<p>Question about FRQs…I’m self studying so I’m a bit lost on how the requirements of FRQs. How lenient are they in the FRQs?</p>
<p>For example, one of the scoring guidelines requires “Considers all actors in grid”. Suppose I technically considered the actors, which is seen in me including a getOccupiedLocations() method, but my method technically does not work…yet it does meet the guidelines. Would I still get points? </p>
<p>And for example, another guideline says “guards against inappropriate self-movement”, if I were technically required to guard against moving on a rock and moving off the grid, and I only guarded against moving on a rock, does that still count? </p>
<p>I’m just gonna throw this in: Grid World FRQs are unusually difficult…like it actually requires that we be very familiar with GW.</p>
<p>Also, do you find the time limit to do these questions really good? As in, you get everything done with something like 15+ minutes in MC and like 30min in FRQ? This is for Barron’s practice tests. </p>
<p>I’m a reader with the APCS, so I can talk quite a bit about the FRQs.</p>
<p>Before I begin, though, I need to give my standard disclaimer. Anything I say here (or hereafter) is my opinion only, based on my prior experiences as a reader. Nothing I say should be interpreted as the official positions of the CollegeBoard, ETS, the AP CS Development Committee, my employer, or Justin Bieber.</p>
<p>It’s hard to give a simple “yes” or “no” to your question about how the grading rubrics work, but I’ll try to answer it as best I can. The intent of each rubric is to somehow capture all of the characteristics of a correct solution in several points that can be independently scored. The intent is to allow partial credit. But “partial credit” should be read as “you can earn some points but not others”. Each point to be earned has to be fully satisfied.</p>
<p>So, to your examples. If a rubric point says “Considers all actors in grid” and your code considers all of the actors, even if it does something horribly wrong with them, then, yes, you can still earn that point. If a rubric point says “guards against inappropriate self-movement” and you only guard against some inappropriate moves, then you probably won’t earn that point.</p>
<p>Yes, the GridWorld FRQs require that you be familiar with the case study ahead of time. Hopefully, your high school class has been spending significant time on GridWorld throughout the term; if not, well, you’ve got a couple of weeks to get to work on it.</p>
<p>How’s everyone’s studying going? My teacher has taught us nothing all year, and I don’t think she’s ever once planned ahead with what we’re going to do in class. She didn’t even know they got rid of the AB exam. I’ve been trying to self-study but it’s difficult, especially since she’s only been discouraging every time I go to class.</p>
<p>In all honesty APCS is not one of those classes where it is critical to have that great of a teacher. You get good at programming by practicing, not by listening to lectures or by reading a book. Go out and find previous AP exams and try and solve the FRQs. If you get stuck on something, check the Java API or Stack Overflow. My teacher does an average job of explaining the concepts, but by now i can score near perfect on practice exams. Just practice, practice, practice, and by the time the exam rolls around you will be able to ace it no problem.</p>
<p>PS: If you want to really challenge yourself, check out /r/dailyprogrammer or project euler</p>
<p>Why is II (super.super.makeMove(loc) wrong? Doesn’t that invoke makeMove(loc) of Critterwhich is basically what they want us to do??
And then why is III correct? Shoudln’t it be wrong since it sets the Direction which is what they don’t wrong? </p>
<p>For 25, </p>
<p>Why is it A? Doesn’t selectMoveLocation() only selects the location? Doesn’t it not move the Critter? </p>
<p>III is correct because it stores the current direction of the critter, and then makes the move, and then restores that original direction, so to the user it is not turning.</p>
<p>For 25: The selectMoveLocation() method is modified because that is the one needed to change the behavior of the MunchingCritter properly. We don’t need to override the method to actually move the bug because it does the same thing as Critter. </p>
<p>What is the curve like?? My teacher said that we have to get at least 90% on MC and 8s or 9s on FRQ in order to get a 5, but this seems oddly harsh for an AP exam…</p>
<p>Does anyone have any multiple choice tips? My Barron’s test was 58% and my frq are pretty much always 7+. Should I just draw everything out and cram practice questions to basically guarantee a 4?</p>
<p>Let me remind everyone … once the AP CS-A exam is given on Tuesday morning, you’re not supposed to reveal the contents of the multiple-choice questions at all, and you’re not supposed to discuss the contents of the free response questions for 48 hours. Doing so is a “security violation”, and you can end up having your exam scores cancelled as a result. Feel free to discuss them at length once we get to Thursday afternoon, though :)</p>
<p>Anyone know any good online MC practice sites? I have gone through the MC questions in Barron and the 2009 Released Exam MC, but I still want more!</p>
<p>google “175 questions in java” . Someone put up, well, 175 questions on the internet, and I’ve found those pretty helpful. Just make sure you do only the A questions and not the AB ones.</p>
I’ve been trying to self-study but it’s difficult, especially since she’s only been discouraging every time I go to class.</p>
wrong? Doesn’t that invoke makeMove(loc) of Critterwhich is basically what they want us to do??