New Updates to the AP Calculus Test:
As of the 2024-25 school year, the College Board made a big announcement in shifting AP Exams to the Bluebook digital testing application. Here are the important changes:
- All questions taken digitally on the Bluebook app.
- The multiple choice questions answered online
- Free response questions will be presented digitally but answers must be submitted handwritten in the answer booklet.
- A built-in Desmos graphing calculator will be available as an option for AP Calculus AB/BC.
- Students may bring and use their graphing calculators if they prefer.
Mastering these updates is essential for doing well in the AP Calculus course and exam. Unfortunately, many AP Calculus classes in the Bay Area have not updated their curriculum to reflect these changes. As a result, students may not realize that some traditional methods, like sketching cross-sections for a solid of revolution directly on the question, will not work on the exam. Instead, they will need to re-copy the problem or re-draw the diagram on scratch paper during the test.
What is the advantage?
I believe the most advantageous of these changes for students is to utilize the built-in graphing calculator on the exam.
Desmos provides a guardrail for some common graphing calculator errors. These include errors like failing to convert to radians mode or selecting an improper window to graph a function. Note from the College Board: “If students will be using Desmos on exam day, they should use it throughout the school year.” Anecdotally, I have not heard from a single one of my students this year about their Calculus class allowing or encouraging the use of Desmos.”
Working with an AP Calculus Test Prep tutor is helpful in familiarizing students with the updates to the exam. A great tutor can identify gaps from class and explain the nuances of the exam to maximize student’s scores.
