AP Calculus AB & BC 2026 FRQ Predictions + Tips

Added: 2026-05-12

[00:00:00]Tomorrow morning is the AP calculus AB and BC exam. And like I said in a previous video, I do think that calculus, aside from algebra, is one of the most important math classes you will ever take in your life. And I think it really is worth it to kind of invest your time into understanding calculus well and like how it applies in the real world. And to help you guys, I actually created a full uh 40-minute video for both calculus AB and calculus BC going through all the content that is in the course, right? all eight units in AB and all 10 units in BC. And yeah, I think it's a pretty good video. Check that out. And I also have a bunch of, you know, calculus videos on my channel as well because this channel actually started as a result of calculus BC. So check those out as well. But anyways, my name is Dear Thiagi and in this video I'll be doing a FQ predictions for both calculus AB and BC based on historical data and I'll also be explaining the format of the FQ section and some basic tips I had that helped me score a five um last year for AB and BC.

[00:00:57]Okay, so to start right the test is 90 minutes long. The two sections, section A, section B. Section A is a calculator section, two questions, 30 minutes.

[00:01:06]Section B is no calculator, 1 hour, four questions. Okay. And each question is worth the same. They're all worth nine points each. And this whole section, the FQ section is worth 50% of your test grade. Okay. So now that's kind of the structure of the test. And basically how it works is for AB and BC. They usually have three questions that are the same for AB and BC and then three questions that are different for both exams. And usually question one, three, and four are the same. Question two, five, and six are different for the two exams.

[00:01:37]Okay? And looking at historical data, there's a lot of, you know, trends and a lot of repeats I see from year to year, which kind of makes this exam a little easy to predict, especially for some questions, but then a little harder for some other questions. Okay, so here are my predictions, right? And just so you guys know, right, for the bar, what that basically means is that means AB question, BC question. That's what the bar means for each one. Okay, for the first question, right, it's pretty obviously going to be a unit six question. I think they've done unit 6 for every question in the last 5 years, right? So unit six is basic integration.

[00:02:11]So I think it's going to be some kind of table of values maybe, right? It could also be a word problem. They did a word problem last year. So that's why I'm leaning towards a table of values this year, but could be a word problem. And then from that, you're going to have to do maybe a reman sum.

[00:02:29]You might have to do IVT, right?

[00:02:31]intermediate value theorem average value and obviously you're going to have to interpret the results of like you know what is an interval what is the result of that in words what is the result of a derivative what is the result of that in words right if it's a word problem okay for question two again it's been the same thing for the last five years AB is definitely going to be unit A right it'll be question I think on particle motion because last year was a question on um area between two curves curves. So it kind of switches. It's a particle motion question. And then for BC unit 9, it's going to also be a particle motion question. However, it's going to be a particle motion question with parametrics, which is what makes a unit 9 because we're using parametric equations, right? So they might ask you total distance traveled, you know, stuff related to parametrics and particles there. Okay, unit 9. This question could also be a polar question, but the reason why I'm not saying polar is because basically every year it's either parametric or polar for question two for BC. This year, last year it was polar. So this year, I'm predicting it's going to be parametric for question two.

[00:03:37]Okay, question three. This one's a little bit less confident about for me.

[00:03:42]Um, we see some sevens. So I'm going to say this question I think is going to be unit seven. It'll be a differential equation question is my guess, right? did something with slow fields, maybe some kind of like slope field they give you and you need to find the differential equation or something. Or if it's not unit 7, it could be something with unit 5 plus 6, right?

[00:04:03]Some kind of function mashup, right?

[00:04:04]They give you two functions. Um, and basically they add the functions or subtract the functions and you need to do stuff with like the FTC, fundamental theorem of calculus, uh, chain rule and basically find the behavior of the function, something with that maybe.

[00:04:20]Question four, again, this is a little bit more nebulous what it's going to be, but I think question four is going to be probably uh unit five plus six. I think it's going to be a graph that they give you and you're basically have to analyze that graph. So, it'll be something with point inflection maybe or finding you know fundamental theorem calculus or intervals of like increasing decreasing or maximum minimums etc. Just analyzing that kind of graph. Okay, question five and six. These are both different for AB and BC. For AB, we can see it's pretty much either unit three, something with kind of derivatives, or unit A. Okay.

[00:04:54]And so my guess for this one is I'm going to say it's going to be a unit A question, I think, right? Because we uh didn't see a question on like area between two graphs, like a disc or washer method. So my guess is this question is going to be something with area between two curves or it'll be something with like a disc/washer method. That's my guess for this question, right? Because we didn't really see that anywhere else. And you know, integration is a really big part of calculus. So, I do think question five might be that. Okay. For uh BC, it has sometimes been uh unit 9 or unit 8, but I think this year it's probably going to be unit 10 plus 7, right? It's going to be some kind of tailor series with some kind of Uler's method approximation.

[00:05:44]That's my guess.

[00:05:46]But I think it'd also be polars, right?

[00:05:48]Unit 9 polars because they didn't do a pors question anywhere else and they don't do a pores question every year.

[00:05:55]But I do have a feeling that it might be polar if they had been polar anywhere else or it could just be a tailor series and method question. Okay. And finally for the last one, BC is definitely going to be unit 10, right? It's been unit 10 for the last five years and it's going to be a series question for sure, right?

[00:06:10]So you're going to do stuff with the tests and finding the intervals and stuff like that. Question six for AD.

[00:06:16]This one's going to be a little bit uh more of a guess. I think it's going to be something with unit three, right?

[00:06:23]Implicit differentiation is my guess.

[00:06:24]They've done a lot of unit 3es in the past. I think it's going to be some kind of implicit differentiation.

[00:06:30]Maybe related rates. I they haven't done related rates, I think, in a really long time, but like maybe they could do it.

[00:06:39]But yeah, implication related rates.

[00:06:42]Okay, so these are my predictions again.

[00:06:45]I'll go over them again. Unit six, it'll be for question one, write table values, reman sum or word problem. Question two, it will be some kind of particle motion question for AB and BC. But BC will also include some kind of parametric equation with that. Uh question three, it'll be differential equation question or it'll be some kind of function mashup of question where they basically ask you some questions with that mashed function. Uh question four, I think it's going to be unit five, unit six. will be a graph question. Have to analyze that graph. Question five, for AB, I think it's going to be some kind of area between two curves or kind of like a disc or washer method question. And then for BC, I think it's going to be either a Taylor series plus method question or it's going to be polar, stay aware. And then question six, I think it's going to be for AB implicit differentiation, maybe related rates, probably not, but maybe. And then for BC, I think it's going to be a series question just based on the trends. Okay, so now let me go over my tips that helped me score a five last year on both AB and BC and kind of a good strategy for the FQ.

[00:07:49]So some tips, right? First I'll go over the basic ones, right?

[00:07:54]Um radians, right? Your calculator should be in radians for this exam.

[00:07:58]Physics is in degrees. This is in radians. Um don't simplify anything, right? You don't get credit for simplifying things. When you get an answer, just leave it as the unsimplified version.

[00:08:10]And if you're going to put in your calculator, write do three decimal points. They look for three decimals in this exam.

[00:08:16]Um be thorough and like clear in your explanations. So use, you know, like calculus terminology.

[00:08:23]Um there are actually sentences people use because some questions, right? When you use some kind of theorem, you sometimes have to actually use a sentence to justify the use of that theorem. So sometimes you need to memorize these sentences for the FRQ. um to help you guys out, I'll compile all the sentences you guys have to remember and I'll put that in the description below. You guys can check that out and see what sentences you need to remember for the FQ section. Um, another thing is, you know, show your setup for every question and show your work. This is a math test, so you do need to show your work and you need to show your setup for every question. Um and again there are partial points. So showing your work and showing your setup can get you partial points um to your exam. Okay.

[00:09:10]And again partial points, right? This also includes using units. Some questions, right? Having units can give you an extra point or two. Okay. And my last tip is really skip the hard questions, right? From my own experience last year, I had the experimental uh exam. And so for me, the question number six, it was like impossible. It was a serious question, but it made no sense.

[00:09:32]And so I actually probably left a good like half of that blank. And that's okay, right? For this exam, you don't need to get everything right to get a five. And actually, it's really far from that, right? For BC, to get a five, you only need over 57%. Right? Basically, half the questions right to get a five on BC. And then on AB, you only need about 63% over 63% to get a five. So again, the cutoffs are very, very low. So you don't need to answer every question, right? If you can't answer something, just write something down, right? Try to get some points somehow and then move on. Answer an easier question, right? Because there are easier questions, right? And not all of them are hard questions. There are easy questions. So get the easy points and move on. Okay? So yeah, those are my predictions for AP cactus AB and BC.

[00:10:17]Those are my tips. Thank you guys for watching and I'll see you guys all tomorrow. Bye.