Planning on taking AP CS? Wanna score a 5? You've come to the right place!
Rushika Kumarswamy 10/26/18 Study Resources 8:32PM (PST)
AP CS A is an AP class that focuses on teaching students the basics of programming in Java, a object-oriented programming language. These days, many high schoolers across America are taking this course to help better prepare them for the future since the rapid growth of programming is becoming a basic necessity of life. Some say AP CS is a breeze while others say it is torture. But if you spend the right amount of time on it, I assure you that the class will be both fascinating and fun. I took this class my freshman year with no prior coding experience. The first few months of this course, I was convinced it was way too challenging and there was no way I could ever do well in the class. But, I proved myself wrong! As I maintained a habit of reading the lessons before they were taught, I could grasp more and more of the content.
The test itself has a multiple choice portion with 40 questions and you are given 1.5 hours and the free response question is 1.5 hours with 4 questions. Each portion has a weight of 50% each.
Some of the things I did to prepare for the exam in May but to also survive in class, was reading the textbook and practicing problems online and on eclipse. Since AP CS is a widely taken course, there are many resources to assist you. Practice It was one of the most helpful sites because it provided hundreds of problems to solve as well as the solutions to them. Some books I used to prepare were the Barrons AP CS book (formatted very similarly to the test) as well as Building Java Programs (the textbook we used in class). The College Board has some practice free response questions too. Spending one to two hours a week, reading the chapter material as well as practicing multiple choice and free response questions is what I did to prepare for the test. Also, whenever I had a question about a piece of code, I’d test every possible combination to explore the extent of Java.
Overall, AP Computer Science was super fun and one of the few classes where I actually learnt a lot of things. I recommend taking the course even if you are slightly interested in Computer Science! And if you already have a strong background in Java, take the AP test and get some college credit! Good luck!
Source:
“What Is Java Technology and Why Do I Need It?” What Is Java and Why Do I Need It?, 30 July 2014, www.java.com/en/download/faq/whatis_java.xml.
“AP Computer Science A: The Course | AP Central – The College Board.” AP Central, 21 Aug. 2018, apcentral.collegeboard.org/courses/ap-computer-science-a/course.
About the Author
Rushika Kumarswamy is a sophmore at Interlake High School in Bellevue, WA. She is part of the Gifted Program and is pursuing her IB diploma. She participates in the Speech and Debate club at her school as well badminton and robotics.
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