The short answer to this question is NO.
100% you cannot use a calculator on the Quant section of the GMAT. It’s a bit like asking whether you can use ChatGPT on the Verbal section (again, the answer is NO).
The more nuanced answer is that the GMAT is split into three different sections.
So the longer answer to “can you use a calculator on the GMAT” is sort of maybe a little bit in one section. But still, don’t.
The problem is that in the West, math teaching–as a rule–sucks.
Math is taught to the lowest common denominator, no child left behind, blah blah blah nonsense. (Ironic if you think about it, because “lowest common denominator” is a mathematical term.) Students who excel are almost to a person “the naturals”–people who simply get how it works while barely trying. These people are sent up the chain and ultimately become teachers, and few of them have any interest in explaining things to regular human beings.
Either that or the teachers are just relative idiots who studied a generalized Education degree and just end up teaching whatever the school needs. They’re plugging away at the state curriculum for whatever useless, shitty paycheck they get, totally unaware that there are often better, more creative ways to solve problems. They’re just waiting for their smoke break.
Whichever math teachers you’ve experienced, you’ll realize that there was a point where calculators were finally allowed. (It seems to get earlier every year). At this point, all practical application of arithmetic ceased.
It’s just easier to use a calculator for a lot of situations than it is to, you know, think about it for a second before you start tapping away.
When most people wonder why the GMAT Quant doesn’t allow a calculator–presumably why you searched “can you use a calculator on the GMAT,” yes?–they simply assume that the test is trying to make things more difficult.
Obviously calculators make things easier. Right?
Right?
Actually, that’s not correct. The reason the GMAT Quant doesn’t allow a calculator is because you don’t need a calculator on GMAT Quant questions. It sounds like I’m using the answer to define the question here, but hear me out.
The point here is that GMAT Quant questions are designed specifically not to require a calculator. GMAT Quant is about testing your logic and reasoning skills, as well as your ability to make decisions under pressure. It’s a management exam, after all.
That of course means that there are different techniques and methods of thinking that you will need to use to answer these questions. Calculators are for blunt arithmetic. You simply won’t see much of that–and if you do see it, you’re doing the question wrong.
Success on the GMAT Quant is categorically not the same as trying to do it “the calculator way” but just calculating everything by hand.
What it means is that there are ways to sidestep arithmetic or to use First Principles to answer the question. In short, that means NOT smacking the keys at random and praying to the gods of Texas Instruments that your answer will come out fully cooked and looking like one of the answer choices.
Remember, the GMAT is a logic exam, not a math exam. It’s not checking how well or how quickly you can do a basic calculation.
Think about it like this: if something is basic number-crunching that doesn’t involve any inherent logical thinking, then that is something that might better be offloaded to a calculator. I use a calculator for this type of thing all the time.
It’s just that that’s not what the GMAT is asking you to do.
The reasoning will always come before the number crunching, and if you do it in that order–as well as know your basic multiplication tables, a few factoring techniques, and–crucially–little number-manipulation tricks that you’ll probably only ever see on GMAT, then you really won’t need a calculator.
You can get a fairly good rundown of these techniques in this free guide.
ANYWAY, the GMAT is a logic exam, not a math exam. Just like I said before.
The logic of course resides in understanding how to manipulate numbers based on the situation. Sometimes that’s actually calculating (but far less often than you think).
Sometimes that’s plugging the answers in (usually only if it tells you to).
Sometimes it’s even–god help me–using “smart numbers” to figure out the answer (but to be fair, most of the time this is a thorough waste).
Sometimes it’s just doing it the bluntest way possible.
And, let’s be honest, in some of the most difficult cases it’s just a matter of saying “fuck it, that calculation is too much but I can see what the answers are not.”
The GMAT wants you to use your actual brain to solve things. Not a machine. Not even, in most cases, a formula (which can be considered sort of an intellectual machine).
The GMAT wants to know that you understand the concepts at hand and that you’re actually able to manipulate those concepts. That’s what you need to focus on: knowledge of the underlying math principles and flexibility in applying these principles.
(If you’re still asking yourself “can you use a calculator on the GMAT?” I know I am because I’m writing it again for SEO.)
Then take the GRE.
But seriously, though. That’s a really poor way to look at the whole situation.
What’s curious about the GRE business is that GRE Quant questions are so similar to GMAT Quant questions–some of them basically just rephrased GMAT questions (or vice-versa)–that you also have no real need (excuse) to use a calculator on the GRE either.
Bear in mind, the GRE has the same hilariously crap calculator that the GMAT Data Insights section has. Honestly, using the calculator is a massive time suck.
Putting the time in to learning how to do math logically–rather than tapping away blindly like a crack-addled macaque and expecting the machine to spit out a coherent answer–will serve you equally well on the GRE.
It bears repeating: anyone who says “I’m going to take the GRE because it’s easier than the GMAT” will faceplant–hard–on either exam. Calculators are a perfect example–although not the only one–of why this is the case.
Anyone entering with this mindset is almost certainly incapable of the intellectual dedication necessary to train properly for such an exam and would thus be better suited to something easier. Go play in the sandbox with Claude or something.
Don’t let that be you. The calculator on the GRE is there to distract you. Learn to do real math instead.
Please see above. Explained up there. Thx.
But if you want to learn more about GMAT/GRE technique and are willing to put the effort in–and it’s really not as bad as you think–to learn how to reason without a calculator, then get in touch.
I’d be happy to discuss.
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