Experimental dipole and rotational strengths of the three optically active terpenes were compared to those obtained from the magnetic field perturbation (MFP) and vibronic coupling theory (VCT), and the results were analyzed in order to facilitate future extension of current vibrational circular dichroism (VCD) simulation techniques to bigger molecules. Experimental VCD patterns could be faithfully reproduced by both calculations, but the absolute VCD intensities are usually underestimated. The size of the basis set is the main limitation in both the MFP and VCT calculations. Harmonic frequencies and dipolar strengths obtained by Hartree-Fock and five density functional methods are compared to experiment for cr-pinene. For borneol, a natural occurrence and spectral representation of its conformers are discussed on the basis of comparison of the theoretical and experimental frequencies and VCD and absorption intensities.