You can take these courses, in any order, if you’re interested in and want to know more about computer science. However, neither will impress any AO, whether you apply as a CS major or not. BTW, a course on data structures is a very basic college CS course and it’s usually not about algorithms (unless the course specifically mentions that it includes some algorithms).
As others have said, you should aim to take the “most” rigorous courses in your HS, whether or not they’re CS courses.
Thanks for all of the response! I will go for the option 1 and don’t bother to take the exam.
Key question: how much do AP CS A and the college data structures course overlap in material? If it is substantially similar (which may be the case even if different programming languages are used), then it would be redundant to take both.
You didn’t really answer my question about core courses…only take AP CSA if you will have 4 years in each of the 5 core subject areas. For example, don’t drop foreign language (or any other core course) to fit in AP CSA next year.
Will your high school course selection cover what is listed in FAQ: High School College Prep Base Curriculum ?
Yes. I will have 4 years of each of the five core subjects area. Except I may have 3 years of 2nd language, but I will reach level 4 in Junior.
in my high school, AP CSA is the prerequisite of data structure. But I learned Java myself, so even without taking the course, I can take the exam. But I don’t know if I take the exam without taking the course will have negative impact. If I don’t take AP CSA course, I can have the chance to take other stem courses. But I contacted one AO in the college and he said they don’t look at the AP score on common app, they only look at the courses you take.
Yes, I will take 4 years of each of the 5 subjects area in addition to AP CSA. But for 2nd language I am thinking about only take 3 years because I will reach level 4 by junior ( I don’t know 3 years will have negative impact or not). I want to take other stem course like AP statistics to replace 2nd language in senior because that is the topic that I am interested in. I will talk to my counselor anyway, but in a big public school, counselor usually response very slowly.
The rule is to take the hardest courses your school offers. Also nice to take Data Structures if possible. You don’t need that taken in junior year. Nice to have the AP CSA grade on the record, taken in the school. Also, you can’t self learn AP CSA as well as you would if you took a full year of it. Don’t skip on fundamentals. Ok to take in high school and repeat data structures in college. The college course will be more rigorous. But taking it a second time will solidify the concepts for you. The college course will be more comprehensive (some 50-75% mode in content), and still finish in a semester vs the full year high school course.
Happy to talk to you about this! DM me.