[High School - Calculus] Preparing for the AP Exam

[MrRubix]

Re: [High School - Calculus] Preparing for the AP Exam

Trust me you do *not* need a hardcore calculator to do the test. I used a TI-82 (yes, an 82) only because I liked being able to modify my equations easily with the arrow buttons. Screw the fancy functions as you don't want to find yourself relying on them. A calculator's meant to augment, not replace

[Relambrien]

Re: [High School - Calculus] Preparing for the AP Exam

Okay. So the AP exam was a lot easier than I thought it was going to be. Still challenging, but I didn't need to know half of what I thought I did.

In fact, the only time I used trigonometric derivatives was on one question involving the arctangent. I didn't need any knowledge of the unit circle at all. There was a -lot- more stuff involving the Euler number and natural logs than trig calculus.

I'm pretty confident I got easily enough on the multiple choice section to score a 5, but I missed two parts of a question on each part of the free-response section. Meaning, of six questions with four parts each, I missed at least four. And since the parts aren't weighted equally, I'm hoping the ones I -did- miss weren't very heavy.

Also, there was only one question involving differential equations, which I really didn't get. I understand slope fields, but I couldn't remember how to solve differential equations analytically, so I know I missed that.

I'll be looking forward to the third week in July, when I get my scores back. If I got a 5, then awesome, I'll take BC next year. If not, I'll just take AB again. I need the 5 for the colleges I want to attend to give me credit for the class.

[flipsta_lombax]

Re: [High School - Calculus] Preparing for the AP Exam

So my teacher was wrong about integration by parts being on this test. Everything was relatively easy. The student response without the calculator was the trickiest on my part, but everything else was easier to solve.

[sumzup]

Re: [High School - Calculus] Preparing for the AP Exam

BC was pretty good; I did well enough to get a 5, I think, but I could see where getting a 4 would be reasonable. I didn't have nearly enough time to study...I studied on the plane back from Washington, D.C. to Washington State (Sci Bowl) so it was pretty grueling.

I basically needed some more time, but as it is I think I missed 3 free response subparts out of around 24. Multiple choice was easy enough, except for lame Calc AB stuff on 2 questions I didn't remember.

ALSO; to Relambrien: Don't retake the AB test if you don't get a 5; just take the BC next year, because you'll get an AB subscore that is equivalent to having taken AB.

[Relambrien]

Re: [High School - Calculus] Preparing for the AP Exam

ALSO; to Relambrien: Don't retake the AB test if you don't get a 5; just take the BC next year, because you'll get an AB subscore that is equivalent to having taken AB.

Hmm, I did not know that. Thanks for telling me

[gottymann]

Re: [High School - Calculus] Preparing for the AP Exam

prepare for sat exam