I am in 10th grade and want to major in computer science. I plan to self study AP CSA this year and then go on to AP CSP in 11th grade. My school offers the AP CSA course so will this look bad that I didn’t take the course for top 20 colleges, and would it look better for those colleges if I don’t self study AP CSA but take it in junior year? Right now, I am taking the prequisite for AP CSP and AP CSA for our school, so I feel behind on AP classes when compared to other students who are taking AP CSA.
Forget top 20 or top anything.
You don’t need to take the CS AP to major in computer science.
But forgetting that, you don’t need to self study for AP exams. Take what’s offered and complete the classes.
It’s your grade that matters.
There’s no ‘get ahead’ bullet.
Follow the offerings of your school.
And forget the self study path.
Good luck.
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You’re not behind. I go to a T20 school and even higher than that for CS. Many people here did not take a formal CS class in high school, and even if they did, it was AP CS/CSP at most. That being said, most of my fellow CS majors have extensive background knowledge that comes from working on personal projects and research.
I wouldn’t stress one second about not taking AP CS or whatever. To be honest, I wouldn’t even self-study it. Instead, you would likely be better served by working on coding projects that you actually enjoy – you’ll learn a lot more anyways.
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+1 to the posters above.
US college admissions teams don’t value self-studied APs, so it won’t help you there.
As @tsbna44 suggests, and @ucla_cs_god implies, “T20” for what? Start thinking now about what you want your college experience to be like. Start working on coding projects that you enjoy. As you look at colleges look at the emphasis and structure of the CS program- they are more different than you might realize- to see which ones fit you.
One of the great things about CS is that you can go many, many different directions under that umbrella- but you have to figure out which direction is the most interesting to you. Letting go of the idea that not getting into one of 20 specific famous-name colleges is a failure will help you focus on finding the college and the CS program that is right for you.
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As all the other posters have said take the courses that are offered at your school. If you are looking to supplement your profile, teach yourself Python or some other coding language, participate in a hack-a-thon then start a club and organize one for your school. Help out your local, church, library, town hall update their on-line presence…
Then by Senior year, you’ll either love CS and possible have found a specific area you really like and now have some great ECs to talk about. Or maybe you’ll decide that you’re true passions lie elsewhere. The most important thing now is to keep an open mind about everything (the College you will attend, what you will major in, etc.). Keep in mind that between 50-75% of students change their major once their in college, you don’t have to have it all figured out by 10th grade
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Colleges will not be interested in a self studied course if the class is offered at school. They would far rather see a grade in a class than a 5 on the test. This information helps them gauge what type of student you are. A C in AP CSA class at school will be frowned on. That C tells them far more about you as a student than a 5 on a self studied course.
I don’t entirely agree that top colleges completely disregard AP scores on self studied tests. If the class isn’t offered at school and the student has a clear interest in the topic, or if the school offers very few challenging classes, then self-studying can be a way to show rigor and a desire to challenge one’s self. But, that doesn’t appear to be the case in this situation. And self studying, if undertaken, shouldn’t be considered a replacement for a class, and it shouldn’t interfere with actual classes, homework, or EC’s.
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This. Very selective colleges are going to look at what you’ve done on your own outside of class because that’s what your competition is doing.
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I would suggest switching the order – self study for AP CS Principles on your own this year and then take AP CSA at your school as a junior.
Taking CSP after CSA would be a waste of time in my opinion – you’d most likely be bored out of your mind. In fact, if you already have some coding experience, you should seriously consider skipping CSP altogether and going right to CSA.
Honestly, I’m unclear what possibly could be a pre-requisite for CSP at your school (other than Algebra I) because CSP is already a very, very gentle introduction to computer science.
Hugely different. The experience of 175+ days of classroom education. Discussion, homework, labs, exams, etc., evaluated by a professional educator means much more than reading a book for a 3 hour test.
AP exam scores mean little in the admissions process. There are much better uses of your time. If you are looking to learn computer science and programming, there are better ways to do this than an AP exam.
CSP is an intro course and should be taken before CSA.
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