To help students prepare for the upcoming winter finals, Octagon staffers share tips and tricks for finals in subjects in which they’ve done well. The Octagon will be posting these how-to guides over the course of this and next week.
An average “Millsy” AP Calculus AB test is pretty daunting, but the final exam was a piece of cake.
My success last year was due to the giant review packet he gives out. It includes sample problems of everything that will be on the final, so there should be very few surprises.
Upon receiving the packet about a week before the final, I scanned and printed a second copy.
I completed one copy of the packet immediately. It took me a few hours because the packet is so large and I had forgotten some of the material.
I made sure I was able to do every problem in the packet; anything I had questions on, I asked about the next day.
For the next few days, I studied for my other exams before working on the second packet. The problems were all the same as the first packet, obviously, but I had forgotten them for the most part.
I was able to complete the second packet quickly and easily, which really boosted my confidence.
On the actual final, there weren’t any copy-and-paste questions from the review packet, but they were all very similar. And the review packet covered almost everything on the test.
So if I can give you only one piece of advice, master the review packet.
If you understand all of the concepts and can do all of the problems easily, the test will be straightforward—especially with the curve to help your final grade.
And remember to always attempt a problem. Even if you’re not sure how to solve it, you can receive partial credit if you show relevant work.
