<p>tomorrow i'm taking AP calc test...and i am kind of intimidated</p>
<p>The reason for this is that while i do not expect to get 1 (although everything can happen), i am afraid i won't be able to receive a 5. In this case i am pretty sure there would be no point in applying to Caltech...And the more i think about it, the more scared i become
Same thing is with AP Physics (which is next Mon)</p>
<p>Ppl, what should I do?? :)</p>
<p>You should not worry, because it doesn't help. Calm down, look through the things that you've learned, don't try to learn new things now.
On the day of the test, do everything exactly the usual way: this really helps, because the organism is already under psychological and physical stress, no need to increase it by doing unusual things... like getting up too early, eating too much etc.
I don't know if it will work, but try thinking this way: The AP test that Caltech "expects" you to take, is not just a test of your maths knowledge; it is also a test of your ability to concentrate, work well under stress etc.</p>
<p>You're also taking it as a junior (i think..) so you're already ahead! And if it helps, someone I know who took it last year told me that he left one of the free response blank and still got a 5!</p>
<p>Don't stress. It's not high stakes in the sense that if you mess up a bit here and there, you'll almost certainly still get a 5. The tolerances are very broad and it is really a test of minimal competence as opposed to mastery.</p>
<p>You'll do fine : )</p>
<p>On the other hand, Ben, I understood BC Cal very well, with a little blurriness in only a few subjects, and still only got a 3 with a 3 subscore. It's not that I didn't know the material, it's just that I'm a really bad standardized test taker. It's always reading the question wrong, reading the answers wrong, or something like that.</p>
<p>Similar happened on Physics C. I knew E&M better than Mech, and got a 2 on Mech and a 3 on E&M. :(</p>
<p>Hriundeli, AP's aren't the end of the world. With my low scores, I still managed the waitlist at Caltech.</p>
<p>hehe I've am not supposed to be out of school until the 10th but I have AP exams every day but one... wednesday, thursday (friday no test) monday, tuesday, wednesday, thursday. I'd rather be taking ap exams than be in school lol</p>
<p>as long as your ap score is in the top 10% of all the papers, you're pretty much garanteed a 5. so, if you come from an average or above average high school and you're in the top 10% of your calculus class, then, you should get a 5 on the AP exam.</p>
<p>percentage wise, to get a 5, you need like 65-70% correct.</p>
<p>also, after you've taken the test, if you dont think you did too stellar, don't worry about it. you generally don't feel too good on a test if you only get 70% correct, but, you'll still get the 5</p>
<p>thanks for the advice, ppl </p>
<p>eeer....i thought it was 85% or above....?</p>
<p>PS
i cannot retake it later, can I? (this year hopefully)?</p>
<p>It depends. For Calculus it's much closer to 70%.</p>
<p>Also remember that ~40+% of those taking the Calc BC make 5s.</p>
<p>last year almost 44% of BC calc students got 5's so it really isn't that hard to get a 5. Don't worry and be confident I really blieve confidence can make or break your test.</p>
<p>I'm aiming for a 4 because four is the number of Beatles(...except in the begining when they had 5) don't worry. my friend wrote blond jokes in one of the the free responses on the BC and got a 5</p>
<p>thanks people
i was confident, but i will consider myself lucky if i score a (-10) on the test...
Timing kills me....it was dreadful..
lol....yeah....
now it's physic's turn...I'm not worrying about this one, because i know that i dont know anything there :) jk</p>
<p>thanks again for support :)</p>
<p>Calc AB was very easy. English Lit tomorrow will be another story methinks.</p>
<p>I wish i could say the same thing about BC...
actually, you ARE right: it wasn't hard; every problem there was doable, but, as i said before, the timing on the free response killed me :)</p>
<p>I am exactly like me? I understand the material very well but the best I have gotten on an AP was a 3 (chem) and I got 2 2's in (us history and bio), I guess I misinterpret the questions and answers a lot too. But nonetheless, I still got into Cal although I didn't apply to Cal tech so I am not sure about that.</p>
<p>my hand hurts right now, 120 minutes of nonstop writing hurts (thanks to ap english lit)</p>
<p>It was a fun exam though. ^_^</p>
<p>i died on the free response.</p>
<p>first i rotated about x = -3 and worked out the entire 1st problem.</p>
<p>erased it.</p>
<p>rotated about y = 3 and worked out the entire problem again</p>
<p>erased it.</p>
<p>finally got it right and did it about y = -3.</p>
<p>after that i was pretty sure my chances for getting a 5 were down, wasnt able to do the taylor polynomial/power series stuff.</p>
<p>im not sure why i couldnt read that damn y = -3 axis of rotation on the first or second try.</p>