Barron's AP Calculus

Comment: I recommend this to someone who gets 3-5's on practice Princeton tests. When I practiced on the exams in this book, they were more challenging (granted, I'm still in 8th grade, I don't know a lot about prep books)than many others. In fact, I used to get 5's on the princeton, but now I can barely get a 4 on this Barron's. However, after I used this book for a while, I decided to see my skill on Princeton tests (which people say are more similar to the REAL AP test). The Princeton tests became a joke. Before I took Barron's: 34/45 on MC and 38/54 on Free response; after I took barron's tests: 40/45 on MC; 45/54 on Free response. There was a sudden increase in scores, even though Barron had many questions that weren't gonna be on the real Ap test.

Comment: This book has a thorough coverage of AP Calculus AB/BC. I used this book for the multiple-choice section and CollegeBoard's own materials for the free-response section. Most of my students scored 5. I also used some of its chapters for my IB Mathematics SL and HL students.

Most US high-school students feel calculus is too challenging for them since they did not have enough practice in algebra, geometry, and pre-calculus. The following is my suggestion: if you got at least an A in pre-calculus/trigonometry, you may want to learn calculus in high school; otherwise, wait until you get into the college.

Barron's AP Calculus over-prepares the students for the test a little bit. But that is not a bad thing. If you have used mathematical analysis problem sets written by Russian mathematicians, you will think that Calculus I/II taught in the US is way too easy.

Comment: I used this book solely for the multiple-choice practice problems, not the review or tests, so I can only vouch for the MC problems. The coverage of topics is both broad and deep, with well over 500 problems of varying difficulty. Taking the AP Exam, I felt confident, prepared, and familiar with every problem type. The only complaint I have is the lack of fully developed solutions to the MC problems. The short one- or two-line explanations were always enough to answer any of my questions, but for those struggling with the concepts, they may prove inadequate.

Comment: This book has its pros and cons. On the one hand, it has an incredible amount of practice problems (organized by chapter) and is well organized in that topics and practice problems specified for "just BC students" are well marked(However, arc length is on the AB syllabus, not just BC as this book says it is). The book also provides four practice tests for both AB and BC, more than you will find in any other Calculus prep book.

However, many of the practice problems found in the "end of the chapter practice problems," as well as in the practice tests, are not representative of questions that have come up on previous AP exams. In my AP Calc class, we did every college board released multiple choice section since 1978 as well as every free-response question given in the past 10 or so years. Though the practice tests given in this book are okay, and will provide good practice, it is evident Barrons did not do enough research into the AP Calculus exams themselves. Many of the problems (though not all), are either too difficult, or simply too different from questions that you will actually encounter on the AP test to be very helpful.

I gave this book three stars because it CAN be helpful if used as extra practice-- as a supplement to any in-class preparation. However, I strongly discourage purchase of this book if you 1. don't have a good foundation for most of the calculus topics or 2. aim to self-study for the exam. As already noted in previous reviews of Barron's AP Calc prep books, their subject review is hard to understand, muddled with confusing language-- Barron's simply makes no attempt to simplify their explainations. Furthermore, their "answers explained" sections at the end of practice problem sections and practice tests are short, often only one sentence long, rendering them useless most of the time.

The last complaint I have for this book is that Barron's provides no "AP scoring chart" for you to self grade and find your corresponding AP grade (1-5) at the end of a test. Granted, the other calc prep books I've looked at don't either, but it's an annoyance to not know where you stand after taking a practice test for 3 hours.

For those looking for better topic review, I would try Peterson's "Master the AP Calculus AB and BC" book. I hear the authors review is simplified and easier to understand for someone not so familiar with the material. For those who are familiar with the material and who want extra practice, this book isn't half bad, it is well organized and has unlimited practice problems--just don't get scared off by some of the tougher problems. The best practice, however, is past AP exams. Ask your teacher/school if they have any of them; if not, they're available on collegeboard.

Comment: Best review for AP exam out there. I teach the AP course and have tried many others. The questions in this book are challenging - prepping an AP student well for exam day.