AP Calculus AB/BC Exam Review

  • There are many different resources available to students preparing for the AP Calculus AB and BC exams. I've provided as many as I can in electronic format. Most importantly students need to prepare WELL in advance and not cram at the last minute. Starting early and varying your review methods is a great recipe for success! Below are just SOME of the resources out there to prepare for the exam.

    Open-Ended AP Questions
    50% of your score will come from the open-ended portion of the exam. Each year after the exam is given College Board releases that year's questions and later that year the scoring guidelines and statistics to go along with it. Below are links to each of the test's respective banks of questions. There are general themes every year so they are definitely worth looking at!! Don't just look at the questions! There are scoring guidelines, Q&A with the people who graded the questions, and the score distributions. 



    "Old" Notes and Worksheets
    Don't forget that all of my worksheets and most (getting there...) of my solution sets can be found online. Starting in 2013-2014 I am also trying to digitize my notes and put them online as well. I am 90-100% there for both classes so they can be used as a resource as well. 


    AP Calculus AB Worksheets/Solution Sets- /webpages/jsmoyer/classes.cfm?subpage=34323


    AP Calculus BC Worksheets/Solution Sets- /webpages/jsmoyer/classes.cfm?subpage=169210

    Textbook
    In 2013-2014 the district purchased textbooks the AP Calculus AB/BC courses. While the textbook wasn't 100% used in class and many materials were still supplemented it is a great resource for extra problems and explanations. It also has many good electronic resources that can help guide you through preparing for the exam. There are videos, extra examples, and interactive flash applets to help you.

    Calculus-Early Transcendental Functions - http://highered.mcgraw-hill.com/sites/0073532320/student_view0/

    StudyIsland
    As you know from using it for quizzes during the course, StudyIsland has a bank of questions for AP Calculus AB and BC as well as a full length exam in each course. It's a great resource for practicing the multiple choice questions and learning how to "play the game" when it comes to choosing the best multiple choice option, even if you aren't 100% sure of the answer. REMEMBER there are NO points taken off for missed multiple choice! See me if you don't remember your StudyIsland username or password!


    Look under US Programs to find the AP material!

    Links/Resources
    In addition to the content hosted on AP Central there are several websites that have good overall information and tutorials in calculus. Explore them and see if they can help on a topic you are stuck on. 




    Sample Exams
    Finally below are some sample exams that I've scanned from a variety of sources. The more problems you can work through, both multiple-choice and open-ended, calculator, and calculator the better off you will be. The tests are in PDF format and should come with solution sets. These solutions sets are NOT mine and please note that there have been errors pointed out in the past. If you are unsure come see me and we will work it out!

    Additionally, I've also "compiled" many of the open-ended questions for the past several years as well as their statistics to highlight the fact that while the questions themselves are different year to year the general themes such as the area of a region, rates of change, etc. remain the same.

    Hard copies of all of these are available upon request if you prefer to work that way!!

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