I'm thinking about dropping a course (AP Comp Sci)

[Terabyte]

Originally posted by: Xylitol
Did you take the AP exam? And what did you get?
PM me if you don't want to post it. I'm only asking this because I think that my school is the only one that makes people take the AP exams.

Well, I didn't take CS in high school. I took it my first quarter in college And if you take an AP class, you usually take the AP course too. If you pass the AP CS test, you'll get credit for it (depends on college, some give credit for 3's, and some don't.) If you don't pass it, then whatever.

Where are you applying?

 

[herkulease]

Umm its March, you have what 3 months left of school.

Unless private schools do it different, you can't drop classes like in college, schools typically transfer you to another class. I'm willing to bet this transfer into another class won't show up. Also at this period in time chances are they won't even let you switch classes. its march. unless you switch to PE or something. you'll be too far behind.

What state colleges are you gonna apply to. CSU or UCs? if you applying to the CSU you can sleep through most classes and still get accepted as longas you have a decent SAT score to meet their gpa/sat minimum scale.

 

[irishScott]

My advice: Go get the latest Barron's book at the nearest book store. It presents things in a clear and concise manor. Saved my a$$ several times during the course.

Also, make sure you get the right edition. I took APCS C. There is also an AB version.

And make sure you don't don't buy the old version for C++ either.

http://www.amazon.com/Prepare-Computer-...?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1172994347&sr=8-1

 

[Xylitol]

Originally posted by: herkulease
Umm its March, you have what 3 months left of school.

Unless private schools do it different, you can't drop classes like in college, schools typically transfer you to another class. I'm willing to bet this transfer into another class won't show up. Also at this period in time chances are they won't even let you switch classes. its march. unless you switch to PE or something. you'll be too far behind.

What state colleges are you gonna apply to. CSU or UCs? if you applying to the CSU you can sleep through most classes and still get accepted as longas you have a decent SAT score to meet their gpa/sat minimum scale.

UCs

 

[irishScott]

Once last thing, I'm currently in the midst of college mid-terms, so I can't guarantee timing, but feel free to PM me with any Java questions you have.

 

[FallenHero]

AP classes are overrated.

 

[Xylitol]

Originally posted by: FallenHero
AP classes are overrated.

Nowadays some colleges judge your acceptance or denial using information about not only your GPA but also the # of AP classes that you took (I most schools look at up to 2).

 

[BoldAsLove]

I dropped a class once..I received an "NM" meaning no mark on my transcript...I later went to the VP and asked him to drop it. He dropped it, so now its not even apparent.

 

[Xylitol]

Originally posted by: irishScott
Once last thing, I'm currently in the midst of college mid-terms, so I can't guarantee timing, but feel free to PM me with any Java questions you have.

Thanks a lot

 

[Xylitol]

Originally posted by: BoldAsLove
I dropped a class once..I received an "NM" meaning no mark on my transcript...I later went to the VP and asked him to drop it. He dropped it, so now its not even apparent.

I thought that when you drop a class, it's always on the transcript (You cant remove it)?
Either I'm mistaken or your school is different from the norm I think
What your school does is cool though

 

[Terabyte]

Are you planning to major in CS?

 

[AgaBoogaBoo]

Sorry I don't know any good websites for Java in particular since I'm not a Java programmer. But based on the one thread from you I found in the Software forum (before I stopped looking) about the merge sort, it sounds like your issue is with taking a problem and developing an algorithm, it's not Java-specific.

OP - I took both years of Comp Sci AP in HS, with Java. Once you get past a certain learning curve, your answer is generally in one of two places:
1. Java API - documentation heaven
2. Algorithm specific - My advice to you is to write out something in english on how to do it, maybe even just a numbered list, or a flowchart if you choose to, and work from there. Identify if the problem is with finding the algorithm or the code to do it - the latter is easier.

If neither, then Google will probably cover it. In a last case scenario, AT, or even beyond that... a human, IRL. :shocked:

Excuse the lame joke, but I think if you stick to it, you'll be just fine. Being a little worried is good.

 

[BoldAsLove]

Originally posted by: Xylitol

Originally posted by: BoldAsLove
I dropped a class once..I received an "NM" meaning no mark on my transcript...I later went to the VP and asked him to drop it. He dropped it, so now its not even apparent.

I thought that when you drop a class, it's always on the transcript (You cant remove it)?
Either I'm mistaken or your school is different from the norm I think
What your school does is cool though

My school is actually a very competitive one. I didnt know I could do it either until my mom talked to my school counselor. They said that if you talked to the VP and explained your reasoning as to why you dropped the class, than they would remove it from your transcript. The only problem was I had already completed the first semester, so I got the crappy grade from that semester. But the D that I was gonna get 2nd semester was then dropped off cuz it showed up as NM and thus the VP erased it.

 

[herkulease]

Originally posted by: Xylitol

Originally posted by: herkulease
Umm its March, you have what 3 months left of school.

Unless private schools do it different, you can't drop classes like in college, schools typically transfer you to another class. I'm willing to bet this transfer into another class won't show up. Also at this period in time chances are they won't even let you switch classes. its march. unless you switch to PE or something. you'll be too far behind.

What state colleges are you gonna apply to. CSU or UCs? if you applying to the CSU you can sleep through most classes and still get accepted as longas you have a decent SAT score to meet their gpa/sat minimum scale.

UCs

Unless your doing terribly the other years, its isn't going to be a big deal. high school grades don't mean crap once you get to college.

I believe UCs now have an admissions index as longas your gpa, sat 1,2,3 or how many they have now gets you an index score that's very high you'll be able to go to which ever UC you like.

think of this way, if you don't pass(3 or is 4) the AP test when you take the intro class in college most of the material should be review for you in which you can either get an easy A which will be very nice easy way to boost your gpa for grad school/scholarship etc and allows you time to focus on other classes and get As in them. You shouldn't have to spend as much time understanding the material as others might have.

So suck it up

 

[Xylitol]

Originally posted by: BoldAsLove

Originally posted by: Xylitol

Originally posted by: BoldAsLove
I dropped a class once..I received an "NM" meaning no mark on my transcript...I later went to the VP and asked him to drop it. He dropped it, so now its not even apparent.

I thought that when you drop a class, it's always on the transcript (You cant remove it)?
Either I'm mistaken or your school is different from the norm I think
What your school does is cool though

My school is actually a very competitive one. I didnt know I could do it either until my mom talked to my school counselor. They said that if you talked to the VP and explained your reasoning as to why you dropped the class, than they would remove it from your transcript. The only problem was I had already completed the first semester, so I got the crappy grade from that semester. But the D that I was gonna get 2nd semester was then dropped off cuz it showed up as NM and thus the VP erased it.

Hmmm interesting
I think that I might want to bring that up to the counselor if I can't pull off a better grade in the upcoming week.

 

[SacrosanctFiend]

Originally posted by: BoldAsLove
My school is actually a very competitive one. I didnt know I could do it either until my mom talked to my school counselor. They said that if you talked to the VP and explained your reasoning as to why you dropped the class, than they would remove it from your transcript. The only problem was I had already completed the first semester, so I got the crappy grade from that semester. But the D that I was gonna get 2nd semester was then dropped off cuz it showed up as NM and thus the VP erased it.

So competitive that they don't teach the difference between "then" and "than?"

 

[alimoalem]

i've only read like the first 10 posts but oh well.

first off, are you a junior? it seems like it cause you have 7 classes and you're worried about your class...

anyway, a few things must be considered: what university are you planning on attending? how will dropping this late into the quarter affect your transcript? will they simply put a "W" for withdrawn, or will they fail you? i'm sure there are other questions, i just forgot them right now

if you are a senior, do as you like. if there's a minimum gpa you need to keep, drop it.

about not taking the AP course, yea, you're not required to take it. i was probably the only person in my entire AP US History class that didn't take the AP class my junior year...it was assumed that everyone took it but they didn't check i guess. even if they did, i had the right not to take it. it was my only C, too, so when i applied to universities, i listed as a Senior year class and not a Junior year class, so i didn't have to list my grade for it, either. if i was asked why i did this, i was going to say something like "i planned on taking the AP test my senior year, so i thought it was supposed to be listed in my senior year course section because that is when the test was going to be taken." might be something for you to consider if you finish the semester but don't take the AP course?

 

[DrPizza]

Wow! The school will allow you to drop the course?! At my school, after the first 3 or 4 weeks, you need permission of the guidance counselor, principal, and teacher. The odds of getting permission from me (the teacher) are slim to none. (Only once did a student have a good reason - doing poorly is *not* a good reason.)

Last year, I had a student who wanted to drop physics after 2 quarters. The reason he took physics was because it'd look good on college applications. He was failing at that point. I told him no, told the guidance department that I said no, and explained my reasoning to his mother for telling him "no." If he needs help to get a higher grade, I was willing to stay after school with him and work with him any day of the week, I'd even come in before school if he wanted. It came down to this: the reason he wanted to quit the course was because he was too lazy to do the work. There are consequences to being lazy; I wasn't giving him an easy way to avoid those consequences.

Oh, and by the end of the year, he passed the course, plus passed the state exam.