CRACKING THE MULTIPLE-CHOICE QUESTIONS
Section I of the AP Calculus Exam consists of 45 multiple-choice questions, which you’re given 105
minutes to complete. This section is worth 50 percent of your grade.
All the multiple-choice questions will have a similar format: Each will be followed by four answer
choices. At times, it may seem that there could be more than one possible correct answer. There is only
one! Remember that the committee members who write these questions are calculus teachers. So, when it
comes to calculus, they know how students think and what kind of mistakes they make. Answers resulting
from common mistakes are often included in the four answer choices to trap you.
Use the Answer Sheet
For the multiple-choice section, you write the answers not in the test booklet but on a separate answer
sheet (very similar to the ones you can download here). Four oval-shaped bubbles follow the question
number, one for each possible answer. Don’t forget to fill in all your answers on the answer sheet. Don’t
just mark them in the test booklet. Marks in the test booklet will not be graded. Also, make sure that your
filled-in answers correspond to the correct question numbers! Check your answer sheet after every five
answers to make sure you haven’t skipped any bubbles by mistake.
Should You Guess?
Use Process of Elimination (POE) to rule out answer choices you know are wrong and increase your
chances of guessing the right answer. Read all the answer choices carefully. Eliminate the ones that you
know are wrong. If you only have one answer choice left, choose it, even if you’re not completely sure
why it’s correct. Remember: Questions in the multiple-choice section are graded by a computer, so it
doesn’t care how you arrived at the correct answer.
Even if you can’t eliminate answer choices, go ahead and guess. There is no guessing penalty for
incorrect answers. You will be assessed only on the total number of correct answers, so be sure to fill in
all the bubbles even if you have no idea what the correct answers are. When you get to questions that are
too time-consuming, or that you don’t know the answer to (and can’t eliminate any options), don’t just fill
in any answer. Use what we call your “letter of the day” (LOTD). Selecting the same answer choice each
time you guess will increase your odds of getting a few of those skipped questions right.
Proven Techniques
Use POE and the Two-Pass System to help boost your score.Use the Two-Pass System
Remember that you have about two and a quarter minutes per question on this section of the exam. Do not
waste time by lingering too long over any single question. If you’re having trouble, move on to the next
question. After you finish all the questions, you can come back to the ones you skipped.