This AP Precalculus cheat sheet distills the College Board's three assessed units into a fast, printable reference for the facts the exam rewards most. 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 Precalculus toolkit: the practice test, study guide, and flashcards.
AP Precalculus exam at a glance
- Format: 40 multiple-choice (62.5%) + 4 free-response (37.5%)
- Time: About 3 hours (2 hr MCQ + 1 hr FRQ)
- Scoring scale: Scaled 1-5; a 3 is 'qualified' and 5 is 'extremely well qualified' — no fixed pass mark
- Credit target: Colleges set their own threshold; a 3+ often earns credit, some require 4 or 5
- Cost: About $99 in the U.S. (about $129 internationally); verify at collegeboard.org
- Administered by: College Board — offered once a year in May
What’s on the AP Precalculus cheat sheet
- Unit 1 — Polynomial & Rational (~40%) — average rate of change, concavity, zeros and multiplicity, end behavior, and the degree-comparison asymptote table — the largest assessed unit.
- Unit 2 — Exponential & Logarithmic (~30%) — growth factors and percent-rate conversion, the product/quotient/power log rules, change of base, and solving strategies.
- Unit 3 — Trigonometric & Polar (~30%) — the unit circle and radians, sinusoid amplitude/period/phase/midline, the Pythagorean identity, and polar conversions.
- Unit 4 — Parameters, Vectors & Matrices (not tested) — flagged as course-only content so you spend zero cram time on material the AP Exam never assesses.
How to use it in your final week
- Weight your review by the exam: Unit 1 (Polynomial & Rational) is about 40%, so lock in end-behavior rules, multiplicity, and the degree-comparison asymptote table first.
- Memorize the four sinusoid parameters cold — amplitude |a|, period 2π/|b|, phase shift c, midline y = d — plus the unit-circle values and the Pythagorean identity from Unit 3.
- Drill the exponential-to-percent conversion (growth rate = base − 1) and the three log rules, since Unit 2 questions hinge on them.
- Practice both with and without a graphing calculator so the no-calculator Part A and calculator Part B pacing feels routine — pair each cheat-sheet pass with a short timed set.
The cheat sheet is your review layer — your AP Precalculus 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 Precalculus cheat sheet FAQ
Yes — the AP Precalculus cheat sheet downloads as a PDF with no sign-up and no account. It sits alongside Career Employer's free practice test, study guide, and flashcards, so your whole AP Precalculus toolkit costs nothing.
It condenses the highest-yield facts from the three assessed College Board units into a quick reference: rates of change and end behavior, rational asymptote rules, exponential growth factors and log rules, and the unit circle, sinusoid parameters, and polar conversions. Everything maps to the ~40% / ~30% / ~30% unit split the exam actually tests.
There is no pass mark — the exam returns a scaled score from 1 to 5, where 5 is extremely well qualified and 3 is qualified. The 40-question multiple-choice section is 62.5% of the composite and the 4 free-response questions are 37.5%, and colleges set their own credit threshold (often a 3, sometimes a 4 or 5). The cheat sheet is built to push your scaled score higher, not to clear a fixed cutoff.
Only as a flag. The AP Precalculus exam assesses Units 1-3 only, so the cheat sheet concentrates every fact there; Unit 4 (parameters, vectors, and matrices) is taught for your course grade but never appears on test day. Spending cram time on Unit 4 for the AP Exam is wasted effort.
Tap the download button or the preview card at the top of this page and the PDF opens instantly. Bookmark the page so it is one click away during your final review week and on the morning of the May exam.
References
- 1.College Board. “AP Precalculus Course and Exam Description.” AP Central, College Board, 2026. ↑
- 2.College Board. “AP Precalculus Exam.” AP Students, College Board, 2026. ↑
- 3.College Board. “About AP Scores.” AP Students, College Board, 2026. ↑
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