AP^® Pre-Course Information - Computer Science A

This document is meant to acquaint the AP® student with information on time management, study skills, reading resources and other information specific to AP® Computer Science A.

• Visit the following site:
  http://www.collegeboard.com/student/testing/ap/about.html

Read through the information paying particular attention to the Bulletin for AP® Parents and Students found on the upper right hand side of the page. 

• Visit the following site:
  http://www.collegeboard.com/student/testing/ap/sub_compscia.html?compscia

Download the course description for this course and read through the information on this page.  Also, read through the information found by using the links in the blue box on the left side of the page (Topic Outline, The Exam, Grade Distribution, Sample Questions and Scoring, Java Subset, Case Study and Additional Resources)

• Visit the following site which gives strategies specific to math and science:
  http://www.collegeboard.com/student/testing/ap/prep_math.html

• Visit the following site:

  http://www.dartmouth.edu/~acskills/success/study.html

Although this site is designed to aid the college student, it is applicable to high school students as well, especially those taking college-level courses, such as AP®.

• Students enrolled in an A or B AP® course should plan on spending a minimum of 10 hours per week on course material.  This assumes that the student is enrolled in the longest schedule possible (18 weeks).  If you are enrolled in a shorter schedule, plan to spend more than 10 hours per week.

• Students enrolled in an AB AP® course should plan on spending a minimum of 15 hours per week on course material.  This assumes that the student is enrolled in the longest schedule possible (18 weeks).  If you are enrolled in a shorter schedule, plan to spend more than 15 hours per week.

Recommended, but not required reading for this course is Be Prepared for the AP Computer Science Exam in Java, Third Edition, by Maria Litvin, ISBN 978-0-9727055-6-1.

The text used is Big Java, 3e & Java Concepts, 5e, Horstmann. Students will be issued a username and password to access the textbook on-line. Students do not have to purchase a book.

Students should download the following software:

• JDK 1.5 or higher compiler located at http://java.sun.com/javase/downloads/?intcmp=1281 (Choose Java SE 6 JDK Source Code).

• JCreator (IDE) Integrated Development Environment (Windows or Mac version) at http://www.jcreator.com/download.htm (Choose JCreator Classics). You are allowed to use a different IDE (Eclipse, NetBeans, DrJava, JGrasp, etc.); however the text, Big Java is based on the JCreator IDE.

Ultimately, the student is responsible for following through on the registration process for the AP® exam which is given in May.  Please let your school know that you want to take the exam for this course early in the Spring Semester.  Visit this link for a year-long calendar of dates and specific exam dates:  http://www.collegeboard.com/student/testing/ap/cal.html

Please email: apinfo@gavirtualschool.org