<p>Hi all AP cal AB-Subject Matter Experts:</p>
<p>Whats your recommendation for someone who did pretty well in PRECAL, and will be taking CAL AB this fall. However, has been warned by others who've had the CAL AB teacher that it is no walk in the PARK. </p>
<p>To prepare, the ARCO book has been seen on this forum and is being considered (does it matter if its paper back?) Any other suggestions for review.</p>
<p>Calculus is not like PreCal at all.</p>
<p>I've been a math person since elementary school. I used to get straight As in every test in PreCal. Now, I find myself barely passing my Cal teacher's tests.</p>
<p>I've heard that the Barrons and Princeton Review books are useful for studying for the AP test.</p>
<p>You need to understand the function of these test prep books. They are meant to be read after (or while) taking the class and before taking standardized exams. That is, their primary function is to very simply review the material in a way that will make it easiest for you to answer test questions. What you're looking for is a book to teach you the material for the first time.</p>
<p>A test prep book is not a textbook.</p>
<p>Get a textbook. Calculus by Stewart is widely used and I recommend it, but it would probably be most helpful to use the same textbook your class uses. There are also many websites with free content (including MIT's OpenCourseWare) online but they can be more difficult to understand. You could also enroll in a course over the summer. I did an online course in Calc BC a couple years ago through CTY at the Johns Hopkins University, and Stanford has a similar program called EPGY. I don't remember the admissions requirements because I got in in middle school but the point is there are designated resources to teach you math, and review books are not one of them.</p>
<p>How much preparation you need largely depends on what your precalc class covered. If you've had a semester of limits and differentiation and a semester on trig, you should be in good shape. I would recommend that you find any calc textbook and see if you can do all of the derivative exercises. If you get very good at differentiating all kinds of functions, integration will be much easier.</p>
<p>"What you're looking for is a book to teach you the material for the first time.". Precisely.. thank you all for the feedback duly noted.</p>
<p>I'm taking the AB class right now and even though I got only A's in PreCalc, I'm struggling in my AP Calc class. I STRONGLY SUGGEST THE PRINCETON REVIEW BOOK. Like theoneo said, it's not meant to be a textbook, but it does a wonderful job of going over every topic you're likely to come across in class and it includes practice tests in the back. My Calculus book wasn't well written, so I use the Princeton Review book along with it.</p>