<p>I am really interested in computer science and i will be applying to berkeley for EECS, i know that it wont go on my application but would it be good to self study?</p>
<p>how hard is it to self study computer science, or should i just wait for college?</p>
<p>and if not computer science, what is the easiest subject to self study?
already did apush, stats and chem
and enrolled in physics, calc, lit and gov</p>
<p>bump?
what does bump mean?</p>
<p>Human geography, psych, and environmental science are generally regarded as the 3 easiest APs.</p>
<p>For a person who is already talented at programming, the APCS exam will most likely be a piece of cake. I took AP Computer Science on Florida Virtual School, making it effectively a self-study. With no prior programming experience or interest, I grew to really enjoy writing in Java, and I feel ready to get a 5 on the AP exam. So if you already had an interest in computer science, the self-study should be really easy for you.</p>
<p>thanks, so its pretty easy to understand</p>
<p>What would be the best book to work out of for self studying?</p>
<p>Litvin’s Be Prepared for the AP Computer Science exam in Java is a very good book, but don’t waste its practice tests at the beginning of self-studying cuz they are similar to the real ones. I recommend reading through Litvin’s just to learn how to do it (not for their practice tests), then going over to Barron’s and reading their explanation of how to do stuff because they are more… thorough? And then take the Barron’s practice tests (which are WAY harder). Once you master the Barron’s types of problems tho and really understand ur mistakes, go back and practice on the Litvin’s practice tests and they should be really easy. Then you’re ready :P</p>
<p>Another great general way of self-study which I found to be amazingly helpful is reading thru other pplz flawed codes and debugging them. See if you can find a Java forum on the web where pplz who are new to java post questions, and try answering as many as you can. The more you answer and the faster you see the problems with their code, the more quickly you will find yourself ready for the exam. The multiple choice is effectively debugging some1 else’s code, so the faster u can do that the better.</p>
<p>I used those 2 methods and got a 5</p>
<p>I’d give it a try. It really depends on your aptitude for the subject. For some people, it is very difficult because they don’t really have the logical way of thinking that is needed. I’d get a textbook that introduces java and just start there. Make sure that you spend a lot of time making programs and debugging them because that’s a much better way to learn than to just read the book. I recommend Barron’s when preparing for the exam, but as I said, you should use a regular textbook when you start out. The exam isn’t a bunch of memorization like psych, so if you can’t understand the basics, you’re not going to understand anything else. Start studying early.</p>
<p>Very true. Comp sci actually has remarkably little memorization, and it mainly tests your problem solving techniques rather than facts you remember. Lots and lots of logic involved… If you don’t like logic puzzles and what not you may find programming confusing. If you do like logic puzzles… it will be an awesome experience ^^</p>
<p>bump bump bump</p>