<p>So I am taking the ab calc test, and on my last practice one I got a high 2. I need to get to a 4 or 5, anyone have any advice what to do? I do horribly on the MCQ, getting like 12 right. But how to I improve? anyone have a study schedule? Please please help!!!</p>
<p>1.practice
2.practice
3.practice
4.???
5.profit</p>
<p>any specific thing or book from now until the calc test to study?</p>
<p>or any topic that is worth repeating</p>
<p>You really need to continue practicing problems on the MC. Not only do you need to get your time down per question to an average of ~2 minutes per problem on the non-calculator MC and ~3 minutes per problem on the calculator active MC, but you also need to work on your accuracy. Practice is frankly the only way to get better at that, and practicing as many as you can is essential.</p>
<p>Not answering questions that you really don’t know the answer to will reduce the likelihood of that dreaded 1/4 point penalty. If you’re aiming for a 5, guessing will only increase your variance.</p>
<p>Also, if you’re only earning a high 2, you probably need to pick up some additional FRQ points, especially considering that you really need to pick up another 30-35 points somewhere. Make sure that you’re getting close to 9 points on the areas/volumes questions, as those are fairly manageable. Most of the Fundamental Theorem of Calculus questions are fairly manageable as well.</p>
<p>Lastly, never leave a Free Response question blank. It can’t hurt to guess on those.</p>
<p>Try practice problems on princeton. They have tons of them and all of them have solutions aswell.</p>
<p>If you guys had to suggest topics to review, which ones would it be?</p>
<p>I am starting to take practice multiple choice questions today, lets see how that goes. There not official though, does that matter?</p>
<p>Derivatives and integrals obviously are the cornerstone of your testing prep. I took the AB test last year (am taking the BC test this year) and got a 5 – here’s what I think helps.
Review ALL the derivative rules- chain rule, product rule, quotient rule, etc. Also, know the derivatives/integrals of all of the trig functions, ie. derivative of sinx = cosx and stuff like that. Those’ll be huge multiple choice winners.
Remember theorems, especially the Fundamental Theorem of Calculus, Mean Value Theorem, etc. Don’t stress derivatives and integrals; remember derivatives = slope and integrals = area under a curve. Really. Its that easy 
Finally one of the guaranteed (imo) free response questions will be on volume. So know how to do disk method, washer method, shell method, etc.
Remember that on free response, if you get one part of a question wrong and then continue the problem correctly based on the wrong answer, you’ll STILL GET ALL THE OTHER CREDIT!! That’s why it’s important ALWAYS to guess. Never leave anything blank. Worst comes to worst, write a derivative/integral, stick a pi or 2pi in there if its volume, and get your limits right. You can at least get SOME stuff
Hope this helps…good luck!!</p>
<p>Thanks for the responses -
How many multiple choice questions should I shoot for for a five? and a four? And how many FRQ points? How many points do you need for a 5? If I own the volume question on the AP test, and a particle frq (18 points), what else would I have to do.</p>
<p>noncalc mcq - 7 points
calc - 2.75 points</p>
<p>clearly, I need help with the calc section. Any advice for that? Are there any programs that could help even the slightest? anything?</p>
<p>Does anyone know what the score of 22/28 and 12/17 on the multiple choice would convert to on the 5 scale? These tests are released by Collegeboard to teachers and it was our final!</p>
<p>Thanks a lot. guys…</p>
<p>@ az1698: the ranges vary each year, but generally for a five the range is 65 - 108 (with 108 being the impossible 100%), if i remember correctly. this means you dont need to get that high of a percentage to get stuff right, BUT i’d shoot for about a 30 or 35 at least on the multiple choice section (this is the total score of calculator/noncalculator parts) for free response, aim for 35 to 40ish, and you’ll probably have a borderline 5.</p>
<p>@Indianjatt: lol i know exactly the tests you’re talking about, because we do them too and i’ve done them for 2 years now. ugh 
but anyways, those tests are MUCH MUCH MUCH MUCH (MUCH) harder than the actual AP questions, in my opinion. if you’re getting those scores, i’m pretty sure you’ll get a 5 on the actual test</p>
<p>Really? That makes me feel so much better. I think those may reflect the same type of questions, because they looked the same as the practice 1998 (official ap test we got). Whatever, I just hope I get that 5! I’ve been really trying hard to study on this test. :)</p>
<p>I just finished a noncalc mcq section -
10 right
13 wrong
5 skip</p>
<p>I made 5 stupid mistakes, so I am looking at around 14-15 right on this section. I should be shooting for 30-35 right?</p>
<p>Your score would be- 10-.25(13)=6.something. </p>
<p>the 30-35 guideline is for the MC as a whole to be on track for a 5.</p>
<p>The single most important thing is to understand what the question is asking for, imo. Once you know that, solving it will come to you automatically. </p>
<ul>
<li>Just don’t confuse yourself between average rate of change, average value and just regular average.</li>
<li>READ the question carefully. People keep missing the initial conditions tons of times.</li>
<li>You do NOT need a pie outside your integral when you’re calculating volumes given what the cross-sections are (too many people make this mistake).</li>
</ul>
<p>I got high 4’s on two full practice tests that we did in class (really want a 5).</p>
<p>yea, I miss a good deal of the info some times</p>
<p>I got 5 right on the calculator section, brining me up to 15 right. What would that get me on the test, assuming similar production (2,3)</p>
<p>average value is just the integral of a function from a to b multiplied by 1/(b-a) correct? and average rate of change is just slope?</p>
<p>also, for cross sections are the shapes usually squares and semicircles?</p>
<p>^Sometimes triangles, too. Know the area of an equilateral triangle by heart. I believe its A=(sqrt(3)/2)s^2
??
someone correct me if I’m wrong.</p>
<p>the formula is (side^2 *sqrt(3))/4 its over 4 ,not 2.</p>
<p>damn so close.</p>
<p>thanks for the clarification.</p>
<p>OH DUH
area= b*h * .5
forgot the last .5 XP</p>