Taking both AP computer science exams???

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Hey I’m currently taking the new AP computer science principles course, which is VERY very easy, and I was wondering if studying for the computer science A exam in addition to the CSP exam would be a good idea. Does the material overlap? Should I take an online course?

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Hi Lotus6
I heard about the new AP Computer Science Principles and kinda briefly looked at the contents, but I can’t say for sure about overlapping. I had already taken AP Comp Sci two years ago, before the new course was added. But, I think you should definitely look into self studying, if you cant switch cs principles to comp sci, which I feel would be a lot more beneficial.

You are free to, of course, go and take an online course… I took Ap comp sci online since my school didnt offer it. I used: https://course.edhesive.com/preview. You can register for free and its a pretty good course. Just make sure you do assigned work and (I reccomend) supplemental reading of textbooks. This should help you out!

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@MuffinLord1 thanks! I’ll definitely check it out

And may I ask what you scored on the CSA exam?

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I forgot to add a couple more tips. If you do decide to use the online course, use the forum for when you have problems solving homework or just browse it for interesting discussions. It’ll be worthwhile if you enjoy programming. And they had these review live youtube classes, which I never attended- I did watch a few, but you don’t really have to.

Also, I don’t know which program you use for java- but I’m a big fan of Eclipse, it’s tons better than what the online course recommends, DrJava. My life became so much easier with eclipse, but to answer your question, I got a 5 on the AP CS exam.

I did put in a lot of work since it’d been a long time since I last programmed- I last did html and basic intro to programming in 8th grade and then took a 2 yr gap. But, I feel like the material isn’t too hard if you watch videos, read textbook (I honestly preferred textbook readings for extra details), and do the work. Also, don’t leave the big assignments for one night. Later on, they get pretty involved and time consuming.

Good luck!