CollegeBoard Practice

On the AP Students page I completed the 2015 MCQ and FRQ practice to help study for the AP test coming up next month.

FRQ Reflection

I was happy with the solutions I derived and I felt that the FRQs were not too challenging in comparison to the MC. I liked that not all of the components of the FRQ needed to be implemented as I was able to just say “increase()” or “decrease()”. One thing I did struggle however was the syntax. I understanded what I had to do fundamentally, but the syntax of java of the difference between length, length() and size() was confusing for me. I also felt anxoius to use any imported classes and so I tried to rely on the fundamentals of the language instead. It helped me get a better sense of the test format and the types of questions I might encounter. I now know which topics I need to review more to feel confident on test day.

MC reflection

I did the 2020 MCQ and scored slightly worse than before. 28/40. Some reflection on the questions I got wrong are as follows.

  • 40: A, I misunderstood the line number meaning as A is looking for the super class of message, but it doesn't exist anymore.
  • 26: C, There are m*n interations in 1 but m*n-m iterations in 2
  • 23: D, The inner forloop is supposed to store the row of the 2d array in j whilst my answer does not
  • 22: A: I thought the result was for if line 12 was executed once for each element in the array
  • 16: C: I didn't realize the basecase was num==1 and not 0
  • 14: I figured 1 keeps the rest of the run safe as it protects against if it is less than 0 but I suppose that was overthinking it
  • 12: B, I thought C would work but the method call itself would return an error regardless of it is null
  • 7: E, my answer would have failed in -100 exclusive 0 inclusive
  • 6: A: only 1 works as the type cast is applied to 2 not the whole expression.
  • 5: E: I did not realize it replaces an already existing constructor
  • 4: D: I misread the call as (15,15,5)
  • 3: C: I'm supposed to take the absolute value of the difference.

Unit Practice

Unit 1: Data Type
Unit 2: Objects
Unit 3: Booleans
Unit 4: Iteration
Unit 5: Writing Class
Unit 6: Array
Unit 7: Array List
Unit 8: 2D Arrays
Unit 9: Inheritance

AP CSA Exam Prep To-Do List

  • Review all Java fundamentals (variables, data types, operators)
  • Practice writing and tracing loops (for, while, nested)
  • Study classes and objects (constructors, methods, instance variables)
  • Understand inheritance and polymorphism
  • Master arrays and ArrayLists (traversing, modifying, common algorithms)
  • Review recursion and be able to trace recursive methods
  • Complete College Board AP Classroom practice questions
  • Review the 2015 FRQ and MCQ responses and explanations
  • Take at least two full-length practice exams under timed conditions
  • Memorize commonly used Java methods (e.g., substring, indexOf, ArrayList methods)
  • Review the Java Quick Reference provided by College Board
  • Practice FRQs by hand (simulate exam conditions)
  • Watch AP Daily videos for clarification on tough topics
  • Create or review flashcards for vocabulary and key concepts

The goal to score a 5 is to try to live up to this score: Here’s some leetcode practice as well