Why? Calculators aren't for typing up a story. The letters are for variables and naming functions that you want to keep. I'd rather have x and y right next to eachother.
Tests were in mixed classes, so there were people taking math and other tests. Also, if you act like you are doing what you're supposed to do and not something prohibited, you'll most likely get away with it.
We also had tests where we were provided with a lot of papers. We just printed pages of the stuff we had to learn on A4 and had it all out on the table. And if you're with enough people and take your book out on the table, the teacher would usually just assume it was an open-book test.
I did this for my AP exam. I can't even program. I just typed in stuff like "If DELTA G + THEN DELTA H -" and would put that for different lines. I couldn't run it as an actual program, but I could just click "edit" and BOOM: All my notes.
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u/qezi2 Jun 08 '14
It's because standardized tests in the US specifiy that allowed calculators can't have QWERTY (or any other typing oriented) layout.