AP Calculus Exam Prep

Be Prepared for the AP Calculus Exam is your indispensable guide to scoring well on the Advanced Placement Calculus AB or BC exam. This book features an outstanding team of authors and practice exam contributors: veteran AP Calculus teachers who have served on the AP Calculus Test Development Committee and are College Board consultants, exam grading leaders, and AP award recipients. The book expands Skylight's Be Prepared series, and it is crafted with the same care, attention to detail, and respect for the student as our Be Prepared for the AP Computer Science Exam, which has helped many thousands of students get a good grade on AP exams in that subject.
A serious introductory chapter describes the exam format and requirements and offers important tips for successful exam taking. Eight review chapters thoroughly cover all of the AB and BC material. Embedded in these chapters are 200+ multiple-choice and free-response questions with solutions that show you effective strategies and shortcuts. Five complete practice exams with answers and solutions (three AB and two BC exams) will give you plenty of practice material and help you decide whether to take the AB or BC exam. This book's companion web site contains annotated solutions to free-response questions from past AP exams.
Whether you sit in the front row, the back row, or anywhere in between, Be Prepared will help you focus on the AP Calculus exam requirements, review the material, and fill the gaps in your knowledge. Review, practice, and take the AP Calculus exam with confidence, knowing that you are well prepared.
See reviews and testimonials at skylit.com and amazon.com.

What teachers say...

See amazon reviews here and for the previous edition here.

Written by two extraordinarily gifted and knowledgeable teachers of AP Calculus, this book is much more than a test-prep book...

This book can and should be used throughout the AP Calculus year...

The exams are very well designed. Each exam contains functions that are defined by graphs, tables, and words as well as functions that are defined by formula. The quality of the questions is truly extraordinary for a test-prep book...

What makes this book particularly valuable is quality of the free-response questions of each exam...

These are the best free-response questions that I have seen in a test-prep book...

Judy Broadwin, AP Central reviewer

From: Joseph Oechsle
To: Skylight Publishing
Date: Wed, 4 May 2016 10:56:13 -0400

Seriously, I think your prep book is the best: the FR are most like the actual AP (look at who is writing them!) and the text examples are more helpful than Barrons. I can't wait to see the most recent edition.

Rev Dr Joe Oechsle, Malvern Prep, PA, and Villanova University

From: Kristina Ronan
To: AP Calculus Community Forum
Date: Tue, 14 Apr 2015 12:47:43 -0400 (EDT)

Hi there! I have found the BEST review book for AP Calc AB and BC to be "Be Prepared for the AP Calculus Exam" by Mark Howell / Skylight Publishing. The explanations in the beginning of the book are very insightful and straight to the point. There are some great calculator tips and shortcuts as well. There are plenty of exam style questions within the explanations, too, which I like. At the end there are 3 AB and 2 BC practice exams which are very similar to the actual test. The publishers of this book are definitely Calculus people. :)

You won't be disappointed!!!

--Kristina

Kristina Ronan. Athens High School, Troy, MI

From: Matt Gironda
To: Mark Howell
Sent: Sat, May 29, 2010 9:22:59 AM

Hi Mark,

I'm not sure if you recall that I asked you for some advice several times this year regarding AP Calculus, most recently regarding the teaching of Sequences and Series.

I wanted to follow up and let you know that because of your great advice, we had three giant milestones for my school recently... (1) we had our first student try the BC exam, and also feel confidently afterwards... (2) the same young woman won first place in our County Calculus Olympics, besting kids from extremely affluent areas who have consistently won the prize for the past 20+ years... And (3) my whole Calculus Team placed first overall in the same competition, again a major breakthrough in our county. Furthermore, all of these accomplishments are in addtion to my entire APC class feeling very well prepared for the AP Exam, with high hopes of lots of 4s and 5s this summer.

Both your kind advice and encouragement coupled with your excellent "Be Prepared" book have contributed greatly to the confidence instilled in both my students and me. After reviewing many books, your review book has consistently been rated as our best AP resource.

Please allow me to extend my heartfelt appreciation for your hard work and assistance this year!

Thanks,

Matt Gironda. Science Park HS, Newark, NJ

From: Susan Gilleran
Date: Date: Fri, 02 Apr 2010 03:59:56 -0400

I just selected your book for my 2010-2011 classes. I had been using the D&S Marketing book but I chose your book in its place because I felt its treatment of the subject matter makes it more worthwhile. I'm looking forward to using it next year.

Susan Gilleran, PAHomeschoolers

From: Octavio Hernandez
Date: Sat, 6 Mar 2010 21:55:35 +0000

Last year, as a first year teacher, we used Be Prepared for AP Calc Exam (Howell/Montgomery) as a resource. I believe that the exercises and discussions in the prep book helped us in our preparation and success. Yours (Skylight Publishing's) is only one of two prep books that I have found useful for its consistency and explanations, an opinion which is by no means isolated.

Octavio Hernandez, Haynes Academy

From: Angela Samul
Date: Friday, January 16, 2009, 11:49 AM
Subject: Be Prepared for the AP Calculus Exam

Dear Mark,
Last year, I purchased your book Be Prepared for the AP Calculus Exam. I wanted to tell you that the book has been very helpful to me and has provided me with new insights on how to teach the AP material...even after 15 years of teaching it! The questions from the sample exams are great, too. Thank you for taking the time to write an excellent resource for AP teachers!

Angela Samul, Buffalo, NY

Date: Tue, 6 May 2008 20:17:01 -0600
From: Monika Serbinowska
To: "AP Calculus" <ap-calculus@lyris.collegeboard.com>
Subject: Re: [ap-calculus] AP Workbooks?
I am also using Be Prepared for AP Calculus by Mark Howell and Martha Montgomery. This is very good book. My students think it is much better than prep book published by Pearson to accompany Demana's textbook. The book could have more practice worksheets (it has worksheets at the end of selected chapters only). I think that a good prep book should have problems at least as challenging as actual AP tests or, preferably, more difficult. This textbook definitely satisfies such criteria. At the same time, explanations are well written and theory is presented in approachable (for students) way.

The Barron's book has a very large selection of multiple choice questions. There is a version of that book with CD-room with 2 or 3 practice exam (probably in power points). I haven't looked really at the free response questions and explanations at that book.

Pro: I am using the Be Prepared for AP... book mainly as a source of Practice Exams and, on several occasions, supplementary problems during school year, and more during review. I ask students not to look at the AP practice tests, and I assign one of them as a weekend HW in first week of April. Students self-grade it (and get parent's signature). If a student wishes to improve his/her grade or wishes to practice more before practice exam in class, he or she can take more practice exams at home. I do not worry about cheating, students know they will not perform well on in-class practice test if they do not study.

Cons: I do not have any.

Monika Serbinowska, Saint Joseph Catholic High School, Ogden, UT

Date: Tue, 10 Apr 2007 19:39:48 -0400
From: kateeric
To: "AP Calculus" <ap-calculus@lyris.collegeboard.com>
Subject: RE: [ap-calculus] AP Calc Review Books

The one I like best is Be Prepared for the AP Calculus Exam, available at skylit.com. The text itself is extremely well written, the examples excellent, and the practice tests very closely modeled on real exams (definitely satisfies your "equal in rigor to the AP" criterion).

Kate Bauer, University of Maryland University College

Date: Mon, 16 May 2005 11:51:34 -0500
From: Savage, Wanda
To: Skylight Publishing <support@skylit.com>
Subject: RE: Calculus books for your summer institute

I am totally impressed with your book, by the way. Very seldom are resource guides produced with assessments as well as detailed explanations with AP needs in mind.

Wanda Savage, Klein Forest High School, Houston, Texas

Date: Mon, 09 May 2005 14:59:28 -0400
From: Greg Spanier
Subject: [ap-calculus] Re: Recommended Reivew Books
To: "AP-Calculus" <ap-calculus@lyris.collegeboard.com>

We used the one from Skylit Publishing
http://www.skylit.com
My students seemed to like it, and several actually did more of the practice tests than we had time for "officially in class" (I use quite a lot of real past ones too.) It has comprehensive coverage of the syllabus; much more than just a summary of formulas and theorems, which is helpful for some students. It could almost be used as a textbook, if one were prepared to supplement with problems and examples from elsewhere.

The other nice thing is that there are solutions for all the problems, including the multiple choice.

Greg Spanier, Brooks School, North Andover, MA

Date: Sun, 24 Apr 2005 12:28:13 -0400
From: Mary O'Keeffe
To: Skylight Publishing <support@skylit.com>

First of all, thanks for sending me the review copy of Be Prepared for AP calculus. It's terrific. I've recommended it to all my students this year and plan to require it for next year's students.

I've also recommended it to parents and students who aren't in my course -- it's clearly the best review book I've seen on the market. The quality of writing and exposition is excellent.

Mary O'Keeffe, AP Calculus Instructor, Pennsylvania Homeschoolers

From: Helen Compton
To: Dan Teague
Subject: great books
Sent: Thursday, March 10, 2005 2:42 PM

Those Skylight Publishing AP review books are the best I have seen. They have a strong writing team and have some really unusual problems. I gave Julie a set and she plans to request that the library purchase some for the kids.

Helen Compton, NCSSM
(North Carolina School of Science and Mathematics), Durham, NC

Skylight Publishing
support@skylit.com