This AP Calculus BC cheat sheet distills all ten College Board units into a printable quick reference of the formulas the exam tests most — since the College Board hands you no formula sheet, everything here is something you need memorized. It's a premium cheat sheet built by Capital Prep — the one premium prep we trust — and it's yours free. Reinforce it with the rest of your free AP Calculus BC toolkit: the practice test, study guide, and flashcards.
AP Calculus BC exam at a glance
- Questions: 45 multiple-choice + 6 free-response (each section 50% of your score)
- Time: 3 hours 15 minutes (1 hr 45 min multiple choice + 1 hr 30 min free response)
- Scoring scale: Scored 1 to 5; a 3 or higher is generally treated as passing and may earn college credit
- AB subscore: BC also reports a separate AP Calculus AB subscore on the same 1-5 scale
- Cost: About $99 in the U.S. (roughly $129 internationally); verify at collegeboard.org
What’s on the AP Calculus BC cheat sheet
- Integration & Accumulation — Unit 6 (17-20%) — the single biggest unit: antiderivatives, the Fundamental Theorem of Calculus, u-substitution, and the BC techniques (parts and partial fractions).
- Infinite Sequences & Series — Unit 10, BC (17-18%) — the convergence tests (nth-term, geometric, p-series, ratio, alternating), power series, radius of convergence, and Taylor/Maclaurin series.
- Parametric, Polar & Vector — Unit 9, BC (11-12%) — parametric dy/dx = (dy/dt)/(dx/dt), vector-valued derivatives, polar curves r = f(θ), and the polar-area formula ½ ∫ r² dθ.
- Derivatives & their applications — Units 2-5 (about 22-34%) — the power, product, quotient, and chain rules, implicit and inverse derivatives, related rates, extrema, concavity, and the MVT.
- Limits, differential equations & applications — Units 1, 7, 8 — limits and continuity, slope fields and separable equations, Euler's method and the logistic model, plus area, volume, and arc length (BC).
How to use it in your final week
- Front-load Integration (Unit 6, 17-20%) and Infinite Series (Unit 10, 17-18%) — together about a third of the exam, so if you master two blocks on the sheet, make them these.
- Drill the series convergence tests until picking one is automatic: nth-term, geometric (|r| < 1), p-series (p > 1), ratio, and alternating series — then memorize the Maclaurin series for eˣ, sin x, cos x, and 1/(1 − x).
- Lock the BC-only formulas: integration by parts (∫ u dv = uv − ∫ v du), polar area (½ ∫ r² dθ), arc length, parametric dy/dx = (dy/dt)/(dx/dt), Euler's method, and the logistic model dP/dt = kP(1 − P/M).
- Read the sheet the morning of the exam, then run one timed no-calculator set so your by-hand derivatives and integrals stay sharp for Section I Part A.
The cheat sheet is your review layer — your AP Calculus BC practice test drives the exam-readiness ring at the top of this page. Download it, review, then take a full practice exam (or drill with the study guide and flashcards) to see where you stand.
AP Calculus BC cheat sheet FAQ
Yes — the AP Calculus BC cheat sheet is 100% free to download as a PDF, with no sign-up and no account required. It's part of Career Employer's free AP Calculus BC toolkit alongside the practice test, study guide, and flashcards, so you can cram from one quick-reference page and drill wherever you're weak.
The sheet condenses the highest-yield formulas across all ten College Board units into one place: derivative and integral rules, the Fundamental Theorem of Calculus, the BC integration techniques (parts and partial fractions), the series convergence tests, common Maclaurin series, and the parametric and polar formulas. Everything is organized by the units the exam weights most, so you review Integration and Infinite Series first.
The AP Calculus BC exam is scored 1 to 5, and it has one of the highest 5-rates of any AP exam. The cheat sheet is a fast recall layer for the formulas and tests you must know cold — it locks in memory so you can spend the exam reasoning, not recalling. Pair it with timed practice sets to convert that recall into a high scaled score.
No — no notes, formula sheets, or reference cards are allowed in the AP exam room. The College Board does not provide a formula sheet either, so every rule on this cheat sheet is something you need memorized. Use it to review before test day and the morning of, then walk in with the formulas already committed to memory.
Click the download button (or the preview card) at the top of this page to open the PDF instantly — no email or sign-up. Bookmark this page so you can find it again in the final week before your May exam date.
References
- 1.College Board. “AP Calculus BC Exam — Assessment.” AP Students, College Board, 2026. ↑
- 2.College Board. “AP Calculus AB and BC Course and Exam Description (CED).” AP Central, College Board, 2026. ↑
- 3.College Board. “Special Score Structure: Calculus BC.” AP Students, College Board, 2026. ↑
- 4.College Board. “2026 AP Exam Fees.” AP Students, College Board, 2026. ↑
Career Employer
Career Employer is the ultimate resource to help you get started working the job of your dreams. We cover topics from general career information, career searching, exam preparation with free study materials, career interviewing, and becoming successful in your career of choice.
All PostsCareer Employer’s Editorial Process
Here at Career Employer, we focus a lot on providing factually accurate information that is always up to date. We strive to provide correct information using strict editorial processes, article editing, and fact-checking for all of the information found on our website. We only utilize trustworthy and relevant resources. To find out more, make sure to read our full editorial process page here.