3 years, 1 month ago
I'm taking the AP Calculus AB exam next month. What should I know about the test?
Tips/strategies specifically related to it?
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M$3 Answers
Some things of note:
1) If you are unfamiliar with AP exams in general, there are some things you should know about format. The College Board deducts 1/4 of a point for incorrect answers on the multiple choice. This means you should not guess blindly.
Your free response grade and your multiple choice grade are weighted equally in determining your final score from a 1 to a 5.
The AP Calculus exam is in total 3 hours and 15 minutes long.
The multiple choice portion has 45 questions, 28 of which are calculator inactive and 17 of which are calculator active.
There are six free response questions, 3 of which are calculator active, 3 of which are calculator inacitve.
2) The AP Calculus AB exam has one of the most generous curves of all AP exams. Although it changes from year to year, typically, getting about 75% of all points available will get you a 5 on the exam. You only need about 45% of all points available to pass the exam with a 3.
3) Because the AP does not provide an equation sheet and because so much of it is calculator inactive, pay attention to the memorization of formulas (unless your a whiz at deriving them). One small task that can yield high dividends is memorizing your unit circle of trigonometry, if those values do not come to mind instantly.
I hope this helps!
1) If you are unfamiliar with AP exams in general, there are some things you should know about format. The College Board deducts 1/4 of a point for incorrect answers on the multiple choice. This means you should not guess blindly.
Your free response grade and your multiple choice grade are weighted equally in determining your final score from a 1 to a 5.
The AP Calculus exam is in total 3 hours and 15 minutes long.
The multiple choice portion has 45 questions, 28 of which are calculator inactive and 17 of which are calculator active.
There are six free response questions, 3 of which are calculator active, 3 of which are calculator inacitve.
2) The AP Calculus AB exam has one of the most generous curves of all AP exams. Although it changes from year to year, typically, getting about 75% of all points available will get you a 5 on the exam. You only need about 45% of all points available to pass the exam with a 3.
3) Because the AP does not provide an equation sheet and because so much of it is calculator inactive, pay attention to the memorization of formulas (unless your a whiz at deriving them). One small task that can yield high dividends is memorizing your unit circle of trigonometry, if those values do not come to mind instantly.
I hope this helps!
You can leave an optional "tip" with Mahalo's virtual currency, Mahalo Dollars. If you are asking a difficult question that might require some research, or if you'd like a wide variety of feedback, a higher tip often leads to more answers to your question.
M$Report Abuse
The most important thing, as with all AP exams, is to know what has shown up a lot on past exams and practice it until you know it like the back of your hand.
If you haven't already, get an old exam and simulate taking the test. This is very important. This lets you know if you need to focus on working faster, or studying some topics more. It also lets you know what your in for, so you not as worried when the actual exam comes around. Also questions usually mimic questions that have shown up on past tests, so that can help a lot.
Honestly it has been a while since I took it, so I am not sure if I can help you with specific material. Also I can't really remember where AB ended and BC began.
I do remember knowing all of your trigonometric identities, as well as trig derivatives and integrals was very important. If you don't have those down yet, learn them.
Don't guess blindly, but if you can eliminate even one answer it doesn't hurt to guess. Don't mspend too much time on one question you can always come back to it.
As with all important tests, get a good nights sleep, eat a good breakfast, and don't stress out to much.
Here is a link to a pdf file with all the topics you should know, and some sample problems:
http://apcentral.collegeboard.com/apc/public/repository/ap08_calculus_coursedesc.pdf
My Qualifications: 5 on both the AB and BC exams
Good Luck!
If you haven't already, get an old exam and simulate taking the test. This is very important. This lets you know if you need to focus on working faster, or studying some topics more. It also lets you know what your in for, so you not as worried when the actual exam comes around. Also questions usually mimic questions that have shown up on past tests, so that can help a lot.
Honestly it has been a while since I took it, so I am not sure if I can help you with specific material. Also I can't really remember where AB ended and BC began.
I do remember knowing all of your trigonometric identities, as well as trig derivatives and integrals was very important. If you don't have those down yet, learn them.
Don't guess blindly, but if you can eliminate even one answer it doesn't hurt to guess. Don't mspend too much time on one question you can always come back to it.
As with all important tests, get a good nights sleep, eat a good breakfast, and don't stress out to much.
Here is a link to a pdf file with all the topics you should know, and some sample problems:
http://apcentral.collegeboard.com/apc/public/repository/ap08_calculus_coursedesc.pdf
My Qualifications: 5 on both the AB and BC exams
Good Luck!
You can leave an optional "tip" with Mahalo's virtual currency, Mahalo Dollars. If you are asking a difficult question that might require some research, or if you'd like a wide variety of feedback, a higher tip often leads to more answers to your question.
M$
You should know that in calculus, you are entering a world where math is more about theory then numbers. Every factoid you memorized over the course of your class is essential, but it was derived by a human. Math is innate to the world.
More specifically, memorize the derivatives and integrals of trig functions, log functions, and e functions. Also memorize how to tackle each type of problem (Shell's method). If you have memorized what needs to be memorized, you can stick it in your toolbox, and you will have it immediately.
In the multiple choice section, there are easy problems, and there are hard problems. The easy problems are truly dependent on having memorized what you need to know. If you know your material, you can knock each of those off in 15 seconds (plus 10 seconds when you go back and check). Skip the hard problems on your first go-through, and get them when you've finished the easy ones.
For studying, my advice is to go through a practice book over the next two weeks, attempting every type of problem. Note the ones you have problems with. Make flashcards to review the derivatives and integrals you should know.
The week after your two weeks, try every problem you struggled with last week. Understand the theory.
The next week, do nothing but memorize the derivatives and integrals you should know. deriv(e^x) = e^x ....etc
Two days before the test, glance at everything one last time, to see if anything looks surprising. If it does, re-work it.
The day before the test, stay the hell away from math.
The day of the test, think happy thoughts. Sit up straight, take a deep breath. If a problem looks hard, go to something else. When you confront a hard problem, take a deep breath, read the question carefully, and try to see if you're missing something.
On the 'essay' problems, if you're clueless, start writing stuff you know. Then build from there. When you have to prove that 'x = y', think of it as a bridge: build what you can on top of 'x' (with identities and whatnot), build what you can from 'y', and try to make them connect in the middle. sometimes putting a simple identity can earn you several points, even if you can't solve the problem
More specifically, memorize the derivatives and integrals of trig functions, log functions, and e functions. Also memorize how to tackle each type of problem (Shell's method). If you have memorized what needs to be memorized, you can stick it in your toolbox, and you will have it immediately.
In the multiple choice section, there are easy problems, and there are hard problems. The easy problems are truly dependent on having memorized what you need to know. If you know your material, you can knock each of those off in 15 seconds (plus 10 seconds when you go back and check). Skip the hard problems on your first go-through, and get them when you've finished the easy ones.
For studying, my advice is to go through a practice book over the next two weeks, attempting every type of problem. Note the ones you have problems with. Make flashcards to review the derivatives and integrals you should know.
The week after your two weeks, try every problem you struggled with last week. Understand the theory.
The next week, do nothing but memorize the derivatives and integrals you should know. deriv(e^x) = e^x ....etc
Two days before the test, glance at everything one last time, to see if anything looks surprising. If it does, re-work it.
The day before the test, stay the hell away from math.
The day of the test, think happy thoughts. Sit up straight, take a deep breath. If a problem looks hard, go to something else. When you confront a hard problem, take a deep breath, read the question carefully, and try to see if you're missing something.
On the 'essay' problems, if you're clueless, start writing stuff you know. Then build from there. When you have to prove that 'x = y', think of it as a bridge: build what you can on top of 'x' (with identities and whatnot), build what you can from 'y', and try to make them connect in the middle. sometimes putting a simple identity can earn you several points, even if you can't solve the problem
You can leave an optional "tip" with Mahalo's virtual currency, Mahalo Dollars. If you are asking a difficult question that might require some research, or if you'd like a wide variety of feedback, a higher tip often leads to more answers to your question.
M$
