AP Computer Science

[Shadow Conception]

Alright, let me explain my situation. I'm a freshman in high school. Currently I take straight pre-AP academic classes (Geometry, Biology, English, Spanish III, World History), as well as a Project Lead the Way course (engineering set of courses), Digital Electronics, which can be applicable for college credit. I aim to get nothing lower than B's (and usually beat myself over the head if I get a B+). The last time I got anything lower than an A quarterly was 6th grade (crazy eh? nah I just do my work). So I'm motivated to do well and stuff.

Now, I'm dropping Spanish after this year, so it'll free up one of my electives. My other elective will be taken by a continuation in Project Lead the Way. So this is my main discrepancy: should I take AP Computer Science A next year, in sophomore year? I'm interested in engineering and computers overall; in Digital Electronics, we've basically learned Boolean algebra and binary/hexadecimal/BCD, etc, which is somewhat related to Comp Sci I'm guessing.

Next year, I'm also going to be taking AP European History, and pre-AP Algebra II/Trigonometry (which is a "weighted" class; counts 5.0 GPA instead of 4.0 GPA). So now I ask: will I be able to handle it? Is it worth it? I don't desire to wait until junior year just to take AP Computer Science A, because then I'll have to take AP Computer Science AB in senior year. But anyone who has taken the class here: how is the course? Combined with AP Euro and Alg2/Trig, will it be too much of a workload? Also keep in mind that the rest of my other core classes will be pre-AP, except for gym and PLTW, which don't have Pre-AP alternatives.

Also, the county prerequisite for AP CS is completion of Algebra II. However, the official Virginia prerequisite to take AP Computer Science A is Geometry, which is what I'm taking now. Asking a senior classmate, he states that AP Computer Science is probably the most laid-back AP class he has taken; and it's also supposed to be a pretty good course. He's in AP Comp Sci AB right now.

If I stick in AP Comp Sci on my scheduling sheet and they don't accept it, I'll be shafted into Advanced Computer Math instead. And I really have no idea what that is, nor do I want to take it. All I know is that it's a weighted class as well (4.5 GPA scale instead of 4.0GPA).

And if I don't get into AP Comp Sci, I'm just gonna take Guitar instead.

So anyone that's taken AP Comp Sci/any other AP courses, would you offer any advice and/or thoughts to what exactly I should do?

 

[IAteYourMother]

Why are you asking us if you can handle it? How the hell should we know you better than you know yourself?

 

[Shadow Conception]

I'm asking for advice from people who have actually taken the class. As in how difficult it is, material, etc.

Using my background that I provided, would the course overpower my abilities or would I be able to take it alongside AP Euro and pre-AP Algebra II/Trig. You gotta keep in mind that AP classes are college-level classes; they're supposed to be a lot more work than regular classes, but exactly how much I don't have much of an idea of.

 

[BigJ]

AP Comp Sci A shouldn't even be an AP class. It's a complete joke. If you're used to working hard, it shouldn't be anything extra.

 

[Noobtastic]

Don't worry about weighted GPAs or even AP.

Take what you can deal and focus the remaining energy on your passions. Colleges have enough AP-masturbating students, they want unique students!

If you like computer science have the time/skill to successfully complete the course without interrupting other studies, go for it. though I urge you to devote extra time in non-academic activities...as those will most often be the deciding factor in admissions (in addition to high scores, which you obviously have).


trust me, high school is a joke. do what you like and it will pay off.

 

[IAteYourMother]

Originally posted by: Shadow Conception
I'm asking for advice from people who have actually taken the class. As in how difficult it is, material, etc.

Using my background that I provided, would the course overpower my abilities or would I be able to take it alongside AP Euro and pre-AP Algebra II/Trig. You gotta keep in mind that AP classes are college-level classes; they're supposed to be a lot more work than regular classes, but exactly how much I don't have much of an idea of.

First of all, not all high classes are created the same, and the same goes for AP classes. The best thing is to ask other people at your school who have also taken the same class with the same teacher.

But really, it just depends on how smart you are and how hard you're willing to woprk.

 

[Shadow Conception]

Thanks for the answers.

AB is supposed to be everything A has, with extra material, isn't it? But it's worth two semesters of college Comp Sci instead. So I'm guessing the class is faster-paced.

Obviously I'm looking to do non-academic activites as well. I have some of those as well, so I sorta should be fine.

IAteYourMother: Yeah I've asked classmates and friends as well. I was just looking to see how people here thought of it when they took it as well.

 

[RESmonkey]

I'm taking AP CS A right now. I stopped working completely for that class 4 weeks into it. I got a B+. I did not know SHIT and got a C on the final, giving me a B overall.
If you try, there is no way you can go below an A.

It's a shitty class at my school, though. Boring concepts, nothing graphical.

 

[NikolaeVarius]

In my School, AP Com Sci is a hit or miss class. Many people get A's because they get it. Some people, like me, got C-B's, because we could just not grasp the theories behind it. I did end up with a 4 on the AP with a final average of a B-.

The first half was fairly simple, then when you start getting into the pre made classes, it can get infuriating because of the dozen methods constantly being referenced.

 

[Shadow Conception]

How is the AP exam itself? Extremely hard, medium, or easy?

My Geometry teacher is also the Comp Sci teacher. I dunno, he's alright at teaching Geometry, but he's very passionate about Computer Science and programming it seems. He fits the description of "gifted" more than anyone I know, so I hope he's a better teacher at AP CS than he is at Geometry. If he isn't, well it's still fine, but he's a pretty cool teacher anyway.

 

[NikolaeVarius]

Originally posted by: Shadow Conception
How is the AP exam itself? Extremely hard, medium, or easy?

My Geometry teacher is also the Comp Sci teacher. I dunno, he's alright at teaching Geometry, but he's very passionate about Computer Science and programming it seems. He fits the description of "gifted" more than anyone I know, so I hope he's a better teacher at AP CS than he is at Geometry. If he isn't, well it's still fine, but he's a pretty cool teacher anyway.

Bad Question. No way you can quantify its difficulty due to the people. But compared to some other AP's I would say Easy with a smidgen of medium.

Just take the damn course. You seem like a perfectionist anyway.

Also my teacher is the same. He is a genius and loves Com Sci and physics. He has a good sense of humor. We liked him until we found out that there was literally a dark side to him. Apparently, he had been forced to go to an anger management classes many times when he was younger, and one day, he freaked out when a kid asked to go to the bathroom.

Not in the holy shit he insane freak out, but like throwing a marker across the room freak out.

Scary..

 

[BigJ]

Originally posted by: Shadow Conception
Thanks for the answers.

AB is supposed to be everything A has, with extra material, isn't it? But it's worth two semesters of college Comp Sci instead. So I'm guessing the class is faster-paced.

Obviously I'm looking to do non-academic activites as well. I have some of those as well, so I sorta should be fine.

IAteYourMother: Yeah I've asked classmates and friends as well. I was just looking to see how people here thought of it when they took it as well.

At the schools I was looking at a couple of years back, AB typically only took the place of Comp Sci/OOP 1. It may give you credit for some bullshit "Intro to Computers" course, but if you're majoring in anything computer related, you won't get credit for that anyway.

If you don't have any prior computer science experience or you don't have a strong foundation in functions (a grasp of Pre-Calculus is definitely helpful in understanding the AB material), taking AB will be a lot of work.

Computer Science is definitely a topic that some people just "get." If you are strong with mathematics, logic, and reasoning, it's going to be an easier course.

 

[Shadow Conception]

Originally posted by: tenshodo13

Originally posted by: Shadow Conception
How is the AP exam itself? Extremely hard, medium, or easy?

My Geometry teacher is also the Comp Sci teacher. I dunno, he's alright at teaching Geometry, but he's very passionate about Computer Science and programming it seems. He fits the description of "gifted" more than anyone I know, so I hope he's a better teacher at AP CS than he is at Geometry. If he isn't, well it's still fine, but he's a pretty cool teacher anyway.

Bad Question. No way you can quantify its difficulty due to the people. But compared to some other AP's I would say Easy with a smidgen of medium.

Just take the damn course. You seem like a perfectionist anyway.

Also my teacher is the same. He is a genius and loves Com Sci and physics. He has a good sense of humor. We liked him until we found out that there was literally a dark side to him. Apparently, he had been forced to go to an anger management classes many times when he was younger, and one day, he freaked out when a kid asked to go to the bathroom.

Not in the holy shit he insane freak out, but like throwing a marker across the room freak out.

Scary..

lmao

The only thing that's gonna hold me back from taking the course is probably gonna be the stupid prerequisite system, if the counselors can't override it.

I know it's a dumb question, but I just wanna get opinions all-around.

BigJ: oic. I usually like logic and all that jazz better than the random crap we get thrown at in classes like English and Spanish. Thanks for the info.

 

[BigJ]

Originally posted by: Shadow Conception
BigJ: oic. I usually like logic and all that jazz better than the random crap we get thrown at in classes like English and Spanish. Thanks for the info.

Just know that I'm talking about mathematical logic. If you're familiar with it, conditional statements (a big part of Comp Sci A and AB) are going to come very easy. A strong foundation and grasp of functions will allow you to understand what you're writing instead of just writing it.

 

[ConstipatedVigilante]

You sound asian.

I'm taking Honors Computer Science at my school. There's no AP course in compsci- Honors students are encouraged to take the AP test. I don't know what language you'll be learning, but we're doing Java. It's only hard for the first couple months because it's a completely new type of stuff if you haven't coded before. Now we're writing our own programs and it's not that bad. It's probably the most laid-back class I've ever taken - we just talk about video games most of the time.

 

[Noobtastic]

edited

 

[GregGreen]

Isn't this a question for your guidance counselor? Isn't that what they get paid for -- to look at your performance at YOUR school compared to what the classes at YOUR school entail?

 

[jagec]

Originally posted by: GregGreen
Isn't this a question for your guidance counselor? Isn't that what they get paid for -- to look at your performance at YOUR school compared to what the classes at YOUR school entail?

Remember the guidance counselor in the "perfect egg" portion of Clerks?

Yeah

OP, it certainly isn't an insurmountable amount of work, especially if you're used to it. AP classes vary drastically by teacher, though--if the teacher is lousy, don't bother taking the class just to get the AP credit. If you actually want to pursue something in that field you'll probably want to take the class in college anyway, or at least a quick refresher.

 

[Parasitic]

Originally posted by: Shadow Conception
I'm asking for advice from people who have actually taken the class. As in how difficult it is, material, etc.

College Board changed the course structure a few years back. I was one of the last years they forced C++ onto AP comp sci students and I think the materials are taught in Java now?


Edit: by the way if you're thinking about transferring those AP classes to college credit, make sure you take a look at the colleges you're thinking about applying. Some classes won't accept comp sci A as a valid transfer at all. Berkeley didn't, but luckily I got so bored out of the A stuff I took the AB exam and studied on my own over the weekend before it and got a 4 on it. That waived me out of data structures, although I wasn't even a computer science major.

 

[angminas]

Are you really sure you want to drop Spanish? I wish I had taken it instead of German.

 

[zebano]

I took only AB and got a 5 on the exam after my instructor gave me grades of B+, B, C+.

It was basically a data structures course that my instructor didn't teach. She showed a couple of examples, said do it like this and assigned homework. Reading the book helped a lot (the C+ was because it was my senior year and I stopped completing assignments outside of class). I now have B.S. in CS and could easily have skipped the first two intro courses in college except that the stupid department didn't let anyone do that.

 

[Aikouka]

The AP courses are meant to replace initial courses in collegiate settings. If your AP CS A is meant to replace Intro to Computer Science, I highly doubt it'll be a difficult course. I took a normal CS course in high school (we didn't have AP) and it was a piece of cake. Really, the cake is not a lie.

Although, if you plan to major in CS, the one rule of AP courses is that you should never use AP credit if it gets you out of a class in your major. I AP'd out of Calc 1 and Chem 1 and 2 and technically Calc 1 applies to that rule because it was in my major, but Calc 2 is more important and I like bumming it up my senior year .

 

[Marinski]

isn't this what counselors are for?

 

[torpid]

Originally posted by: Aikouka
Although, if you plan to major in CS, the one rule of AP courses is that you should never use AP credit if it gets you out of a class in your major.

I was going to post the same thing. You don't want to skip the early "real" comp sci courses because a good university will teach a LOT more in those courses than a good high school, and those are quite important classes since they form the foundation for all of your programming techniques and habits.

Similarly, if you get a crappy professor in the early comp sci courses, transfer classes. Trust me, it's worth it. I did it myself and I really cringe at the thought of how much less I would have learned. When I transferred to a better instructor (the original guy was a math professor who dabbled in comp sci), I was actually a week and a half behind with the new guy because the pace was faster and the teacher more competent.

If you aren't going to major in comp sci or related fields then nevermind, the AP is free credits!

 

[zerocool1]

they changed the language after i took the class to JAVA. but for the most part its a project focused class. theres a lot of algorithm stuff too.