<p>Okay so I'm self studying AP CS A w/ Barrons. I have no idea really what the test is like. I don't want to show up to the test and be lost. Can anyone answer any of these questions/comments?</p>
<ol>
<li>Good tips for the test? What should I focus studying?</li>
<li>Or things that aren't stressed that much in prep books but good to know?</li>
<li>Tips on loop questions where you keep having to go back and forth and add i? For me those take forever and I often get lost.</li>
<li>General concepts that are popular on the test? Trends?</li>
<li>I'm pretty good with OO, but not so much with details and stuff, is that okay?</li>
<li>What's up with the GridWorld Case Study?</li>
<li>What are the frqs like? I haven't really checked them out yet.</li>
<li>Appendixes? Normally on practice Qs they have the code in the question. On the actual test will they refer you to an appendix or what?</li>
<li>Barron's good enough for a 5? Are the practice tests accurate?</li>
<li><p>Small things that would help or that I can use? Like "if your stuck on a free response, you can always get a couple of points by..."</p></li>
<li><p>An overview of the test from your opinion. I could look up most of these questions online and stuff but your opinions are more helpful.</p></li>
</ol>
<p>I took the exam last year and used that book, but I was also taking the class; however, the class was basically self-study and had very little teaching.</p>
<ol>
<li>Focus on recursion and tracing through loops. Also, during the MC section, you may be pressed for time, so as it is with any time of test like this, skip questions that involve a lot of thought and come back to them later.</li>
<li>I can’t think of any, the Barron’s book was excellent.</li>
<li>Use trace tables or make notes of what the values of the variables are after each iteration of the loop.</li>
<li>As I said before, lots of recursion and tracing.</li>
<li>Could you clarify that a little more?</li>
<li>You need to know the case study! My teacher told me, but something like 25% of the people who take the test have never even looked at the case study. In my class I spent probably about a month going over the case study. Use the workbook and do the exercises. <a href=“College Board - SAT, AP, College Search and Admission Tools”>College Board - SAT, AP, College Search and Admission Tools;
The questions regarding Grid World on the test will be simple if you are familiar with the case study and you are even given a good portion of the code during the test that you could reference if need be. The more familiar you are with the case study, the more time you’ll have to focus on other questions on the test.</li>
<li>You will have one GW free response. Expect another that has to do with OOD. Possibly abstract classes, interfaces, etc. You do not have to code all of the classes, but you will be expected to declare the class, variables, and method headers. The other two free responses will usually involve writing a couple methods. Definitely take a look at the previous free response questions on College Board. They are very lenient with points and you will get a lot of partial credit.</li>
<li>You really only need the code that is written in the question. The appendixes are available more for reference, like if you don’t remember some of the methods of the String or Math class. Also a lot of the GW code is in the Appendix, but you should not have to spend much time looking at it during the test if you know it well.</li>
<li>As I said before, I used the Barron’s book and I had little instruction and I got a 5. I don’t know how much experience you have with programming, but in my CS class, we spent most of the year just writing programs. I feel like I learn better by looking at the code and figuring out how different things work and then attempting to implement them into my own programs versus just reading the text book. The book is pretty accurate score-wise.<br></li>
<li>Look at the free responses on CB. Honestly just try and write as much of the code as you can. Always declare the variables that you need and make sure you at least return a variable if the method requires it even if it wouldn’t end up being the correct value. Also, you typically get points for attempting to write a loop even if it ends up not working as it was supposed to.</li>
<li>I really like CS and I will likely major in it and college. It is definitely my strong suit and I didn’t have any doubts about not passing the exam. I did make some silly mistakes on the exam, yet I still managed to get a 5. If you know the case study well, then you already have an advantage.<br></li>
</ol>
<p>Also, I heard that this year they are including some new topics on the exam since they got rid of AB, so make sure you have the latest Barron’s book. 2D arrays was one of the new topics, but they’re easy to understand.</p>