2010 AP Computer Science Discussion

<p>So the test is about two days away! How's studying going guys?
I'm currently almost done with GridWorld (case study in two days FTW!). Seems pretty simple to me. After that I'll just go practice and practice until test time.</p>

<p>I HATE GridWorld. It’s so stupid and didn’t teach me anything. Easy though.</p>

<p>I haven’t really started studying. I plan on studying a LOT today, and then some tomorrow… but the Halo Reach beta comes out tomorrow, so I’d better study more today. haha.</p>

<p>I didn’t even start GridWorld. I’ll have to study it tomorrow at school and skip all the clubs. Still, I got all the problems, except the GridWorlds ones, on 2009 released exam, so I’m not worried <em>yet</em></p>

<p>Lol I just got a 19.5 on a Barron’s practice test on the MC portion. I feel like I have no chance of a five… I should still hope for it though. You’re as much as you think you are!</p>

<p>Also diamon153, mind posting any official questions? :D</p>

<p>EDIT: Has anybody here taken the official practice test? How accurate would you describe it?</p>

<p>I just reviewed my whole curriculum, including the case study, yesterday.</p>

<p>I hope everything goes well on Tuesday!</p>

<p>Studying GridWorld all day today. Any ideas on how long(hours) it took you guys?</p>

<p>Gridworld is pretty simple. To be honest you can just read over it and memorize what the methods do in about three hours. You just have to do some practice on it to get acquainted to the type of questions they ask.</p>

<p>Also, is Barron’s curve accurate for this test? It says 60-80 is a five.</p>

<p>I’m self studying and got my book Friday. I don’t know Java at all.</p>

<p>Yeah, I’m panicking.</p>

<p>I made my own subclasses of actor to play around with the grid… like I made this critter called a “sweeper” that moves in a diagonal formation and sweeps the board of every single actor except itself, and I made an actor that acts by changing its color and duplicating itself. Doing projects like that really helped… And I just hope we all do well :D</p>

<p>I got a 39/40 w/ 1 careless error on the released 2009 exam, so I’m not particularly worried…</p>

<p>By the way, does anyone know if the code on the FRQs requires pen???</p>

<p>I’m rather worried. I feel like I can get a 4 easily, but a 5 I do desire.
I’m not sure how to go about reviewing…
And I envy DarkEyes. ENVY.</p>

<p>^</p>

<p>Agree. The class had been a breeze up until Friday. </p>

<p>On Saturday, we went to the teacher’s classroom to take a practice test (M/C portion). I got a raw score of 26. Doing some calculations, I realized that to get a 5, I needed to get all 8s and 9s on the FRQs and proceeded to freak out - especially since the teacher lulled us all into a false sense of security by telling us that the % of his previous classes that got 5s was around 70% and that all his kids “killed the FRQs”.</p>

<p>Consequently, I am now doing and reviewing every practice MC I can find, doing the 2008 and 2009 FRQs (will do the other ones minus the Marine Bio things tomorrow or tonight), looking at cram packets, etc D:</p>

<p>I can’t get a 4… I just CAN’T. It’d be my first non-5 ):</p>

<p>Are there any released exams available to us? Help is appreciated.</p>

<p>2004 and 2009 are released and available on the internet I think… Otherwise I recommend cramming through Be Prepared for the AP Computer Science Exam in Java by Litvin. I think it’s a very useful resource. For FRQs, just use the college board website. But do we need to use a pen on the FRQs for comp sci? cuz that would be such a dagger – often i realize i left out a line somewhere like if I need to declare a boolean variable b4 a loop or something >.<</p>

<p>

I assume they’d probably accept an insertion.</p>

<p>@Malfunction: I also just took the MC in Barrons, and I got a 19 total as well ahahaha. But watch out, I’ve heard that Barrons is a LOT harder than the actual test. I’d say the real one is about 6-7 points more lenient, so I wouldn’t worry about that too much. That said, even with a 19/40, you can still get a 5 if you get like 80% on FRQs. Remember, the curve this year is definitely going to be much more lenient, since it is a new exam. From past APs and their new editions, the curve has always been like 10% more lenient.</p>

<p>What do u mean by “new exam”?</p>

<p>The A now includes some topics from AB, so it’s new material.</p>

<p>Yeah the AP exam is “midway” between A and AB now, you could say. The curves could be said to be somewhat midway. Since the curve for A is known to be 60% for 5 and curve for AB is known to be 70% for 6, I’d say the curve would be no more than 60% for a 5. Think about, there’s still many who don’t even know all the material the new exam includes (and it was a pain to find out, collegeboard wasn’t clear). All the confusion will make the curve more lenient.</p>

<p>So what new material is on the exam?</p>

<p>What exactly is the AB material they are testing?</p>