Florida Virtual School Computer Science?

[Keasbey_Nights]

<p>I wrote this [url=<a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/ap-tests-preparation/1182954-official-flvs-ap-thread.html]here[/url”>Official FLVS AP Thread - AP Test Preparation - College Confidential Forums]here[/url</a>] originally.</p>

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AP Computer Science A on FLVS changed my life. I had never taken a programming course prior to taking this class the summer before my senior year, and yet I walked away absolutely loving computer science. It’s most likely going to be one of my majors in college. Learning programming changed how I think. It made me better at math and science, and it made me both a more logical / algorithmic thinker and a more creative thinker.</p>

<p>Learning programming is so important because it’s the only high school subject left where you’re allowed to do things on your own and be creative. Math and science, you learn already-established techniques to solve trivial and close-ended problems. History and English, you learn and regurgitate the analyses of other people. Computer science, you learn a language and must tackle open-ended problems with real applications as efficiently as possible. There’s a reason that Stephen Wolfram says that the future of education is replacing traditional mathematics courses in primary and secondary school with programming classes.</p>

<p>The class itself was the easiest I’d ever taken on FLVS. Not only is the material easy to pick up and retain (I did no programming from mid-August to mid-April, and yet I’d still remembered 95% of the Java I’d learned), but the class is extraordinarily easy to get an A in regardless of content. Homework assignments can be resubmitted until you get a perfect score. This is the case for all FLVS classes, but for AP Computer Science A, the purpose of doing this isn’t to get a better grade, but to correct mistakes and inefficiencies in your programming. The better grade is just a side benefit. Quizzes are minimal and easy; tests are minimal and easy. You can also run test questions through a compiler. This is cheating, and I didn’t do it, but if you really want to check your test answers (they’re AP-style, and you obviously don’t have access to a compiler ont he AP exam), go for it. I finished both semesters with an extremely high A (99 in the first semester, 98 in the second semester).</p>

<p>The lessons in this class are clear and excellent. Homework assignments take real problems and real data and have you work with them. There’s a huge focus on concepts and understanding and thinking, not just brute programming. Tests are AP-style, which is great preparation for the AP exam. Honestly, I can’t recommend this class high enough. Take AP Computer Science A on FLVS.

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