Does a calculator help you on the SAT?

Tweet

I was going to take the SAT a few years back, and as I reached the school where they were administering the test, I realized I had forgot my calculator and I had no time to go get it. I took the test thinking I would do terrible in the math, but ended up getting a 640. Thinking I could do better with a calculator, I went to take the SAT a second time and made sure to bring it this time. I scored a 600 in math. I scored higher this time in the other sections, but my math was actually lower with a calculator. Thoughts on this?