AP Calculus Personal Statement

I am very much interested in the field of engineering and hope to pursue a career in engineering sometime in the future. Although I haven’t decided which branch of engineering I want to pursue yet, my experiences as an engineering magnet student at Wheaton High school and the different engineering programs I am a part of have ignited within me a passion for engineering.

Coming into your Pre-Calculus class, I was under the impression that I had all the skills necessary to succeed. Having taken (regular) pre-calculus my junior year of high school and College Algebra the first semester of my senior year, I had studied the various functions, graphing concepts, and polynomials/factoring. I also studied an ample amount of angle properties, the trigonometry functions (and applications associated with them), and trigonometric graphs. Even with this background in algebra and trigonometry, dual credit pre-calculus has proved a formidable foe as I did not anticipate learning so many new concepts, such as conditional trigonometric functions or verifying identities. Most other concepts, like inverse trig functions and the various identities, had slipped my mind since my experience in regular pre-cal from the previous school year (this was probably due to the fact that I did not

This school year, I decided to join AP Calculus AB. It was tough for me to decide if I should join or not, especially since I'm going to be taking an AP course. I knew it will be more challenging than basic calculus, and instead of taking math for one semester only, I'll have AP Calc for the whole school year. After days of contemplating, I

Next year, I plan to major in Computer Engineering and begin a career helping make the world a better place through innovative technology. I realized my talents for math and sciences during freshman year of high school, and remember the exact moment I knew engineering was meant for me. While exploring the engineering shop at my vocational technical high school, the teacher showed my class a video of MIT students designing prosthetic limbs for amputees. It was then that I realized I could use my love of math and science to really help people.

In my writing, my goal was to portray my experiences with the online AP Calculus AB course I took last year (sophomore year), in order to demonstrate when I learned some of the most important lessons in my life. Furthermore, through the use of different parts of my personal experiences, I also wished to address the different lessons that I learned; hopefully using the contributions of all of these lessons to arrive at a “final” lesson. To do this, I decided to focus on three main parts: giving the reader context and information behind my initial character/mindset, demonstrating how the AP Calculus AB course influenced that character/mindset, and showing what I learned from the AP Calculus AB Exam. Moreover, I wanted to have a different tone in each of these parts, both demonstrating my different feelings as well as portraying very different “aspects” of myself . For the first part, I decided that I wanted to have a “lighter” tone and focus on how I was excelling at school with ease, because this would contrast clearly with the next part. For the second part, I decided that I wanted to have a deeper mood while seeming confused, because this would further show the contrast between the first and second parts, as well as demonstrating how this truly was the first time I truly learned that lesson. For the third part, I decided that I wanted to begin with a more positive tone, as I had just learned my lesson, but transition into the same tone as the previous

As those who love physics or chemistry, or biology, are most likely to understand difficult and complex concepts and be successful in their respective subjects, I became more successful at understanding mathematical concepts as my junior year progressed and as my senior year began. Calculus became an infinitely easier subject and one that I could comprehend with relative ease, even easier than traditionally “easy” subjects for me such as history or language arts. I learned that I could fly through problem sets and enjoy it, and for the first time in my school life, I was the one answering my peers’ questions instead of being the designated clueless classmate. Learning to love something that is so essential to life made me enjoy myself and my life more than I had previously, and I no longer felt the self-doubt of not being “gifted” in mathematics in a group of mathematically “gifted” students. I feel markedly more confident in my mathematical abilities, both presently and in the future as a student majoring in

The second semester of this course made me question my passion for math. I understood concepts and the curriculum but I would never do well in the practice AP Tests my teacher gave us weekly. The tests would be curved tremendously and the grades I received were a lie. 9/45 does not equal a 70%. I felt true resentment.

I agree with what a teacher at AP readiness said about Calculus, “Calculus is the hardest math course, but it is the easiest math as well.” While this might sound counterintuitive, it is simple to explain. Calculus uses skills from previous courses such as equation manipulation, finding x, and interpreting graphs. Like other math courses it is a continuation of your knowledge, but uses more formulas.

I learned a lot in AP Calculus BC. It was a challenging class, but it was also fun and helpful. I am glad that I chose to take AP Calculus BC instead of another math class. The class was a rewarding experience for me.

My mind searching for the answers. What did this mean? I thought to myself. Right now i’m taking my AP Calculus test which I completely forgot to study for. I’m in all AP classes and I honestly don’t understand anything in any of my classes. But if I fail this class, my mom will lose it on me again. Unfortunately this is a daily routine, I fail something, my mom gets on my about it and tells me to try harder, and then yells at my dad about me being so unintelligent. All my life I have been told to get good grades so I can get a scholarship to a good college. My mom wants be the successful one in my family because my father isn’t quite the right type for having success. After getting fired from a lawyer's office, my dad just gradually started

As stated previously throughout my three years in high school I have taken a lot of math classes. This school year I took probably one of the hardest math classes I ever had. That class is AP Calculus. After taking Algebra 2/Trig and passing the state exam I was so excited because I knew the next math class I'll be taking is AP Calculus. That summer I received a pre calculus packet that I needed to complete in order to take AP Calculus in the fall. Completing the pre calculus packet wasn't any easy task for me, especially do to the fact that I was unfamiliar with the content. At the time I didn't know what a piecewise functions was or even a limit. However I used all my resources mostly the internet, and completed the pre calculus packet.

Obstacles can easily change one’s journey in life. I believe I did have to overcome obstacles to succeed in AP Calculus, but they are quite different than those of the characters in the movie. In the movie, basically every character had a large obstacle to stop them from taking the class. For example, Angel was hindered by his activity within a gang. Ana had to deal with her father who wanted her to drop out of school and join the family business. Pancho had to choose between joining the workforce and his possible future as a student. Personally, the obstacles I faced were fundamentally different than those in the movie. For me, I had to overcome obstacles like not understanding the content that we learned in Honors Pre-Calculus the year

In preparation for my next AP calculus test, I began to study every day in hopes of raising my grade. I consistently did my homework and reviewed my notes after school. When test day arrived, I felt more prepared than ever. As I went through the test, I felt familiar with the concepts and confidently went about the problems. A few days passed and my teacher handed back the tests. I slowly turned the paper around and peered at the top; the number 84 peeked out at me. A huge weight lifted from me and a wave of relief came down across.

When I was growing up I always did well in my math classes in comparison to my other classes. Students have said “He only does well because he’s Asian.”; others said “He’s just naturally smart compared to the other students” . In reality, I was just extremely interested in math and spent most of my time wanting to study and understand the subject compared to science and reading. Whenever I am in a math class, whether it was my Algebra I class or my AP Calculus class, I am constantly thinking to myself “How were these mathematicians able to correlate how certain numbers had some type of relationship with a figure or equation such as the Pythagorean Theorem”? When I am in another class, like my English or AP Government class, my mind tends to stray away from taking notes or doing my assignment because I am always thinking about numbers and certain equations and how they are able to be applied into the real world.

I have always been capable of grasping new ideas quickly, and so my academic career has been relatively smooth sailing for me. At least, until Calculus BC. This class is unlike any other I have taken; the level of difficulty I have found myself presented with is so unbelievably overwhelming for a person who has not felt truly challenged in years. For me to go from the comfort of the soft stars to the harsh reality of failing an exam was inconceivable. I have never felt more out of my comfort zone, and yet, at the same time, I have never felt more compelled to succeed.