<p>So, I've been going through Barron's book for the Computer Science exam. The book is pretty good, but I'm a bit worried about the accuracy of the practice questions there. I'm getting only about 50% of the questions right.. and that's a scaring me, considering how close the exam is. Is Barron's really harder than the real thing, or is it accurate? I'm aiming for a five, so I'd like to know if I can pull it off by the end before the exam.</p>
<p>Thanks.</p>
<p>Didn’t they rework the computer science ap tests? I would imagine it would be difficult to give a prediction if one doesn’t know what the new one is like.</p>
<p>Barrons is known for having harder material than is present on the test. :D</p>
<p>They didn’t exactly rework the test, they just added some extra topics from the AB test.</p>
<p>I used Barron’s and I’d say that the practice exams were a tad more difficult than the actual exam. The mc section of the cs exam was definitely my weakness. I can’t remember exactly what my mc scores were like on the practice exam, but i’d say like 60-70%, but I had decent scores on the free response. I usually got 4’s and 5’s on the practice exam. On the actual exam I messed up the free response some, but ended up getting a 5. So I wouldn’t worry too much.</p>
<p>Barron’s is somewhat harder, but at the same time their explanations are very effective – if you learn from barron’s and understand all your mistakes and then afterward go thru the other books you will find them to be a cinch. I studied from Barron’s and then took last year’s released exam as a practice and got a 39/40 on the MC with 1 careless error :P</p>
<p>I think Barron’s is fairly good. Another popular book that is closer to the actual level of the exam is Litvin’s Be Prepared For The Ap Computer Science Exam In Java</p>
<p>Darkeyes, did you use any other prep books (other than Barron’s)? A 39/40 is really good!</p>
<p>Hmm… Well basically I used Litvin’s and that seemed to help. I also used some other book that I have in school but I forget what it’s called – I’ll get back to you on that.</p>
<p>There is also this java e-book at [Java</a> Au Naturel: Computer Science Textbook 08/30/03](<a href=“Computer Science Department | Central Connecticut State University”>Java Au Naturel: Computer Science Textbook 08/30/03). That book is kind of… different – it basically has its own codes and you work with their already pre-designed codes to try to adjust them according to the requirements of the problems, so you can go thru those chapters. However, if you are close to taking the exam (like this year), I don’t recommend that book.</p>
<p>Finally, there is a website called [DaniWeb</a> IT Discussion Community](<a href=“http://www.daniweb.com%5DDaniWeb”>http://www.daniweb.com). On it there is a Java forum where people post their questions, ranging from simple conditionals to Java databases and servlets. It’s a great resource whenever you have a question you need answered within a day. But what really prepared me for the exam was signing up for an account there and helping other pplz with their errors – by debugging their code I got better at following codes written by other people, so I naturally got better at interpreting College Board code, which is relatively easier than most of the stuff there.</p>
<p>Otherwise I guess you need lots of practice… and whenever you go over a test like Barron’s, don’t just get a score and move on – make sure you really master the reason you missed the question. Oh, and I also made some notes on Java programming if you want me to e-mail them to u</p>
<p>That forums is great, and your advice is really appreciated. Thanks!</p>
<p>No problem – you can also send me a private message with any other questions u have</p>
<p>And on the DaniWeb IT forums, my username is Kvass</p>