<p>I'm thinking of taking one or the other of these courses online, but I'd like to know what's specifically involved. I'm taking one of these because I want to get my last required science or math credit out of the way before I graduate (also, a GPA boost would be nice).</p>
<p>I'm not a superstar student and my strengths lie primarily in the liberal arts subjects. I'm okay at science and math but not top tier. My Chem teacher recommended AP Enviro for kids like me, but my school doesn't offer it. I'd be taking APES online in addition to classroom-based AP Lang, APUSH, and AP Art. I've never taken an AP course before so I am worried I won't be able to handle these if APES is there. Would it be too demanding to deal with?</p>
<p>On the other hand, APCS seems like an interesting subject, but I'm afraid of it at the same time because it looks like a complicated, math-oriented subject. I'm not that great at math (if this is a good indicator, 650 on practice SATs in math) but I am kind of interested in learning how to program. I know some very rudimentary HTML but no java at all. Is this course difficult if a student is neither experienced with programming nor exemplary in math? Should I enroll in it or go with APES?</p>
<p>Thanks!</p>
<p>APES is easier than APCS; however, I think that APCS is better for actual content and will help you learn how to think logically and program. Without knowing java, you might have some trouble…</p>
<p>^ I’m taking it next year and I don’t know squat about Java. Doesn’t it say that CB doesn’t require its students to have any prior experience? My friend who was a sophomore last year didn’t know programming but still got a 97 in the class.</p>
<p>I didn’t know Java going into APCS last year, and I got a 5 on the AP test and a 96 in the class. That said, programming is not for everyone. Several kids in my class decided not to take the test because they didn’t feel prepared. It all depends on how much you are willing to put into learning how to program. </p>
<p>I had a friend who took both APCS and APES last year. She was only taking Algebra II so she didn’t have the strongest math background either. She found APES to be quite interesting, but thought APCS was too complicated. I haven’t heard what scores she got yet, but I can say that she felt much more confident after the APES test. She did take the courses at school, though, so taking them online might be a different story.</p>
<p>Thanks for the replies! </p>
<p>I am most likely going to sign up for APCS on FLVS. Does anyone have any experience with FLVS’s course? I’ve read some raving reviews about it in the “Official FLVS AP Course thread,” but I just would like to be cautious.</p>
<p>I did receive an overall 99 average in Algebra II Honors, but in Geometry H and Algebra I H my averages were more like 96. It looks like Java involves a lot of functions. How involved is the math in APCS?</p>
<p>Last year in Geometry/Alg 2H (it’s pretty much the same thing), I got a 99 1st semester and a 98 second semester. I’m also at around 700-750 on SAT math (76 on PSAT and usually 740-750 on practice SAT tests), and I can figure out how to do most level 5 problems, but it depends on the content area. Based on this, and the fact that I have no prior experience with programming, do you guys think I’ll be alright?</p>
<p>As a programmer with a lot of experience (and ~4 years experience in Java), I can attest that you don’t need the best math skills to learn programming… From what I can remember on 2013-2014’s APCS test, the most math I had to use was basic operations – addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division… There may have been a question with exponents, but nothing difficult.</p>
<p>I’d recommend you read through this year’s official AP Comp Sci thread: <a href=“*** Official AP Computer Science A Thread 2013-2014 *** - AP Mathematics & Computer Science - College Confidential Forums”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/mathematics-computer-science/1505935-official-ap-computer-science-a-thread-2013-2014-p1.html</a></p>
<p>and also the thread created for next year (where many of this year’s students have shared their thoughts, including me): <a href=“*** Official AP Computer Science A Thread 2014-2015 *** - AP Mathematics & Computer Science - College Confidential Forums”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/discussion/1648914/official-ap-computer-science-a-thread-2014-2015</a></p>
<p>To reiterate (as a few posters on this thread are afraid of math), you don’t need any big math skills to program. If you did, I would have stopped programming many years ago ;)</p>
<p>You can sign up for APCS now at FLVS, and start working on the class over the summer. I highly recommend that you do so. </p>