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I know this question was from a month ago, but thought I’d say something about it based on . My son’s school didn’t offer AP CS (actually the school doesn’t offer any AP courses at all). He did an independent study in CS his senior year, and every assignment was a real struggle. I’m sure the exposure was helpful to him, but I’m not sure he really grasped a lot of the material. I do know he found it endlessly frustrating and came away from it with a bad taste in his mouth for CS.</p>
<p>Fast forward to today. He’s thriving in his first CS class, understanding all the material, and gunning for a pass+ in that class. It’s actually his best subject by far. He wants to be a CS major. He attributes that to his prof’s excellent teaching – and maybe also to the fact that they’re using Python, which he says is quite a bit more understandable and maybe a little more forgiving than Java (I understand why AP CS would emphasize Java, but sheesh, what a miserable way to learn basic programming concepts).</p>
<p>Based on his experience, I don’t think you’re “totally screwed” if you go in with no CS at all.</p>