul 2008

Posts: 1,038

Own Kudos:

Posts: 1,038

Kudos: 94

26 May 2007, 23:00

Kudos

Bookmarks

For those of you who want a preview of the HP 12c - attached is an emulation that will allow you to try the 12c on a computer. However, this is not the Platinum version.

Attachments

hp12c.zip [312.44 KiB]
Downloaded 192 times

sm176811

Joined: 29 Apr 2003

Last visit: 13 Jul 2008

Posts: 1,038

Own Kudos:

[1]

Posts: 1,038

Kudos: 94

[1]

26 May 2007, 23:05

Kudos

Bookmarks

And another graphing calculator that I frequently use!

Attachments

GraphCalc4.0.1.zip [517.35 KiB]
Downloaded 159 times

EconGirl

Joined: 15 Jul 2006

Last visit: 24 Aug 2007

Posts: 365

Own Kudos:

Posts: 365

Kudos: 5

27 May 2007, 16:34

Kudos

Bookmarks

johnnyx9

Johnny, you should check with Stern - they may have specifics on what to get/not get. Wharton tells us to get The HP17bII+, and states that HP12C will put us at a disadvantage in exams (I don't know why).

nick_sun

Joined: 19 Mar 2007

Last visit: 07 May 2012

Posts: 453

Own Kudos:

364

Posts: 453

Kudos: 364

09 May 2008, 06:27

Kudos

Bookmarks

I want to calculate this with my smartphone 12c or 10bII calculator (the screenshot of my 12c is attached):

Quote:

As another example, suppose that you just turned 25 and are planning for your retirement.
You hope to retire at the age of 60, and would like to be able to make
end-of-month withdrawals from your retirement account of $2,500 per month for
a 30-year period after that. If you plan on funding your retirement by making
monthly deposits between now and when you retire, with the first monthly deposit
occurring at the end of the coming month, how much must each deposit be if you
can earn 1 percent per month in your retirement account? (And, yes: we're going to
ignore taxes here.)....

In this problem, we have two annuities, one of deposits and one of withdrawals.
Since both involve monthly payments, we will need to have T expressed in terms of
months and r in terms of "per month." (Luckily, r is already given to us as a monthly
rate: we'll discuss how to handle converting it if it's not in the next chapter.)
The first step involves converting the annuity for the payments we do know, the
withdrawals into a lump sum. We have the choice of using either PVA or FVA
formulas to do so; but, if we remember where those two formulas will place the
lump sums, we can see that it will be better to use the PVA formula (because it will
place the value at the same point in time as the last deposit, perfectly positioned for
that value to be the FV of the deposit annuity). Solving for the PVA of the withdrawals
yields:

- the formula is attached.

The author suggests that to solve for PVA one shall do this on a calculator:

Quote:

360 [T]
1% [r]
2,500 [C]
[CPT] [PVA] = 243,045.83

But I can't find the way how to do it on my 12c or 10bII

Any ideas?

By the way, I can't see any significant differences between 12c and 10bII. Are there any?

Is there smth not so overloaded as this hp 12c platinum financial calculator guide - https://www.hp.com/ctg/Manual/bpia5184.pdf ?

Attachments

File comment: The screenshot of my smartphone platinum 12c

12c Platinum.gif [ 20.62 KiB | Viewed 7900 times ]

File comment: Formula to be inserted into the calculator

formula.JPG [ 15.36 KiB | Viewed 7859 times ]

ryguy904

Current Student

Joined: 27 Jul 2007

Last visit: 10 Sep 2013

Posts: 859

Own Kudos:

216

Given Kudos: 4

Location: Sunny So Cal

Concentration: Investment Management

Schools:CBS, Cornell, Duke, Ross, Darden

Posts: 859

Kudos: 216

09 May 2008, 10:47

Kudos

Bookmarks

naturallight

I'm in I same boat as NL and I second his statements 100%. Plus the TI is only like $30 and gets the job done. The last thing you want to spend money on for b-school is a calculator. Forget the graphing calculator nonsense. Anything that requires a graph, you'll just use Excel.