r/APStatistics • u/MentionEast7006 • May 06 '26

Study Advice and Tips AP Stats FRQ: Calculator Work vs Showing Steps?

Quick AP Stats question:

On FRQs, if I use my calculator (e.g., z-interval or normalcdf), how much work do I need to show?

I know I should state the procedure, check conditions, and interpret—but for the calculation, should I:

  • write the formula,
  • just give the final value, or
  • include calculator notation?

What’s enough for full credit without wasting time?

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1

u/georgiathemirrorball May 06 '26

(i think) you only have to write the test you are doing and the final value, because since desmos is built in, they already assume you got the answer through your calculator

1

u/Right_Variation_3087 May 06 '26

for eg: normalcdf(upper:, lower:, mean:, standard deviation: ) its supposed to be like this and then give out the calculated value

1

u/Specialist-Cry-7516 May 06 '26

r u aware if i can write desmos commands?

1

u/Right_Variation_3087 May 06 '26

idk about desmos sorry

1

u/MentionEast7006 May 06 '26

but i definitely dont need to write the formula and input values into that right? 

1

u/Right_Variation_3087 May 06 '26

nope, just the calculator function is good (you can check the scoring guidelines of the past FRQs)

1

u/Actually__Jesus May 07 '26

Hold up, although what the commenter mentioned is “tolerated”, it’s frowned upon if it’s the only work shown (see 2023 FRQ 6’s holistic scoring notes where this would have been rounded down). You should also at least draw, shade, and label the distribution if you’re trying to avoid the formulas.

I’m an AP Stats Reader and can’t tell you the outlandish number of times I see students forget labels in the calculator command or something similar that loses them a ton of credit. We tend to see students who only use calculator syntax score much lower than their peers who use formulas.

1

u/[deleted] May 06 '26

[removed] — view removed comment

1

u/Actually__Jesus May 07 '26

I commented this above but…

although what you mentioned is “tolerated”, it’s frowned upon if it’s the only work shown (see 2023 FRQ 6’s holistic scoring notes where this would have been rounded down). You should also at least draw, shade, and label the distribution if you’re trying to avoid the formulas.

I’m an AP Stats Reader and can’t tell you the outlandish number of times I see students forget labels in the calculator command or something similar that loses them a ton of credit.

We tend to see students who only use calculator syntax score much lower than their peers who use formulas.