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Tips to Earn Your Best Score

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Drawings Used as Justification

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You must explain what it is about your drawing which justifies your conclusion, and how you know the drawing is accurate.

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Drawings Used as Justification You must explain what it is about your drawing which justifies your conclusion, and how you know the drawing is accurate. Example (Balloon problem of 2007, part (d)). Full credit was earned if the student said "the Riemann right sum is less than the definite integral because r ' is decreasing 0 < t < 12 since r is concave down there."

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Drawings Used as Justification You must explain what it is about your drawing which justifies your conclusion, and how you know the drawing is accurate. Example (Balloon problem of 2007, part (d)). Full credit was earned if the student said "the Riemann right sum is less than the definite integral because r ' is decreasing 0 < t < 12 since r is concave down there." However, a student who drew a decreasing graph with accurate rectangles did not get credit unless he or she explained why the graph was correct (i.e. r ' was a decreasing function since r was given to be concave down).

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The Three Decimal Place Rule

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Decimal answers must be accurate to three decimal places (rounded or truncated).

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The Three Decimal Place Rule Decimal answers must be accurate to three decimal places (rounded or truncated). The answer to the problem may be , and 3.141592654...,but if the answer is , all these are acceptable:

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The Three Decimal Place Rule Decimal answers must be accurate to three decimal places (rounded or truncated). The answer to the problem may be , and 3.141592654...,but if the answer is , all these are acceptable: ,3.141,3.142, 3.14159 and even 3.14158 and 3.141999999, because the reader will stop after three decimal places.

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The Three Decimal Place Rule Decimal answers must be accurate to three decimal places (rounded or truncated). The answer to the problem may be , and 3.141592654...,but if the answer is , all these are acceptable: ,3.141,3.142, 3.14159 and even 3.14158 and 3.141999999, because the reader will stop after three decimal places. But you will not get credit for 3.1 or 3.14 !!!!

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The Three Decimal Place Rule Decimal answers must be accurate to three decimal places (rounded or truncated). The answer to the problem may be , and 3.141592654...,but if the answer is , all these are acceptable: ,3.141,3.142, 3.14159 and even 3.14158 and 3.141999999, because the reader will stop after three decimal places. But you will not get credit for 3.1 or 3.14 !!!! *This rule is for the AP Calculus exam only (not Physics, Chemistry, etc.)

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Various Tips

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Free Response Questions have multiple entry points. You can often be successful on part (b) even if you have left part (a) blank.

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Various Tips Free Response Questions have multiple entry points. You can often be successful on part (b) even if you have left part (a) blank. If a calculator is permitted, use it.

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Various Tips Free Response Questions have multiple entry points. You can often be successful on part (b) even if you have left part (a) blank. If a calculator is permitted, use it. Use standard mathematical notation

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Various Tips Free Response Questions have multiple entry points. You can often be successful on part (b) even if you have left part (a) blank. If a calculator is permitted, use it. Use standard mathematical notation The first quadrant area under y=x 2 from x = 1 to x = 5 must be presented as, not as fnInt(x^2,x,1, 5).

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Various Tips Free Response Questions have multiple entry points. You can often be successful on part (b) even if you have left part (a) blank. If a calculator is permitted, use it. Use standard mathematical notation The first quadrant area under y=x 2 from x = 1 to x = 5 must be presented as, not as fnInt(x^2,x,1, 5). Some abbreviations are understood For example, "DNE" for does not exist, "inc" and "dec" for increasing and decreasing, "pos", "neg" but it is probably best to avoid other abbreviations if you can.

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Give Units if Requested

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Time Savers Crossed out work will not be read

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Time Savers Crossed out work will not be read To save time, don't erase, just cross out. However, don't cross out your work unless you know you can do better.

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Time Savers Crossed out work will not be read To save time, don't erase, just cross out. However, don't cross out your work unless you know you can do better. Do not simplify answers

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Time Savers Crossed out work will not be read To save time, don't erase, just cross out. However, don't cross out your work unless you know you can do better. Do not simplify answers If you make a mistake simplifying, you will not earn the "answer point". Graders will accept any mathematically equivalent form of the answer.

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Time Savers Crossed out work will not be read To save time, don't erase, just cross out. However, don't cross out your work unless you know you can do better. Do not simplify answers If you make a mistake simplifying, you will not earn the "answer point". Graders will accept any mathematically equivalent form of the answer. 2(4.0) + 3(2.0) + 2(1.2) + 4(0.6) + 1(0.5) need not be simplified to 19.3 (Balloon Problem, 2007)

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Label Graphs Properly

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Is it the graph of f, f ' or f ", g, g ', g ", or what?

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Label Graphs Properly Is it the graph of f, f ' or f ", g, g ', g ", or what? Related issue: Do not change the names of things - if the problem refers to Q(t), do not change it to f(x), etc.

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Label Graphs Properly Is it the graph of f, f ' or f ", g, g ', g ", or what? Related issue: Do not change the names of things - if the problem refers to Q(t), do not change it to f(x), etc. If you do introduce a variable or change a name, define precisely what you have done.

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Sign Charts are Not Enough

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You may use sign charts to help you figure out max/min/what is happening, but the grader will ignore them.

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Sign Charts are Not Enough You may use sign charts to help you figure out max/min/what is happening, but the grader will ignore them. The grader will look for the magic words:

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Sign Charts are Not Enough You may use sign charts to help you figure out max/min/what is happening, but the grader will ignore them. The grader will look for the magic words: f has a relative maximum at x = c because f ' changes sign from positive to negative there.

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Sign Charts are Not Enough You may use sign charts to help you figure out max/min/what is happening, but the grader will ignore them. The grader will look for the magic words: f has a relative maximum at x = c because f ' changes sign from positive to negative there. f has a relative minimum at x = c because f ' changes sign from negative to positive there.

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