<p>Has anyone taken this? How hard was it?</p>
<p>I have taken it. I had extensive preparation in computer science at my high school, but I still found this test to be one of my hardest APs. I would practice writing out lots of previous free response problems to get a feel for the time restraint and how they grade the problems (they have some pretty strange rules for FR grading so I suggest you ask your teacher or do some research). All in all, I found the FR portion the easier part of the test, especially due to the lenient grading scale. </p>
<p>The MC part is pretty hard. Make sure you take a couple of practice tests to get a feel for the allotted time. After taking the test, I was worried because I had left 5 MC blank out of 40 (ran out of time) and was not very confident about my FR answers. However, I still pulled off a 5, so there is probably a pretty good curve (as there should be, considering the difficulty of the test).</p>
<p>Another thing to be aware of is that starting next year there will be a new case study (it has been the Marine Biology Case Study for the last 4 or so years). The next one has something to do with bugs. Thus, don’t bother reading up on the MBS and just skip practice questions regarding it (you can read them I guess to get a feel for the type of questions they ask about the case study). </p>
<p>So, is this test hard? Yes. But it is by no means impossible. Good luck.</p>
<p>Marine Biology? What does that have to do with computer science?
Is the class itself typically hard?</p>
<p>The MBS is a simulation that you will have to analyze and do things with on the test. It’s not that you have to know about marine bio, it’s just the setting for the simulation. But jackberm is right, the simulation is changing this year.</p>
<p>If you are comfortable programming in Java, then the AP will not be too difficult. My son took it as a sophomore and did no studying for it. However, he really enjoys this stuff, so take this with a grain of salt.</p>
<p>If you go back and look at some of the AP CS threads from May, a lot of people were complaining about how difficult it was. My guess is that a lot of that depends of the quality of the teaching and preparation you get at your school.</p>
<p>Here is the link to the new case study – <a href=“College Board - SAT, AP, College Search and Admission Tools”>College Board - SAT, AP, College Search and Admission Tools;
<p>I found this class to be pretty easy. Marine Biology Case Study was the previous simulation. There is a new case study this year, that I heard was pretty similar. I would definitely recomend taking this class.</p>
<p>My daughter is sort of self-studying the material for the AB exam this year. I say “sort of” because I am mentoring her through the process. She reads the material in the textbook and works the labs and exercises but I’m always here to answer questions and work through a tough lab with her as needed.</p>
<p>This is an excellent AP subject, IMO. If you enjoy logic and have an interest in software development this one should be a fun addition to your AP load.</p>