College Credit for Homeschoolers with the AP Computer Science Exam

7272019 College Credit for Homeschoolers with the AP Computer Science Exam

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College Credit for Homeschoolers With the AP Computer Science

Exam

By Chris Yust

Every spring many public and private high schools offer ldquoAdvanced Placementrdquo (or AP)exams to their students Those who score well on a specific exam usually qualify for college

credit in that subject area This can be a great way to trim time and costs from a studentrsquoscollege career

These same schools typically offer dedicated AP courses to prepare their students for the

individual AP exam subjects However these preparatory classes are not a requirement for

taking the exam Any student who believes that he or she has mastered the subjectmaterial may take an AP exam This means that homeschool students have an equal

opportunity to take advantage of the amazing benefits that AP exams provide

In this article Irsquoll tell you how homeschoolers can prepare and register for the AP exams

Wersquoll begin with an overview relevant to all AP exams and then focus on my special passionwhich is computer science

Planning Ahead

If your student is interested in earning college credits through the AP exams yoursquoll want tostart by becoming familiar with the College Boardrsquos website[httpapcentralcollegeboardcomapcpubliccoursesindexhtml] There you can find a

wealth of ldquowhatrdquo ldquowhenrdquo ldquowhyrdquo and ldquohowrdquo information about each AP exam You canaccess details on registration [httpwwwcollegeboardcomstudenttestingapreghtml] descriptions of individual courses and exam calendar and fee information All AP exams are

administered in May so your student has a full school year to study and practice the exam

topics

The College Board has a list of special instructions

[httpprofessionalscollegeboardcomtestingapscorespreparehomeschool] forhomeschool students Itrsquos important to clearly identify where your student will take theexam preferably at the beginning of the school year AP exams cannot be administered by

parents You must register with the AP coordinator at a local public or private school that

can administer the exams to homeschool students Donrsquot spend a full year preparing for anexam only to find at the last minute that the exam is not available at your local school

So how do you find a school that will allow your student to take an exam Your best bet isto contact the College Board[httpwwwcollegeboardcomstudenttestingapcontacthtml] to get a list of participating

schools in your area Make sure to let them know you need a school that will work with

homeschoolers Then contact the AP Coordinator at that school and obtain informationabout exam fees and registration The AP Coordinator will use a special state code for

homeschool students to keep your scores separated from those of students from theirschool The deadline to register with your AP Coordinator is March 1 so circle that date on

your calendar

For specific test dates you can find a full calendar

[httpwwwcollegeboardcomstudenttestingapcalhtml] on the College Boardrsquo s APwebsite The testing procedure for these exams is similar to taking the SATs or ACTs Your



student will arrive at the school on testing day and will complete the exam undersupervision of a trained proctor Once complete the exams will be sent off to the College

Board for scoring Testing results are usually available to you by mid-July and optionallysent directly to the colleges[httpwwwcollegeboardcomstudenttestingapexgrd_rephtml] you specify

So once you have your studentrsquos AP scores how do you interpret them Each student willreceive a score from 1 through 5 on an exam with 1 being the worst and 5 meaning

ldquoextremely well qualifiedrdquo Depending on the college a score of 3 or more is usually enoughto get a student some credit Scores of 4 or 5 often count toward additional credit If your

student successfully prepares for and takes enough AP exams he or she can possibly entercollege with enough credits to skip the freshman year and begin with sophomore courses Ifyou think about how much money you can save in tuition boarding and other expenses AP

exams suddenly become very attractive Just remember that individual colleges makedecisions about awarding credit based on AP scores you should review the AP credit policies

of the colleges your student may attend

Studying for an AP Exam

Now that your students are enthused about taking one or more AP exams how will theyprepare for an exam Public school students would typically enroll in an ldquoAPrdquo class that has

undergone the College Boardrsquos Course Audit[httpwwwcollegeboardcomhtmlapcourseauditindexhtml] process This means theclass can be listed as ldquoAPrdquo on a high school transcript and may even be weighted differently

for GPA calculations

For homeschoolers and distance-learners some AP-sanctioned classes are available onlinefor individual AP subjects The Home School Legal Defense Association website has a

listing of some of these programs

[httpwwwhsldaorghighschoolcurriculumaspadvanced_placement] Since you areusually paying for a live teacher and online infrastructure to enable the course be prepared

to pay anywhere from $500 to $1000 or more per class

Will your student need to take an expensive course in order to sit for an AP exam Itrsquosimportant to understand the difference between taking an AP-sanctioned class and taking

the AP exam Just taking an AP class and getting an ldquoArdquo will not qualify the student for anycollege credit An AP course is simply part of a studentrsquos transcript The student must stilltake the AP exam and score well in order for colleges to award college credit However if

you do take an AP-sanctioned course then you can list it on your transcript using the officialAP course names

[httpwwwcollegeboardcomhtmlapcourseauditpdfAcceptable_Course_Title_Abbreviationspdf ] enumerated by the College Board

If you are looking for a more cost-effective option that will allow your student to take and

pass an AP exam there are several possibilities It is entirely possible to take or construct acourse that is not AP-sanctioned yet still allows your student to learn everything necessary

to score well on the exam Homeschoolers are often very good at piecing together materialsneeded for specific courses and this is possible for AP studies as well The College Boardwebsite contains comprehensive information about the topics your student will need to

know for each exam You can even apply to have your own homeschool course

[httpwwwcollegeboardcomhtmlapcourseauditindexhtml] designated as ldquoAPrdquo and listit with the official AP course name on your studentrsquos transcript Keep in mind however that



getting a course audited by the College Board is not required Your main goal is for studentsto score well on the exam and win those precious college credits

Once your student has completed her AP course or self-study work itrsquos a good idea for herto practice before taking the exam The College Board AP Central website[httpapcentralcollegeboardcomapcpubliccoursesteachers_cornerindexhtml] offers

detailed information that will help students practice for an AP exam This informationincludes partial listings of past exam questions and information about the format andscoring system for all current exams You can also consider purchasing study guides for

your exam subject Barronrsquos has a popular lineup of test-prep manuals that usually include

multiple practice exams

The ldquoComputer Science Ardquo Exam

My own special interest as a software engineer is the ldquoComputer Science Ardquo examAccording to the College Boardrsquos statistics [httpprofessionalscollegeboardcomdata-reports-researchapdata] only 22176 students

[httpprofessionalscollegeboardcomprofdownloadAP-Student-Score-Distributionspdf ] took the AP Computer Science A exam in 2011 By contrast hundreds of thousands of

students took the AP United States History English and Calculus AB exams In this digitalage when our lives and careers are increasingly shaped by computers and programmers Irsquodlove to see students take a renewed interest in computer science

How do you find out what is on the Computer Science A exam You can review the

Computer Science A Course Description[httpapcentralcollegeboardcomapcpublicrepositoryap-computer-science-course-

descriptionpdf ] for a list of specific topics The Computer Science exam tests the studentrsquosknowledge of both general computer programming theory and hands-on practical

programming skills using the Java language

General programming subjects include these object-oriented design techniques

understanding class definitions class relationships and class hierarchies Students will haveto write their own classes to meet problem requirements Students will also be responsible

for familiarity with fundamental parts of the Java language including variables flow controlsimple console output arrays and portions of the Java Class Library such as List and

ArrayList objects

Troubleshooting error identification and error correction are all important components of a

software engineerrsquos life and these topics are also covered Students are expected tounderstand testing theory use of debuggers and the difference between compile-time

errors run-time errors and exceptions

Over time many classic algorithms have been developed to perform specific tasks such as

sorting or searching through a sorted list Some of the more common searching and sorting

algorithms are tested as are recursive programming concepts Students are also expectedto be well grounded in ethical computing which means understanding social legal and

privacy issues and responsibilities that come with being a software engineer

Finally the AP Computer Science exam uses something called a ldquocase studyrdquo which is areasonably complex and interesting program called GridWorld

[httpwwwcollegeboardcomstudenttestingapcompsci_acasehtmlcompscia]GridWorld is a complete Java program and set of classes that provides a graphicalenvironment for studying how objects behave in relation to each other Students will be



expected to have already downloaded run and studied the different classes involved withGridWorld prior to the exam

On exam day be prepared for a three-hour test that includes both multiple-choice and free-response sections There are forty multiple-choice questions over the first 75 minutes Thenstudents have 105 minutes to finish a free-response section that contains four questions in

which students will demonstrate their ability to read extended problem descriptions writecode and solve problems

Early Career Guidance

Whether you sign up for an AP course or plan your own self-study with a quality textbookparticipating in the AP process and scoring well on the exam can be a rewarding effort

Students will get early experience with college-level material that may help guide theircareer and college choices Should your teen be interested in computer science as a career

rest assured that the United States and other countries are in need of qualifiedprogrammers to fill many job opportunities According to the US Bureau of Labor

Statistics computer scientists enjoy ldquoexcellentrdquo job prospects in a growth industry[httpwwwblsgovocoocos304htm] Computers and software will continue to play a

more influential role in all our lives so why not help architect the digital revolution insteadof merely hanging on for dear life

AP and the Advanced Placement Program are registered trademarks of the CollegeEntrance Examination Board which was not involved in the production of this website

Chris Yust is a fourteen-year veteran of the software industry and a father of twohomeschooled boys Chris and his wife Andrea are co-authors of several computer programming textbooks for kids and teens including TeenCoder Java

Programming You can learn more about homeschool computer programming courses orcontact Chris at wwwhomeschoolprogrammingcom

Copyright 2012 used with permission All rights reserved by author Originally appeared inthe May 2012 issue of The Old Schoolhousereg Magazine the family education magazine

Read the magazine free at wwwTOSMagazinecom or read it on the go and download the

free apps at wwwTOSAppscom to read the magazine on your mobile devices



student will arrive at the school on testing day and will complete the exam undersupervision of a trained proctor Once complete the exams will be sent off to the College

Board for scoring Testing results are usually available to you by mid-July and optionallysent directly to the colleges[httpwwwcollegeboardcomstudenttestingapexgrd_rephtml] you specify

So once you have your studentrsquos AP scores how do you interpret them Each student willreceive a score from 1 through 5 on an exam with 1 being the worst and 5 meaning

ldquoextremely well qualifiedrdquo Depending on the college a score of 3 or more is usually enoughto get a student some credit Scores of 4 or 5 often count toward additional credit If your

student successfully prepares for and takes enough AP exams he or she can possibly entercollege with enough credits to skip the freshman year and begin with sophomore courses Ifyou think about how much money you can save in tuition boarding and other expenses AP

exams suddenly become very attractive Just remember that individual colleges makedecisions about awarding credit based on AP scores you should review the AP credit policies

of the colleges your student may attend

Studying for an AP Exam

Now that your students are enthused about taking one or more AP exams how will theyprepare for an exam Public school students would typically enroll in an ldquoAPrdquo class that has

undergone the College Boardrsquos Course Audit[httpwwwcollegeboardcomhtmlapcourseauditindexhtml] process This means theclass can be listed as ldquoAPrdquo on a high school transcript and may even be weighted differently

for GPA calculations

For homeschoolers and distance-learners some AP-sanctioned classes are available onlinefor individual AP subjects The Home School Legal Defense Association website has a

listing of some of these programs

[httpwwwhsldaorghighschoolcurriculumaspadvanced_placement] Since you areusually paying for a live teacher and online infrastructure to enable the course be prepared

to pay anywhere from $500 to $1000 or more per class

Will your student need to take an expensive course in order to sit for an AP exam Itrsquosimportant to understand the difference between taking an AP-sanctioned class and taking

the AP exam Just taking an AP class and getting an ldquoArdquo will not qualify the student for anycollege credit An AP course is simply part of a studentrsquos transcript The student must stilltake the AP exam and score well in order for colleges to award college credit However if

you do take an AP-sanctioned course then you can list it on your transcript using the officialAP course names

[httpwwwcollegeboardcomhtmlapcourseauditpdfAcceptable_Course_Title_Abbreviationspdf ] enumerated by the College Board

If you are looking for a more cost-effective option that will allow your student to take and

pass an AP exam there are several possibilities It is entirely possible to take or construct acourse that is not AP-sanctioned yet still allows your student to learn everything necessary

to score well on the exam Homeschoolers are often very good at piecing together materialsneeded for specific courses and this is possible for AP studies as well The College Boardwebsite contains comprehensive information about the topics your student will need to

know for each exam You can even apply to have your own homeschool course

[httpwwwcollegeboardcomhtmlapcourseauditindexhtml] designated as ldquoAPrdquo and listit with the official AP course name on your studentrsquos transcript Keep in mind however that



















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ArrayList objects












































Documents

College Credit for Homeschoolers with the AP Computer Science Exam