Wyo AP Computer Science Exam Information

This year's exam will be given on Tuesday May 6, 2008 at 7:30 am. It will be given in the Community Board Room downstairs next to the District Administration offices. Make sure that you have already filled in the Scantron registration section of the exam with Mrs. Kreps before the day of the exam.

Mr. Minich will have brain-food in Room 202 at 7:15 a.m. on the day of the test.

Java students will be taking the Computer Science A AP Exam ( www.collegeboard.com/student/testing/ap/sub_compscia.html ).
Data Structures students will be taking the Computer Science AB AP Exam ( www.collegeboard.com/student/testing/ap/sub_compsciab.html ).

Registration:    See your guidance counselor to register for the exam. The cost is approximately $84 per test which should be paid by a check made out to the "Wyomissing Area School District." Please pay by mid-February. The CEEB code for the AP exam is 395-410.

Items to bring to the Exam:

• Bring a few sharpened #2 pencils with good erasers. There is no pencil sharpener in the exam room.
• Bring a blue or black pen. It is required on the instruction form.
• Wear a watch since you may not be able to see a clock in the exam room.
• Bring a jacket and dress in layers in case it is unseasonably warm or cold in the exam room.
• Know Wyomissing's CEEB code which is 395-410
• A photo ID
• Tissues especially if you have seasonal allergies

Items that you should NOT bring to the Exam:

• calculator, cell phone, mp3 players, camera, etc.
• textbooks, dictionaries, QuickReference packet (one will be provided), AP exam workbook, or any other books or study materials
• scratch paper (Special scratch paper will be provided by the exam proctor)
• bottled water or other food or beverages (technically water is not allowed for this 3 hr exam)

The test is made up of 2 sections.

• Part I Multiple Choice - 1 hour 15 mins - The multiple-choice section will contain 40 questions. Five to ten of the questions will have something to do with the GridWorld case study.
  
• Part II Free Response - 1 hour 45 mins - The free-response section will contain 4 questions, each with 3 or 4 parts (a, b, c, and d). One free-response question will have to do with the GridWorld case study. Another free-response is considered the "design question" and will probably ask you to design a class, an abstract class, or an interface and write the class declaration (i.e. write out the class including its properties, constructors, & a few other methods.) See sample free response questions and solutions from previous years on the College Board Web site.

Be familiar with the Quick Reference materials (A exam - AB exam) since you will be able to use it during both parts of the exam.

Review the AP Java Subset (A exam www.collegeboard.com/student/testing/ap/compsci_a/java.html or AB exam www.collegeboard.com/student/testing/ap/compsci_ab/java.html) to be sure that you are familiar with and have reviewed the Java specific syntax and structures that will be covered on the exam.

You must be familiar with the Gridworld Case Study (gridworld.info).

Read these two pages of test-taking tips: A Letter to Students and Exam Tips

Other Helpful Resources:

• Litvin's assorted AP exam links
• Litvin's C++ into Java free-response question translations
• Astrachan's C++ into Java free-response question translations

Things to watch out for on both exams:

• Write your answers correctly. Only display output when you are specifically asked to print something out. You are rarely asked to System.out.println but rather you must return values from a method instead.
• Be sure to return values from methods when specifically asked to do so and that you return the specified data type (i.e. if necessary cast a double to an int )
• Do not confuse arrays     int nums[] = new int[10];     with ArrayLists
• Use the get method with ArrayLists and use square brackets only with arrays.      
• Make sure that you are correctly using a method's parameters supplied in the problem. Do not declare local variables when a parameter should be used.
• Avoid being off-by-one (OBOB) with loops, arrays, ArrayLists, etc. (0, 1, n, n-1, length - 1, size() - 1, etc.)
• Do not use constants from specific examples that may be given in the problem. That is, do not hardwire an algorithm with a value that is just used in the directions as an example.
• Make sure that you do use the exact variable and method names as specified in the problem.
• Be sure to call methods properly.
• When answering an AP question always ask yourself, "What algorithm or what purpose does the test-maker have in mind for this question?"
• The exam-graders are looking at your free-response answers to be "good first drafts" of code. You can miss a semicolon or two but make sure that the "important" syntax is correct and precise.

Other tips:

• There may be quite a few tricky recursion problems to trace including void recursive methods.
• There may be quite a few selection and insertion sort problems and maybe even a merge sort one.
• There may be so many tracing exercises that you have difficulty finishing the multiple choice section in time.
• About 30 out of 40 multiple-choice questions will probably involve a fair amount of deskchecking (i.e. tracing code)
• There probably will not be any questions on the A exam that involve two-dimensional arrays..
• There may be 2 or 3 questions on Boolean Algebra (e.g. DeMorgan's Law, true/false logic).
• There may be a multiple-choice question on the rationale behind the Case Study.
• A free response question may deal with mathematical proportions or ratios.
• For the A exam, a couple of multiple-choice questions may deal with the selection, insertion, & merge sorts. It is necessary to understand those algorithms to be sure of your answers for these questions.
• AB students: Don't forget that the java.util.LinkedList has a rear pointer in addition to a head pointer and it is doubly-linked unlike the simple LinkedList that we first studied which only has a head pointer.
• There could be a problem asking you to convert a hexadecimal number to a decimal number.
• There will probably be more questions that use ArrayList's than arrays.
• Know how to get around the Quick Reference packet and use its table of contents & index.
• Write down what time the test is over since the proctor doesn't remind you.
• One of the free-response questions will be a "design problem" where you have to design an interface, class, or an abstract class but you will not have to implement it by writing any client code.
• There will be 5-7 Case Study multiple choice questions on the exam.
• There may not be a whole lot on the exam about the Integer or Double classes but you should still be able to work with these classes. Remember that Integer's and Double's are immutable.
• On the AB exam, there will probably be a lot of Set and Map questions and relatively few LinkedList questions.
• On the AB exam, there will probably not be much sorting.