Customer Reviews

Barron's Ap Calculus Advanced Placement Examination : Review of Calculus Ab and Calculus Bc (6th Ed)

5 star:		(12)
4 star:		(10)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

This Barron's guide (as someone already said) doesn't live up to Barron's standards...the author basically looks at the topic outline from CB and consisely reviews each and every one of them. Then there's a TON of practice at the end. The only problem w/ this approach is: any good old calculus textbook does this! The sample tests in this book were horrible, since they lacked the free-response questions and never taught you how to prepare for them. The multiple choice samples make you think the AP test has a pattern that doesn't really exists (for example, they might mislead you into thinking that the test always has a group of questions on a table of f, f', g, g' values they give you). This is on the part of the author's laziness...

If you want good prep for the AP test (it's next week haha), what you should do is pay attention in class, do homework problems, and buy the 5-year set of free-response questions from CB (it's got no answers, but this is good since it's only $5 and you can figure answers out for AP calculus, unlike other subjects like AP Chem that has certain specific--and somewhat biased--guidelines in grading free response questions). Or if you want the answers and real student samples from that year, buy the annual free-response question set for about 15? and/or the full-test available for certain years (the recent ones are 97 and 98 for calculus)--the full-tests are about 30 dollars, and they include answers for multiple choice, free response, and scoring guide w/ statistics for performance that year.

If you--like some of the previous reviewers of this book--expect to snooze through your calculus class for a year, pick up a $13 book and ace the AP exam, thereby earning college credit for material you never really learned, this book (and, most likely, all others, along with college and life itself) will be a huge disappointment. After some deep thought, you perhaps would come to the conclusion that if this were actually possible, there wouldn't be much need for Calculus courses, Calculus textbooks, or Calculus teachers, like myself.

HOWEVER, if you wish to supplement (i.e., not supplant) your classroom text with a variety of informative review sections and practice problems, this book is an excellent choice. Here's why I think so: In my AP calculus class of 21 students, this book was used during the second semester. (The first semester, I taught the topics from a standard text.) The second semester, each night I would assign about 15 problems, and the next day we would review the problems and have a 5-question quiz over the types of questions seen in the homework. While this book does not include free-response questions (except in the cumulative review section, something our vitriolic reviewer probably failed to locate), there is really no need for this, as the College Board lets each school KEEP the free-response questions. So, we also practiced free-response questions from the last 10 years. The bottom line: of 21 students -- all of whom said they had been more than well prepared for the exam -- there were (7) 5's, (10) 4's and (4) 3's earned on the exam. Yes... I know, 7 + 10 + 4 = 21, which means nobody earned a 1 or 2, and right you are!

If you are a diligent student, this book is a worthy addition to your arsenal, IF you begin using it well before the exam. If you are not, save your $13. (or--more likely--your parents' $13.) This book can't perform miracles.

Barron's AP Calculus is the best AP Calculus prep book out on the market. If you are taking Calculus AB, this book (in conjunction with an AP Calculus AB class) will do wonders for your test score. Likewise, if you are taking the Calculus BC, this book (in conjunction with an AP Calculus BC class) will do wonders for your test score. For those of you who want to take the Calculus BC but are in a Calculus AB class, the book will teach you almost everything you need to know. The only fault that I found in the entire book (besides the accidental mislabelings of test answers) was that it did NOT cover series (a BC topic) well enough. I strongly suggest reading a series chapter from an actual mathematics book, as well as paying special attention to how to find converging/diverging series and how to manipulate series (such as through integration).

All in all, this book will be a blessing for your AP grade. I used this book to prep for the Calculus BC (even though I am in a Calculus AB class) and, with the help of my teacher (who also helped me review series in greater depth), I scored a "5" on the test.

This book is a must-buy if you are preparing for the AP Calculus test.

I am a junior student in high school from Hawaii. I had an AP Calculus test this year (2001). I bought this book for reviewing, this book is wonderful. This book is harder than the actual test, but that's good. The practice exams are very similar to the real exam (easy part. It overprepares you; it also make you feel confident on the test! The non-calculator part in the book is MUCH MUCH harder than the actual test, so don't get depressed if you get too many wrong on the practice exams. I bought three AP books to review, of all three, Barrons' is the best one!! I recommended!

Wow. I never thought it was possible for a book that was supposed to help you crack the AP test to be so completely incomprehensible! I have used Barron's to prepare for the SAT I and the SAT II: Chemistry, which were both excellent, but found that this test prep book really fell below Barrons' usual high standard. This book sent me into shock because a full year of AP Claculus and A's on every report card in that class, I couldn't answer the vast majority of the questions on the CHAPTER REVIEWS! And I know that it is not just me because soon after I gave up on the Barron's book, I tried doing the problems in a book that my teacher advised me to use that had all the free response questions actually featured on all the AP exams from 1985 through 1999. I could do all of them! Also, Barron's fails in explaining answers to the multiple choice questions. The explanations given are so not helpful and so impenetrable that they tended to confuse more than to help. It was as if I was reading Sanskrit! I have NEVER come across a test prep book that was more dense and impenetrable than this one! DO NOT WASTE YOUR TIME, MONEY OR NERVES ON THIS SAD EXCUSE FOR A TEST PREP BOOK! ONE STAR IS TOO GENEROUS A REVIEW!

This can be a very helpful book for those studying for the AP Calculus AB exam. I used this book as part of a high school AP Calculus AB class (in conjunction with a standard high school calc textbook). I can therefore only speak to the book's quality regarding the Calculus AB sections (the first half of the book). I can't really speak to the BC sections (second half of the book), though I suspect that the quality does not change dramatically between the two sections.

The strength of the book is its thoroughness. Every chapter provides text explanations and examples that cover the key concepts of the AP Calculus AB program. These explanations and examples allow students to get comfortable with the important concepts and see how potential AP exam questions might be phrased. Each chapter also includes many practice problems that are all fully explained and worked out. The book also includes 4 practice AB exams which again include answers and explanations. These practice tests give students the invaluable opportunity to get a feel for taking a real AP Calculus AB exam. The problems presented in the book are definitely reflective of those found in the real AP exam. The book does err a little on the side of difficulty in the practice problems and practice tests but I think this is a good strategy because it gives students the ability to take the real AP test with more confidence.

The explanations, examples and practice problem/test answers were all very thorough and (most importantly) error free. The book's thoroughness eliminates what is probably the most frustrating part of most study guides--concepts or answers that you don't understand or answers that are just plain wrong.

As with most study guides, this book will be most useful to students who work diligently through the relevant chapters. This is not a book that you can pick up a week or two before the exam and expect it to magically improve your calculus abilities. Diligently and patiently working your way through this study guide is an excellent way to prepare yourself for the actual AP Calculus AB exam.

I highly recommend Barron's AP Calculus review book to both students and teachers. It is an excellent source of problems and explanations on each of the topics in AP Calculus. Throughout the book there is a consistent focus on the goals and content of the new advanced placement course description for AP calculus. There are numerous examples where concepts are explored through interpretation of graphs and/or tables. I use some problems to supplement the text during the year, and each student buys their own book to review for the exam. The reasoning and understanding developed by connecting the concepts in these problems contribute immensely to success on the AP. Last year all the students scored 4's and 5's, and many attribute their success to the use of the review book to "tie it all together".

I used this book to study for the BC exam, and I have to say it helped me quite a bit. Although a lot of the multiple choice questions in this book are more advanced than those on the Ap exam, they give you the general idea of your standing. This book also covers a couple of topics that are not going to show up on the ap exam any more, but quite honestly, it is a good idea to go through them. They are relatively easy and sometimes may be used as an alternative way of solving the problem. The only downside of this book is lack of part II (free response) type of problems. Other than that, it’s a best buy. Also, if you want to ace the AP exam, highly recommend that you get this book: “SOLUTIONS Ap Calculus Problems Part II AB and BC 1986-2000”...

This book provided a very thorough review of Calculus AB and BC. The test's previded were not previded by the AP board, therefore some of the questions were not anything like what was on teh exam. Overall, very good for studying guide for Calculus, but the best way to prepare is to practice old AP tests.

Found out about this book here on Amazon and bought it with some caution.... but it has been extremely excellent in every way (except being slightly time-consuming). comparing Princeton Review and Barrons's, PR is almost too light and usually contain the uninspiring phrase "if you don't understand this topic, just skip it," while Barrons'excellent stock (maybe a minus for people with no time)of mult.choice questions totally reinforces the entirely comprehensive lesson. Not taking the AP Calc. course, I used Barron's to understand concepts and PR to review... eventually, I could flip through an AP chapter in less than 5 min . And for those who argue that Barron's is too thorough, understanding the concept is infinitely more benefitial than breezing through it.