AP Calculus AB Exam: Advice Needed

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Discussion Overview

The discussion revolves around experiences and opinions regarding the AP Calculus AB exam, focusing on its perceived difficulty, rigor, and the quality of instruction. Participants share their thoughts on the exam's structure and its role as a precursor to college-level calculus.

Discussion Character

  • Exploratory
  • Debate/contested
  • Conceptual clarification

Main Points Raised

  • Some participants find the AP Calculus AB exam to be oversimplified and lacking rigor, suggesting it serves as a basic introduction to calculus.
  • Others argue that with a competent teacher, the experience can be comparable to a standard college calculus course, specifically referencing Stewart's Calculus.
  • A participant mentions that reading more rigorous texts, such as Apostol's book, could enhance understanding and preparation for the exam.
  • One contributor shares a personal experience of successfully cramming for the exam and achieving a high score, indicating that basic skills in differentiation and integration are sufficient for success.
  • Concerns are raised about the quality of teaching, with some suggesting that a poor instructor can negatively impact student performance on the exam.

Areas of Agreement / Disagreement

Participants express a range of views on the exam's difficulty and rigor, with no consensus on whether it is adequately challenging or overly simplified. The discussion reflects both positive and negative experiences, indicating a lack of agreement on the overall quality of the AP Calculus AB exam.

Contextual Notes

Some statements rely on personal experiences and may not account for variations in teaching quality or changes in the exam format over the years. The discussion does not resolve these uncertainties.

stakehoagy
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Anybody taken the ap calculus ab exam? I'm taking the class right now, just curious to what you think about the exam. I expect it to be rather easy. ap calculus seems oversimplified. advice?
 
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stakehoagy said:
Anybody taken the ap calculus ab exam? I'm taking the class right now, just curious to what you think about the exam. I expect it to be rather easy. ap calculus seems oversimplified. advice?
It's oversimplified and not very rigorous. However it is a good intro into college calculus.
 
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This forum hates the AP Calculus exam(s).

However, from my experience, if you get a proper teacher, the experience really is exactly like a standard Stewart Calculus course. Especially for the AB test

If your university offers an honors sequence of calculus, I would highly suggest considering it. Regardless of how you did on the AP test. But if your course will just be a standard one with hundreds of students learning out of Stewart, take the credit and move on
 
If you really would like to test you calculus knowledge, try reading apostol's book and if you can readily understand the concept presented than you will easily receive a score of 5 on the exam
 
Ah assuming the Ap exam hasn't changed dramatically over the years. Plug and chug away. I never understood how people didn't get a 5.
 
It's incredibly easy. After two weeks in my course, I obtained my permission to do the rest of the course as "independent study." I followed along at first, and though I'm not proud of it, I stopped doing everything for several months straight until about three or four days before the AP test. From there on I crammed everything I had missed for the next few days and ended up with a 5. If you can differentiate and integrate, you're pretty much set. I even left 1/3 blank on the calculator multiple choice section (I figured knowing where the integration key was was enough, but that sure wasn't true!) and one of the six short response questions completely blank. Easy test, AND a generous curve. (I guess I should add that even though I did well, half the people in the class still didn't pass. But this was an absolutely terrible teacher. A competent teacher will net you a passing grade easily.)
 
It's a good intro to calculus. From there you could go on to using Apostal to learn a fairly rigorous calculus
 

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