How to Get a 5 on AP Calculus in 2026! AB and BC!

Hey guys, welcome back to the channel. Today I'll be helping you guys get a 5 on AP Calculus, either AB or BC. So we should just jump right to it. Um, so first we should understand the format of the AP Calculus test. Uh, first there's the multiple choice section, and it's divided into 2 parts. The first part is no calculator, and the second part is calculator. I believe the first part has 30 questions and the second part has 15 questions. Uh, the FRQ also has two parts. Part A is calculator and Part B is no calculator. And Part A has two questions, Part B has four questions, each have about three sub-questions, three to four sub-questions. To get a 5 on AP Calculus, you need to have a strong understanding of the topics covered in the course, and here's some tips that will help you guys achieve that. So tip 1 is to obviously understand the concepts. It's necessary to understand and review your fundamental concepts such as limits, derivatives, integrals, differential equations, and that stuff. For the AP Calculus BC test, you'll need to understand all the series tests and polar integration and derivatives, which aren't too bad, but you're gonna have to make sure to review those. So number 2, you gotta practice. So practice problems are a crucial part of your preparation. Make use of the materials offered by the College Board with their past exam questions. So work as many— work through as many past papers as you can. You can also use other resources such as textbooks and online videos to help you practice. I also suggest investing in a review book. I prefer the Barron's AP Calculus review book as the questions are harder than the AP exam, so those questions will most definitely help you practice for the AP exam and help you get that 5 that you so truly desire. I've also used other books in the past with other AP exams such as the Princeton Review book as well as 5 Steps to a 5. So step 3, or tip 3, you're gonna wanna stay organized, create a calendar. So you're gonna want to create a study schedule and you're gonna wanna keep to it, and you're gonna want to incentivize yourself to keep to it, such as like taking little breaks or treats if you stick to the schedule. So make sure you're allocating time for yourself and to just set some time aside to prepare for the AP Calc test. And you're gonna want to set aside some time for each topic in each section of the exam that you're obviously going to be taking. So you're gonna want to practice multiple choice with calculator, no calculator, and you're going to want to practice FRQ with calculator and with no calculator. And with each of those, you're going to want to Go through each topic of AP Calculus by referring to the course exam description, and you'll want to go through some multiple choice and free response for each part of the SAT. So tip 4, I believe that you should seek help. Seek help in multiple different mediums by asking your friends or asking your teachers, because your teachers and friends are there to help you. And so yeah, do not hesitate to seek help from your teacher. I've done that so many times in the past for Calc AB. I don't think I said this previously, but I took Calc AB last year and got a 5. I'm taking Calc BC this year— or I took Calc BC over the summer, but I took Multivariable this year, and I'm expecting to get a 5 this year because I think I'm prepared enough. But okay, aside from that, you can use online resources such as forums and study groups to get help. Um, the AP Discord server as well as the AP Reddit is really helpful. It's helped me a little bit. So yeah, I think that's pretty helpful for you guys. That's it for like the tips, but here's some like strategies that you can have like during the test. So strategy number 1, read the question carefully. There have been so many times where, uh, during my practice that I haven't read the question carefully, I ended up solving for the wrong thing. Or finding the wrong thing, either integrating or finding the derivative of something that you're supposed to do the opposite of. You know, everyone's made those mistakes, so make sure you're reading the instructions carefully for each question. Pay attention to the details, including the number of points that each question is worth. And I don't believe units are necessary for the test, but for a free response question, make sure you're entering the correct units. So for strategy 2, you're going to want to manage your time. Allocate your time very wisely during the exam. Especially for the free response questions. That doesn't really apply for the multiple choice because for the multiple choice you can just simply skip the ones that are the most hard and then come to the ones that are, come to the ones that are harder as you go through the test. So with that being said, I would go through the test and look at like the graph questions or the other ones that are really easy, like simply solve for the derivative or solve for the integral. Go solve those really fast because each question is worth 1 point. So you're going to want to get all of those, just collect all the points that you can, and then after you're done with that, you go back and then you solve all the hard ones, you solve all the series ones, those are very difficult, you solve the polar ones, those are going to be very challenging. So yeah, make sure you're skipping the ones that are harder and going back to those at the end, because all of them have the same point value, especially for the multiple choice. So for strategy 3, this applies only for the FRQ, make sure to show your work. For the multiple choice, it is necessary that you do not show all of your work because you're just wasting your time if you're doing the entire problem. But for the FRQ, make sure you're showing your work and reasoning for each question, especially if you're confident about the answer. Even if you're not confident about the answer, showing all of your work will get you partial credit on the FRQ. That is a fact if you look at the scoring guidelines. Even if you get it wrong, you can literally get a point for either taking the derivative integrating. So if you don't know what you're doing, do one of those and you'll probably get a few points. So yeah, that's it for the tips and strategies. Uh, yeah, so yeah, in summary, to score 5 on the AP Calculus AB or BC test in 2023, you'd have a strong understanding of the concepts, practice regularly, stay organized, and seek help when needed, uh, and use the strategies that I said during the test because I did it and I I think it was a very enduring and difficult process, but overall it was worth it for that juicy amazing 5. So yeah, thank you for watching. Make sure to use these tips and strategies to better your academic performance on the AP Calculus test, and don't forget to subscribe. Thanks for watching.