<p>I'm taking BC Calculus this year and it's turned out to be a big mistake :( I'm not doing so great in the class (Switching out unfortunately isn't an option). So I was wondering what supplement is recommended to do a good job in the class (and provide adequate preparation for the AP Exam).</p>
<p>Would something like the Princeton Review BC Calc book be a good supplement for the class, or is there something else that would do a better job?</p>
<p>I'm also looking for something similar. I took the AB exam last year and got a 5, and am self-studying the BC exam this coming year. I figure I should probably start about now to start reviewing/learning everything. Right now, I have the PR AB/BC book..will this be sufficient for a 5 on the BC exam? Remember, I'm self-studying all the BC content...which book is best for this? I also have a textbook (Larson/Hostetler/Edwards Calculus, Eighth edition).</p>
<p>@wantivy, as long as you review your ab stuff really good, and you got your bc stuff down alright then youll get a 5. a 5 on bc is really easy if you already know ab, mostly because a majority of the bc test is on ab concepts (3 of the bc frqs are on the ab frqs, which is why you cant take both in the same year).</p>
<p>Any opinion on my situation?</p>
<p>Bump? (10 char)</p>
<p>This is the book that I use as a supplement in my BC class and it works great. The book does a great job of cutting the material down to what you need to know and has 3 AB practice exams along with two BC.</p>
<p>Amazon.com:</a> Be Prepared for the AP Calculus Exam: Mark Howell, Martha Montgomery: Books</p>
<p>The best supplement would be a volunteer math tutor. At our school, there are a few everyday except friday. I would suggest that more than anything because it's hard to read a math book and 100% understand the content. Normally, a person with need further explanation. Especially in a class like Calc BC.</p>
<p>Supplements:</p>
<p>ti-89-- get one.
collegeboard.com with practice free-responses-- memorize them
text-book pictures and examples--read through, understand, and memorize (i'm assuming most text-books are the same)</p>
<p>Hey, fellow BC'er!!!</p>
<p>I think PR is good for just review of the basics, but if your teacher tests beyond the material (like mine.....ugh....) you will need to practice a bit more.</p>
<p>I'm going to find Peterson's prep book as soon as I can, and get in the habit of doing at least 10 probs a day.</p>
<p>I'd also log into AP central to get a bunch of practice questions; they have these for all exams.</p>
<p>I agree with doing practice questions.</p>
<p>Memorization will turn out to be a poor substitute for understanding when you get questions that aren't exactly carbon-copy clones of ones you've done before.</p>
<p>well, you memorize enough free-response questions and you're bound to get a few correct. besides, the free response questions are always in a set order--of which i have forgotten,
but if you can recall the general procedure for doing a certain type of problem, then plugging in random variables into the 'skeleton' will still score you many points. </p>
<p>i.e. it doens't have to be a perfect carbon copy for you to get a lot of points, and you don't necessarily have to strive to get all the points on a question for a 5 overall.</p>
<p>The free responses often have some common components, but memorization only takes you so far in mathematics.</p>
<p>If your only goal is the AP credit, memorization may take you there, but if your goal is to be ready for subsequent courses and to be successful there, memorization rarely takes you further.</p>
<p>^ i agree, math is not about memorization, it's about understanding. well said ^
that pretty much summed it up</p>
<p>^ i agree, math is not about memorization, it's about understanding. well said ^
that pretty much summed it up</p>
<p>While that sentiment is certainly true in general, memorization of a wealth of example questions is most definitely helpful especially if you're dealing with dilemmas in which you have to learn numerous concepts/material in a compact time interval. If you can not seriously learn all the material and have complete robust understanding of it, it's more ideal for you (for the purpose of scoring decent in the AP Calc BC exam) to learn much of the material partially and try to work vast amounts of example questions because its very rare for a question to be completely different from example questions based on the same topic (there is always some semblance of similarity; though might be hard to see at first). By accumulating a vast bank of example questions, any question you see on the AP exam should bear at least some similarity.</p>
<p>well BC is mainly knowing ur AB material so you need a strong grasp on that. Maybe review your AB stuff?</p>
<p>BC calculus is not very hard.you must have used wrong study methods.I think ,reading through the textbook and finishing some half section exercises will be enough.but you must always do some hard and advanced questions.I use Thomas' calculus 11e,and I think it is quite a marvelous book,with detailed texts, many exercises and examples.</p>