Memoirs of a Calculus Student

Reflect Upon Your Experience Taking the AP Test ​: I’m not sure how the AP test went. I don’t
really feel good about it since the FRQ’s were unnecessarily difficult. The College Board FRQs
that I studied were nothing like the ones on the AP Test. The no calculator multiple choice was
pretty good. I didn’t know 7 questions on that batch of questions, but i’m pretty sure i solved a
few of them right which put me on pace to a five. Calculator multiple choice was easy since half
of the questions didn’t rely on the calculator. I only missed 2 out of that batch because I had
extra time and the 2 problems which I didn’t know I guessed. This still put me at pace for a 5.
For the calculator free response, i was able to understand ¾ parts correctly and then for the 4th
part I made an attempt to set up the equations. In the multiple choice, I felt the best about the
calculator section because it was the easiest. Half the questions made you interpret a graph and it
could be solved in seconds. The two problems that I missed were an optimization problem and a
related rates problem. I decided to guess on the optimization problem because I knew there
would only be one question relating to it. One question isn’t a big deal for such a hard topic so I
didn’t really pay any attention to it. I attempted the related rates one, but I couldn’t find where t
place the given values. Related rates and optimization would give me the most trouble, but it
really didn’t matter since it was only 2 problems. I did a bit worse on the no calculator section. I
tend to fall a bit asleep when I write out lots of stuff, so my concentration wasn't that high. I
initially didn’t know 7 problems out of the bunch, but later on I probably solved half of them
correctly. So I probably missed 3-5 problems out of the bunch. I knew everything from this
section, but my pacing wasn’t at the optimal time(I'll Explain later). For the calculator FRQ, I
was able to do ¾ parts correctly for both of them, but I got carried away with writing long
sentences. So for the 4th part, I only set up the equations or expressions. These questions were
pretty standard compared to the calculator FRQs I did for practice. But now we go to the no
calculator FRQs. Honestly, these were complete hell for me. These were nothing compared to
the standard no calculator FRQs I did. Traditionally the calculator FRQs were supposed to be the
harder one and the no calculator ones were supposed to be chill. This was not the case. The first
problem gave you the derivative graph and an initial value. It gave u a definite integral in the
first part and then asked you to find another part of the definite integral. But they gave a quarter
circle for one of the segments. I had to spend 10 minutes figuring out the area under a quarter
circle. This has never been given in any college board FRQ that I have done. Usually they ask
you to find the area of the circle and that is the area under the curve. But I still got the area and
this was the only one I finished completely. The next FRQ was a related rates and differential
equation problem. I was praying that one of these wouldn’t come on the test, but it did :(. I could
separate variables and find +C with the initial value for the last part, but I didn’t realize for
volume dr/dt was constant and I got the related rate part wrong. And then my guess for the 2nd
derivative test part was correct, but I don't justify it. The next problem was an area under the
curve problem which should have been on the calculator section due to its length. I believe I
found the correct area between the curves but it took me some time. Then it asked me to find the
area in terms of (1/(X+3). I guessed on this . And the last part it asked to write out the formula
when it was revolved around a line. I believed I got this correct. And then the last FRQ was
when they gave a ton of functions and they only provided you with an initial value and a tangent
line. For the first and 2nd part, I could find the derivative and apply chain rule. But for the last 2
parts I was dumbfounded since I forgot the squeeze theorem. Before the test, I felt I was well
prepared.My tutor gave me many practice problems to do, and I could solve the hard ones 50%
to 75% correctly which would put me at a pace for a 5. The hard problems were from previous
years before 2016 which their wording wasn’t that clear compared to recent years. And when I
took previous FRQs from 2016 and onwards, I felt really comfortable. My mcq Princeton
Review scores were also on pace for a 5. So I came into the test feeling very well prepared. I felt
I wasn’t able to show what I learned completely on the FRQs since they were so unpredictable
compared to previous years and nerves did get in the way a bit since I didn’t know which FRQ to
dedicate myself to at the start. They were all so weird at the start. My pacing only worked out for
the calculation mcq since half the problems didn’t even require a calculator. My no calculator
mcq pacing was very off and I had to rush on a few problems due to the pace of 2 minutes per
problem. My free response calculator was a bit off also but I could still set up the equations
during the no calculator part. And I prefer not to talk about the no calculator FRQ anymore.

Reflect Upon the Whole Calculus AB Course:​ Ms. Rubio (my teacher lol) helped me learn a lot.
I also relied on the Organic Chemistry Tutor for his Youtube Videos since he would explain
complicated topics like related rates and optimization in a barebones way and would work his
way back up. My most frustrating months were at the start. I couldn’t understand anything in the
class and I had to work my way up from a C to a B in first semester. My obstacles at the start
were the concept of a limit/continuity and the derivative. I found it very frustrating that I
couldn’t translate all this into “real english”. Now I know that the derivative is essentially the
slope at any point and a function can have a limit even though it is not continuous since you use
the points around the given point to approximate the the value. And I tried a different method of
grinding half the book problems (200+) on over 30 sheets of paper. And I was giving up hope
when I still got a curved B. Reflecting on this, I felt like grinding problems felt like a poor use of
time. Also cramming during a test was also a poor use of time. Now the only thing I do before a
test is to do a light review so all the important concepts can be in my brain and i'm not stressed or
tired. The only suggestion I can give for this course to be improved is to explain early calculus
concepts to students like your explaining something to a 5 year old. These concepts looked like
Chinese to me at the start since I never took the time to understand this “language”.

Give Advice to an Incoming Calculus AB Student:​ Ok first I have to address the summer
homework. The summer homework is completely useless for the class since it consists of only
precalculus. The only thing for precalculus that you need for calculus is the trig identity :
sin^2(x) + cos^2(x) = 1. Precalculus WILL NOT prepare you for calculus. What I want a future
student to do is to rush through the summer homework. Then they should go on Youtube and
watch basic calculus concepts in the summer. If you learn a bit of calculus before you fully learn
it, you will be at a significant advantage in the curriculum. Unlike other courses, I feel like
Calculus grades have a rigid social hierarchy . The smart always stay smart and the struggling
will struggle because it is very hard to improve your grades until you work smart and don’t cram.
My problem was that I didn’t get the meaning of the derivative in english along with the limit
meaning in english. So I struggled in those concepts. But when antiderivatives or integrals snuck
around I instantly understood that it is the area under the curve. Then every concept introduced
after integration was instantly easier. Some pitfalls are not concentrating on your weaknesses
early because calculus relies on cumulative information. You are definitely not going to find the
area between curves if you can’t do derivatives. I wish I could have managed my time more in
the class and learned some basic calculus concepts because then I wouldn’t have struggled in
first semester. In my opinion the thing most important for success is that you get the material and
once you understand the material you DON'T CRAM. Cramming for a STEM course (as i
learned) is very bad and you won't retain the information or use it in unusual ways or problems.