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The only way to prepare for AP Calculus AB is to do a lot of practice tests. You should learn the lesson from choosing or writing the wrong answers and go back to review the unit. Think deeply about that you were being careless or there is room for improvement in understanding the concepts. When you realize the problems, you are not far away from success.
To make sure student’s practice is effective, we sort out high-quality practice tests for you. Without further ado, let’s get started!
Official AP Calculus AB Past Exams
The College Board released the 1988 and 1998 complete past exams. Past exams of 1988 have all answers, yet 1998 has only the answers of the free-response section that we will provide the unofficial answer. In case you have doubt on the answer, you can discuss with your teacher.
- 1988 AP Calculus AB Complete Past Exams
- 1998 AP Calculus AB Complete Past Exams
- 1998 multiple-choice section answer
- 1998 free-response section answer
AP Calculus AB Exam Format (3 hours 15 minutes):
Multiple-Choice Section
- 45 Questions
- 1 Hour 45 Minutes
- 50% of Exam Score
- Part A:
- 30 Questions
- 60 Minutes
- Calculator permitted
- Part B:
- 15 Questions
- 45 Minutes
- Graphing Calculator required
Free-Response Section
- 6 Questions
- 1 Hour 30 Minutes
- 50% of Exam Score
- Part A:
- 2 Questions
- 30 Minutes
- Calculator permitted
- Part B:
- 4 Questions
- 60 Minutes
- Calculator permitted
The 1988 and 1998 complete exams released by College Board share the same amount of the latest version. It should be noted that there are only one multiple-choice question and a free-response section (no part A and Part B) of 1988. The calculator is permitted during the whole test. The length of the multiple-choice section of 1988 is 90 minutes, not 105 minutes for the latest test.
Already got confused with the updates?
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Don’t worry! We suggest that students can follow the test instruction when you practice the questions of 1988 and 1998. Imagine yourself is the examinee at that time, just follow the rule of the year. Although there is no big difference between the previous and the latest test, it still has reference value for students to take the practice.
AP Calculus AB Multiple-Choice Questions
Except from the 1988 and 1998 past exam questions, there are no other complete past exam questions. However, you still can start from page 5 of AP Calculus AB Official Past Exams. This section has 16 multiple-choice questions, answers, the description of the range, and 2 free-response questions.
AP Calculus AB Free-Response Questions
值得慶幸的是，The College Board有釋出官方的2017-2019年Free-Response題目，因為年份相近，所以內容準確度很高喔! 這絕對是很好的資源可以運用。
Luckily, The College Board released the official 2017-2019 Free-Response questions which are great resources to make use of.
2017 Free-Response Questions
| Questions | Scoring | Sample and Commentary | Score Distribution |
|---|---|---|---|
| FRQ | Scoring Guideline Chief Reader Report Scoring Statistics | Sample Response Q1 Sample Response Q2 Sample Response Q3 Sample Response Q4 Sample Response Q5 Sample Response Q6 | Score Distribution |
2018 Free-Response Questions
| Questions | Scoring | Sample and Commentary | Score Distrubution |
|---|---|---|---|
| FRQ | Scoring Guideline Chief Reader Report Scoring Statistics | Sample Response Q1 Sample Response Q2 Sample Response Q3 Sample Response Q4 Sample Response Q5 Sample Response Q6 | Score Distribution |
2019 Free-Response Questions
| Questions | Scoring | Sample and Commentary | Score Distribution |
| FRQ | Scoring Guideline Chief Reader Report Scoring Statistics | Sample Response Q1 Sample Response Q2 Sample Response Q3 Sample Response Q4 Sample Response Q5 Sample Response Q6 | Score Distribution |
If you want to buy physical books, check out Ivy-Way Shopee!
Khan Academy Resources
Khan Academy collaborates with The College Board to release many resources of PSAT, SAT, and AP tests. When there are questions you can’t answer, you can refer to the tips in the teaching video.
Paid AP Calculus AB Practice Tests
Below are the paid practice tests that may be helpful for you to prepare the real AP tests.
Kaplan AP Calculus AB Prep Plus 2020 & 2021
You may know well about Kaplan reference books. This will be the best choice among the textbooks which has 100 questions for you to practice. You can purchase it on Books.com.tw.
The Princeton Review AP Calculus AB Study Guide 2020
This reference book is published by an acknowledged publisher-The Princeton Review. Apart from the outline of the subject, there are 6 practice tests. Check Books.com.tw to purchase the book.
Shmoop
Shmoop is the only paid website in our article. It provides two complete tests with commentary and a test to analyze the student’s weaknesses. The benefits are that you can download all the AP, SAT, and ACT test resources for monthly subscriptions.
Varsity Tutors
Varsity Tutors provides 3 analysis tests and 130 quizzes, which are categorized by different topics (such as Chain rule). Each question has its difficulty level. The analysis tests have 40-45 multiple-choice questions in which the exam format is similar to the real test. The results will show you which part you need to improve.
Albert
Albert provides the AB Calculus tests which are categorized into three types. You can click into each tag to enter the specific topics. You can do hundreds of the practice tests after you sign up for the free account.
The tests are divide into three categories according to their difficulty: easy, moderate, difficult with no time limit and these tests have answers and explanations.
4Tests
4Tests provides 50 multiple-choice questions. These questions are easier than the real test, you can build up your confidence by doing these practice tests.
Free Test Online
Free Test Online provides 4 quizzes (includes multiple-choice 1, multiple-choice 2, free-response1 and free-response2) Each quiz has 5-8 questions and explanations.
這裡的free-response的題目比真正的AP考試來得簡短，但是可以把他當作是多選題來做，雖然題目比較基本，但是這個網站跟其他不同的是，他分別列出允許/禁止使用計算機的題目來讓學生練習。
Analyze Math
Analyze Math provides 20 multiple-choice quizzes, you can take a look at the website if you want a quick quiz.
SparkNotes
The quizzes that SparkNotes provides is not of good quality and with the average exam format. The questions are easier than the real test that we only recommend the website to the students who just start the course.
How to Prepare for AP Calculus AB Test and Manage Your Time?
In the next part, we will tell you how to make good use of these resources to prepare for the AP Calculus AB test during the school year.
First Semester: use practice test in your class
When you first study the AP Calculus AB course, an overall review is unnecessary since you just learn the basic section. We introduce many free resources for the specific course sections and these practices can be added in your study. After completing a unit, you can do a full review of the practice questions on the website, and you can also know whether you have any questions in the course!
When you practice Free-Response Practice, you can try to answer more questions as you can (6 questions the most) to familiarize yourself with the real AP test. We also suggest that you can set a time limit.
Second Semester: Prepare for AP Test
During the second semester, you already learn most of the knowledge, you can start doing the practice tests with the complete content review without doing the individual subject. The wide range of practice tests can help you examine your study condition and arrange your review plan.
You can start doing the official past exams at the end of the second semester that makes you familiar with the test format, question types, and learn to steady yourself before the real test. Before attending the test, you can mark the questions that you are not sure about the answer, even it might be the right one. You should plan to review these concepts in case you feel worried when you answer the questions.
Every mock test should follow the test rule to set a time limit, sort the wrong answer by different sections, and review those wrong answers. The purpose is to know your weakness so that you can solve as many problems as possible. Do not waste time taking the mock test one after another before you figure out the concept behind the answer.
When you fully understand the solution of the questions, you can take the second test to see if you make any progress.
The Mock Test Should Be Arranged Like This:
- Taking the mock test and score (4 hours)
- Review and sort the wrong answer by sections (30 minutes – 1 hour)
- Review the knowledge that you are not familiar with (1 – 2.5 hour)
- Retake the test and make sure most of the answers are correct; if not, review again (30 minutes – 1.5 hours)
- Back to step 1 and make sure you can get a good score almost every time!
We suggest that you arrange 6.5 to 9 hours to take the mock test. When you are familiar with the question types and knowledge in the exam, your review time will decrease gradually to 6 to 7 hours a test. If you master almost all the concepts, it might only take you 5 hours to complete the test.
You can keep repeating the steps until you get the grade you expected. If you find that there is no progress in your grade after taking tests two times, you have to assess your review plan.
Conclusion:
Practice tests are necessary for your studies. Make the best of these tools to help reduce the pressure you face in the real test.
When you are doing the practices, you have to pay special attention to your wrong answers and have a solid review plan. Make sure you review the basic concepts step-by-step and try to solve the more complicated questions. Use these practice resources to find out if you really understand the concepts or not.
Since there are often different correct answers for the Free-Response Questions, we suggest students find a professional AP Calculus tutor to go over those questions and can help you identify your weakness. 1-on-1 online Calculus AB lessons and in-person AP Calculus AB lessons for students who need extra help.
