Surviving Calculus AB?

Hello, all!

So, I’m planning on taking AP Calc AB next year, and though I’ve heard varying reports about the class, I’m really worried about how I’ll fare in it, especially since many of the people note that those who have taken Algebra 2 - especially with the current calculus teacher - and gone straight to Calculus AB are at the top of their classes.

I’m currently in Pre-Calc, and though it’s an honors class I can’t help but feel a twinge of regret (and worry) that I didn’t take the same route, especially since I did well in Algebra 2 (under the current calc teacher) last year; our teacher gives us reviews that are nearly carbon copies of the tests, and I’m scared my algebra skills won’t be strong enough for next year.

In addition, I suck at word problems (or at least, comprehending them) and many of the calculus problems the AB teacher gives us, I hear, are physics-based word problems (DEFINITELY not my forte).

Do any of you have tips for preparing yourself well for AP Calc AB ahead of time, as well as how to succeed and get through the class with a (high) A (while enjoying said class at the same time)?

Thank you all so much!

I found Calculus AB pretty easy with a solid algebra/trig/pre-calculus background (even though I had no prior exposure to calculus topics before).

You may want to check the following pretest [url=<a href=“https://data.artofproblemsolving.com/course-docs/diagnostics/calculus-pretest.pdf%5Dhere%5B/url”>https://data.artofproblemsolving.com/course-docs/diagnostics/calculus-pretest.pdf]here[/url] - if you can comfortably solve all or almost all of the problems, you should be fine.

As for word problems, Calculus AB has a lot of word problems (particularly in the FRQ section). However there are general strategies for tackling word problems.