Test information

 

The Calculus AB exam is administered in May by the College Board’s AP Services. The exam is  3 hours 15 minutes long, consisting of two equally weighted sections. Section I is multiple choice, section II is free response.

 

Section I multiple choice

There are 45 multiple choice questions. This section is split into two parts: part A consists of 28 questions with no calculator allowed. (55 minute time limit) and part B consists of 17 questions for which a calculator is required (50 minute time limit). Each multiple choice question is worth one point.

 

Section II free response

The second section of the exam consists of 6 free-response questions worth 9 points each. Part A consists of 3 questions for which a calculator is required (45 minutes). Part B consists of 3 questions for which calculators may not be used (45 minutes). During part B, you may go back to the first three questions in Part A if you have time, but you will not be permitted to use your calculator.

There is a 5 minute break between section I and section II.

 

Summary

 

Scoring

The AP Calculus exam is scored on a scale of 1 to 5, with 5 being the highest grade. An acceptable score for placement or for college credit varies from one institution to another.

Raw scores are calculated in points. Each section is worth 54 points for a total of 108 points. Because the questions change from year to year, the scores are calibrated so that an AP score of 4 consistently reflects the same statistical strength of performance. This is done by a statistical analysis of the few multiple choice questions that are the same as in the previous year’s test. For this reason, the cut-off levels for the final scores may change from year to year.

 

Wrong answer penalty

In the multiple choice section, each right answer receives one point. For each incorrect answer ¼ point will be subtracted from your score.

 

Estimating final score

Multiple choice: Subtract ¼ of the number of incorrect answers from the number of correct answers for a total of up to 45 points. Multiply this result by 1.2 to give this section the correct weight. 45 x 1.2 = 54

Free Response: Each question is graded on a 9-point scale. Add the score for all 6 questions for a total of up to 54 points.

Add the free response score to the multiple choice score to calculate the overall score.

 

 

What to bring

·       Two calculators and batteries (no QWERTY key pads allowed)

·       Your social security number

·       Several sharpened number 2 pencils

·       Pencil sharpener or extra lead for mechanical pencils

·       Eraser

·       Watch (to pace yourself in case you can not see a clock)

·        

What NOT to bring

·       Scratch paper

·       Books, compass, ruler, correction fluid, dictionaries, highlighters, notes, etc

·       Beepers, cell phones, or watches with beepers or alarms

 

 

Graphing Calculators

The calculator you use must have four built-in capabilities:

• graph a function in an arbitrary viewing window
• find the zeros of functions (solve equations numerically)
• numerically calculate the derivative of a function
• numerically calculate the value of a definite integral

However, certain more computer-like calculators are not allowed during tests because they would give an unfair advantage. Here is the status of some popular calculator models; inquire if you need to know about any models not on this list.

 

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