I have no knowledge/exposure of computer science, do you think I could still take and get an A in AP Comp Sci?
I took intro to comp sci first, which was definitely helpful because we jumped right into the curriculum in AP. If you school offers intro, take it. If not, it would be wise to brief on Java before you take the course.
For me, Java is simple and comes naturally. But I cannot say the same for many of my classmates who find it extremely difficult. You will be working with problem sets with no prior knowledge of Java, and the class will likely not teach you the basics if there’s an intro course. It would be wise to buy a book (Barron’s is known to be the best) and self study somehow before you start the course.
That being said, if you are not logically/math oriented, you will struggle more if you do not work for it. The A is not an easy A if it does not come naturally to you.
@fishgill Thank you so much for all the info. Would you say it would be easier if I’ve already taken a lot of math/math-related courses such as AP Physics and AP Calculus?
Neither really have much to do with comp sci. The only thing that really comes up in both math and comp sci is matrices. I took AP physics 1 last year and find the two to be totally unrelated.
There are some pretty good (free) websites out there where you can also learn Java/HTML within any time frame! You should check those out.
I took APCS last year. I had never programmed anything before starting that course.
Easiest 5 in my life. (Now, I’m aware that it isn’t that way for everyone, but it’s definetly doable.)
I guess it really depends on your school. If they treat AP like an intro course, just go for it.
While AP CS does not assume any programming experience, many high schools do offer as a 2nd course after the intro level.
http://media.collegeboard.com/digitalServices/pdf/ap/ap-computer-science-a-course-description.pdf (Page 7)
Thanks for all the info guys! really helpful 