<p>I'm a senior this year, and I've become interested in self-studying for the AP Computer Science A Test. My question is, is it really doable? I've read many threads saying that it is, but after looking at some of the test questions, it looks somewhat challenging.</p>
<p>I'm just am not sure how capable I would be of doing it. Right now I am taking 3 additional AP courses and my first quarter grades in them are as follows</p>
<p>AP Calculus AB 103
AP Microeconomics 105
AP Statistics 93
I'm also very strong in Math and got a 33 on the Math ACT. I'm not sure how math-based Computer Science actually is, but I figure strong math skills would probably help me.</p>
<p>I've always had an interest in computers ever since I was younger. I am very computer literate but I never have written actual programs and I don't know Java.</p>
<p>I've considered just buying Barron's APCS prep book and using online resources to aid my learning, would this be enough? And if I start now, would it be too late to teach myself everything in time for the AP test in May?</p>
<p>Also, I just started looking at Barron’s, because they have a preview of some of the book on Amazon, and it seems to just jump straight into Java as if you already know how to read the code. Like on the first page it starts with a source file and doesn’t even explain what half of it means. Does anyone that has used Barron’s for APCS know if it goes more in depth later on? Or maybe I’m just stupid and should self study for a different AP Test…</p>
<p>I self-studied AP CS last year and got a 5. It is definitely doable. Most of the multiple choice section is basically “what does this code fragment do” or “what does this program output”, which you can just reason out if you know the syntax. The free response section will require problem-solving skills, which doing math is good for, and you seem to be covered there.</p>
<p>Barron’s is not the best thing to start with, though it does a very good job of (over)preparing you once you know the basics. (After struggling with some of the Barron’s MC, I found the actual MC section a piece of cake…) I used the book Head First Java to start with, but any decent tutorial you can find online should be good enough to get you started.</p>
<p>Thank you for you input, but after thinking about it for a while, I’m going to just self-study for AP Psychology instead. I feel like the amount of stress/work load I’m having in school right now would make learning Java and the rest of the APCS curriculum very difficult. Also, if I end up majoring in Computer Science in college, I will probably get more out of taking the actual course for it in college rather than just the AP.</p>
<p>Can you do well on the APCS exam with Barron’s? Yes.
Can you learn how to program with Barron’s? No. </p>
<p>Doing well on the APCS exam is absolutely doable - if you’re just interested in taking the AP exam, I would recommend Barron’s along with “Be Prepared for the Computer Science Exam in Java” (Litvin). </p>
<p>If you’re looking to learn how to program, I would not suggest these APCS textbooks. There a lot of terrific resources online – ocw.mit.edu has an excellent introduction to CS using Python, and Stanford will be offering a free CS101 class early next year: [Computer</a> Science 101](<a href=“http://www.cs101-class.org/]Computer”>http://www.cs101-class.org/) .</p>