AP Computer Science A Reviews

This Is an Awesome Java Class!!!

Because I've taken this class, I feel completely ready for the AP Exam.  This is thanks to the material that we covered throughout the whole year, the amount of time that was left for exam prep, and the study resources that were provided to us.

I found that the course was adequately paced, giving students enough time to learn and internalize concepts.  The workload was not too heavy... I spent about 7 hours a week in this class (although I have had prior coding experience).

One of the amazing things about this class is that Mrs. Lang and TAs were always available through email or Discord and were quick to respond when students needed help.  Students also had individual small group TAs, who did monthly check-ins through email to see if students had any questions

I would recommend this class to anyone who is willing to put in a good amount of work. It's a great class for anyone who is passionate about or interested in learning more about coding/CS/Java.

APCS Course Review

I feel like this class has helped me learn to study for different types of test/exams.

I had to work around 10-15 hours a week for the class to be up to date with the amount of homework that was provided.

I think my favorite types of assignments was the one that involved working in Replit to make something like a riddle.

I believe that this class taught me more about the whole computer science field.

I liked how there was a discord server to communicate with other students and the Task to help fix errors in my code.

I think a student who likes to put lots of time and effort in to project would like this type of class.

Great Class--Highly Recommend!

• Did you feel the course prepared you for the AP exam?

Absolutely! Leading up to the exam, we had several weeks dedicated entirely to practice tests and review, which definitely helped me earn a 5. At the actual exam, there was no question that tested a concept I wasn't familiar with, and I was even left with over half an hour in each section to check my work.

• How many hours of work per day or per week did you generally put into the course?

Having already had a background in coding, I spent around 5-6 hours a week. However, during the AP exam prep, I would probably average around 9 hours weekly. 

• Are there any particularly favorite assignments that you found especially valuable?

The ACSII-code project, in which we coded our own pattern-based image using delimiters and other keyboard symbols, was extremely valuable, challenging our ability to use rabbit hole-deep nested forward loops while allowing our creativity to run loose. 

• Did the course enhance your interest in the subject?

Coming in, I was already thinking of pursuing a computer science-based career--this class sealed the deal :)

• Did you find your communications with other students to be interesting or valuable?

Definitely. It was impossible not to have someone to ask for help, be they the awesome TAs, Ms. Lang herself, or fellow peers on the discussion page. 

• What sort of student would do well in this course? Would you recommend this course to other students (if they are willing to work hard!)?

Any student willing to bring an open and committed mind will, I think, thrive! Even if you're not interested in computer science, I still highly recommend this course, as I was the same way until I pushed myself to learn my first programming language (with which I fell in love!). Ms. Lang is a great teacher who puts lots of care into her students, and genuinely has your best interests, allowing us to resubmit any project/assignment to demonstrate our learning from our mistakes. She and the TAs will proffer their support and preparation every step of the way, so as long as you capitalize on these resources and invest the requisite effort, I think you'll do great. 

A great intro CS class

Mrs. Lang does a great job explaining the concepts. The TA review sessions before tests were also super helpful. The projects were very informative and helped me understand the concepts in a much deeper way than a traditional test. I appreciated that there was no late penalty for work. While I always tried to complete everything on time, sometimes I'd have a particularly busy week. The no late penalty helped relieve some stress. I highly recommend this class to anyone who wants to learn Java and see if they want to continue with computer science in the future.

Great intro to Java!

• Did you feel the course prepared you for the AP exam?

It most definitely would have- had I been a better student and kept up with all of my work. I noticed that even though I procrastinated and crammed a lot of the work in, which ordinarily might have hindered my success in this class, the coursework was so efficient that I was still able to learn a lot from it, even if I didn't excel on the exam. The review at the end of the course was thorough and did wonders for me as well.

• How many hours of work per day or per week did you generally put into the course?

I'd say I put about 10 hours of work per week.

• Are there any particularly favorite assignments that you found especially valuable?

Even though the full-length projects were helpful, I found myself struggling with the logic of it. Once I looked at a sample FRQ solution, I often found I could have easily done it and that I understood every concept used- but I just could not work out the logic behind solving the given problem. The practice FRQ problems helped tremendously with this, since there were rubrics provided for me to do a walkthrough of each question's answer once I was finished attempting it myself.

• Did the course enhance your interest in the subject?

What's funny is I only took this course because my dad wanted me to (he's been a software engineer for about 25 years now). I had no personal interest in it whatsoever, which is another reason why I started slacking off during this course. But when I finally found my way back and got things right by catching up, I realized I actually quite liked all the logic and rhythm of Java. I found myself leaning into it, even though I was struggling with catching up on it. I'm definitely going to major in Computer Science major in college now!

• Did you find your communications with other students to be interesting or valuable?

Yes! The TA's in particular were amazing! They were ever so available and willing to help. (It also helps that there are - I wanna say - 15? TAs in total, so at least one of them was almost bound to be online to help.)

When I first got things after my major major major bout of procrastination, I had to work during odd times of the day to catch up, and one of my TAs, Kaelan Wilburn happened to always be available during the times I was. She in particular was so helpful and crucial to my success in this course, as were Sasha Powell and Raina Turner. Shoutout to them!

Another shoutout to JMR (Jessica Liu, Micaela Roth, Reagan Waggoner) for creating such an amazing Discord server where I could ask them and other TAs/classmates questions and get almost immediate help. Thanks to all the TAs who put together review sessions, daily office hours, Kahoots, bonus sessions  (my goodness) y'all are truly amazing.

My classmates were awesome too. The few times when none of the TAs could make it to answer me, I knew my classmates were there to help me out. We also built an great community of coders and friends on the Off-Topic Discord server that I'll never forget.

• What sort of student would do well in this course? Would you recommend this course to other students (if they are willing to work hard!)?

I would recommend this course to everyone. Even if you think you're not going into a CS major, you should still consider taking this course to develop your logic and problem-solving abilities. It requires ZERO prior exposure to coding.

If you're a future CS major, you literally have no excuses to take this. It'll be something crucial for your college apps.

Of course, you can be in either of those categories and still fail this class. It's not something for the lazy, carefree students. I say this from far too much experience. To take AP CSA, you'd better do your best to not slack off, hold yourself accountable, give the work your absolute best, and not be afraid to ask for help. This is a hard course, but put your mind to it, and you will do well. Take heart, however, Ms. Lang and her wonderful team of TAs will always be there to give you an arm up if you've fallen. Ms. Lang is very compassionate and she cares more about your success in the long run as an individual than just your success in this class. She makes it very clear that she and her TAs will be there to support you whenever you might need it.

So, in conclusion: Thank you to Mrs. Rebekah Lang- you designed this course efficiently and perfectly to overprepare all of us for the AP exam. You encouraged me to push forward when I had no self-esteem after I had procrastinated so much. You are certainly one of the best teachers I've ever had and I won't forget you. Thank you to my amazing TAs who were ever there to help whenever I needed it. Thank you to my wonderful classmates as well. And to whoever is reading this review: TAKE THIS CLASS.

You can thank me later :P

AP CSA is pretty cool

I started the class with no prior experience or particular interest in coding. I was certainly challenged by the course, especially at the beginning, but the extensive TA network was able to help me out tremendously. The discord groups and review sessions made the class personal and easy to keep up with when I didn't understand specific material immediately. The majority of the time I could get away with 2 hours a week of reading and homework, but a couple of weeks I had to put in maybe 5 hours for a big project or the FRQ practice. Speaking of the AP exam, I probably got a 5 (mayyybee 4?) without doing any outside prep. And that's not me being built different, the course just prepared all of us so well for the material. The classes are compact and kept my attention, and the focus of the assignments is on learning rather than grades (plus the grading is pretty gentle so it's an easy good GPA boost if you are willing to put the time in). Ms. (Rebekah) Lang is a fantastic, chill, and personable teacher who is accepting of all types of students at every level of coding experience. And @Ms. Lang, the HAIR IS SO COOL.   :)

AP CS A Details

Organization:

AP CS A is very well-organized. Each week comes as a folder on Schoology, and a typical week consists of reading from a textbook or a website, a quiz on one or more of the chapters, and 3-4 problems each from two auto-checking practice coding websites. Quite often, there's an assignment which we have to code ourselves and submit as a file to be graded. There were around 5-6 forums throughout the year in which we watched a video and responded to it or posted a video or screenshot of our work. I spent around 1-2 hours a week on CSA assignments (plus one hour for the live session), and 5-6 in the month leading up to the AP Exam. 

Ms. Lang makes upcoming week folders available, so if you're traveling or want to get work done in advance, it's usually available. When I took the course, Ms. Lang, though having deadlines for each of the weeks, accepted late work without any penalty, which was helpful. If a concept was taking longer to settle, or if a coding project was taking a while, you can turn it in later—though it's advisable to turn it in the next week or so, to prevent falling behind.

Grading:

I won't go too much into detail about the percentages, but the coding projects make up the bulk of your grade. The auto-checking projects are easy to complete, and if your code works in the ones you have to upload and submit, it's highly likely you will get a perfect score (or close to it). The quizzes are easy to study for, but the tests take some reviewing. The materials provided and the TAs, however, make test prep a lot easier. Ms. Lang provides good extra credit opportunities throughout the year—take advantage of these!

Live Sessions and TAs:

The Wednesday live session helps to clarify the week's reading and gives an idea of how to approach the homework if you're struggling. Ms. Lang provides practice examples that we work through in class, which are helpful to get a good idea of the concept. The TAs are very helpful! They check on you and are willing to answer your questions. In their office hours, not only do they respond to student questions, but some of them also hold reviews (closer to the AP Exam or course tests) and sometimes teach interesting concepts not always found in the AP Java subset. Their Discord channel provides an opportunity for the whole class to connect.

AP Exam:

You may not realize it, but all of the projects and practices are indirectly preparing you each week for the AP Exam. As the Exam comes closer, Ms. Lang provides sample FRQ and MCQ practices, both from previous years and other resources, and these are helpful to get a good idea of the test. She provides a nice schedule detailing how to study the Barron's book, but as it is not explicitly mandatory, it is important that you keep tabs on yourself and faithfully complete the readings and practices. Barron's will fill gaps in your knowledge that you might have missed earlier in the year, and will cement tricky concepts such as object references and recursion. 

Studying for the Exam mainly depends on how much you want to get out of it and what score you want to achieve. Even if you've kept up-to-date with the assignments, and understand most of the concepts well, you still need to review and do most-to-all of the practices provided to ensure a 5. The Exam felt easier than I had expected, and that was partly due to the fact that I had spent some extra time reviewing and studying in the few weeks before the exam.

Recommendation:

If you are fairly self-motivated and are willing to put in some time in order to understand concepts, this course should not pose too much of a challenge. Even though there are no "late" assignments, you do not want to fall behind in the course, and it's best to stick to the weekly deadlines. This course is a good introduction to Java and object-oriented programming. 

AP CSA taught by Rebekah Lang

Did you feel the course prepared you for the AP exam?

Absolutely! I felt confident going into the AP exam and I felt confident going out of it too. Mrs. Lang taught her material very clearly and if I couldn't figure something out, I could just hop on Discord and ask the TAs or my classmates there. Both Mrs. Lang and the TAs were very quick and clear with their responses. The homework assignments were very educational, and they really made the concepts stick in my brain.

How many hours of work per day or per week did you generally put into the course?

Since I had self taught myself a bit of programming before, some of the topics came very quickly to me, and I could complete the homework right after class. But there was some homework that took quite a bit longer. Specifically, there was one week that had a confusing CollegeBoard Lab that took some time to solve. I definitely pestered my TAs that week. I usually spent about 1-3 hours per week on coding assignments, plus 1 hour of class. Later on in the year, there is a lot of review and a couple practice tests that each take 3 hours to complete, so that adds a little more to the work per week. But, overall, the course work was very manageable and it didn't take too much time.

Are there any particularly favorite assignments that you found especially valuable?

The practice tests at the end really showed me how far I had come throughout the year. But I think my favorite assignment was ASCII art, which is where you make art using characters on your keyboard. You created loops that made patterns of characters that formed an image of your choice. I went simple and created a Triforce (Legend of Zelda videogame symbol) that could change size, but other people created very cool and complex art, like complicated houses and trees. Not only was this exercise really fun, but it also solidified my understand of a very important coding concept.

Did you find your communications with other students to be interesting or valuable?

Yes! There is a Discord channel that allowed me to communicate with other students very easily, and many of them cleared up homework assignments for me or helped me talk through a problem. Although you could create a separate chat for you and a TA if you wanted to talk with them, I found that just asking other students usually solved most problems I had.

What sort of student would do well in this course? Would you recommend this course to other students (if they are willing to work hard!)?

Any student that is willing to work hard and delve into some potentially confusing subject material will do well in this class. There are some hard to understand parts of coding (like 2D arrays and recursion), but each topic is explained very well, and if you have any questions, you can just contact Mrs. Lang or a TA. I definitely benefited from learning a bit of coding before taking the class, but I think that any student, noob or advanced, will have success in this course as long as they pay attention, manage their time, and work hard. I would absolutely recommend this course to anyone interested in coding.

AP Computer Science with Rebekah Lang

Did you feel the course prepared you for the AP exam?

Yes, it did. I came in with very little knowledge of how Java programming would work, and this course taught everything, from the most basic commands, but also how they fit together and how the AP exam and Java worked.

How many hours of work per day or per week did you generally put into the course?

Usually about an hour per day, but there are some weeks that take longer, such as the final test prep section.

Are there any particularly favorite assignments that you found especially valuable?

The final assignments are the ones I enjoyed the most. Pulling together all the skills you have learned for the AP free response questions is the time when you finally see all that you've learned in one place, which is the best part for me.

Did the course enhance your interest in the subject?

Yes, and I now feel much more capable with all things java after I have finished it.

Did you find your communications with other students to be interesting or valuable?

The students have a discord server, which is very fun and the TAs are also very helpful and interactive.

What sort of student would do well in this course? Would you recommend this course to other students (if they are willing to work hard!)?

Great class!

Did you feel the course prepared you for the AP exam?

Definitely. The course goes over everything you need to know for the AP Exam and offers lots of review material. I felt very confident taking the AP Exam.

How many hours of work per day or per week did you generally put into the course?

I would say I put in about 7 hours per week during most of the year and about 9-10 during the review section oft he class.

Are there any particularly favorite assignments that you found especially valuable?

Honestly, there were tons of assignments that were really helpful. We commonly did "creative" projects throughout the year, which really made the students have to think about how to use their knowledge to code a complicated problem. I would say that my personal favorite assignment was, however, the ASCII Art assignment where we needed to write a program to create ASCII Art using functions that made coding so much easier. 

Did the course enhance your interest in the subject? 

For sure! Although I do not plan on majoring in Computer Science, I am definitely considering taking more advanced coding classes down the road. 

Did you find your communications with other students to be interesting or valuable?

YES! The other students were super helpful and my classmates really helped me out sometimes. The atmosphere was very welcoming. The TA assigned to me (Zach) was also super helpful and would often spend lots of time writing long emails to explain something to me if I didn't understand it. Thank you, Zach!!

What sort of student would do well in this course? Would you recommend this course to other students (if they are willing to work hard!)?

I think that computer programming is something almost everyone should have at least some knowledge in. I really enjoyed this class and learned a lot, so I would highly recommend it. However, I will warn you - the class isn't super easy, and you have to be a hardworking and motivated student to do well in it. But if you're willing to work hard to master the material, this is a great class for you to take.

AP CSA Review

Did you feel the course prepared you for the AP exam?

Yes, it definitely did.  Most of the coding assignments stressed following the rubrics and guidelines of the assignment, something that is mirrored on the FRQ section of the AP Exam.  The weekly quizzes and the unit tests prepared me very well for the multiple choice section of the exam.

How many hours of work per day or per week did you generally put into the course?

I spent around an hour a day on the course.  Since I am experienced with Java and programming overall, I didn't need to spend as much time as I would of if I was entering a course as a novice.

Are there any particularly favorite assignments that you found especially valuable?

All the coding assignments are especially valuable since they practically mirror, maybe even harder, than that of the FRQs found on the AP exam. So getting familiar with coding in Java is very valuable.

What sort of student would do well in this course?

Any student who is pretty good with critical thinking, logic, and math will do very well in this course.

Would you recommend this course to other students?

Yes! This class prepared me very well for the AP exam and was taught very well.

Enjoyable Class and Good Preparation

I came into this class with absolutely no prior knowledge of coding, and I left feeling very prepared for the AP exam! 

I spent around 4-6 hours per week on homework (usually 1-2 hours of reading and 1-2 hours of coding exercises during the week, and 1-2 hours on a coding project over the weekend to be turned in on Monday).

I did, however, struggle quite a lot in the beginning and end of the year. Since I came into the class without any coding experience, I needed a lot of help from members in my family with coding experience, but after the first few weeks, I found the workload quite manageable. The last few weeks leading up to the exam are also more difficult, and I especially struggled with finding time to review mistakes on practice tests or reading in Barrons since it coincided with my finals and end of year projects in most of my other classes.

I also really enjoyed the once-a-week live meetings (mostly for the class banter hahaha), the TA review sessions, and our Quizziz review competitions :)

Fun Class, Amazing Teachers

• Did you feel the course prepared you for the AP exam?
• First off, I want to warn you that this is my first year taking APs so my experience with other AP teachers is quite limited. However, I think this class prepared me exceptionally well for the AP exam. The built-in review sections, year-long FRQ practice, and Kjell and Codingbat assignments that were in my opinion harder than the actual exam left me confident going into the exam.

• How many hours of work per day or per week did you generally put into the course?
• I spent about 5 hours per week for this class, however, the workload does depend on prior coding experience and the content of the week.

• Are there any particularly favorite assignments that you found especially valuable?
• For me, I found that the one lab we attempted at the middle point of this course the most valuable. It was by far the most difficult assignment I had to do for AP CSA, but it solidified my understanding of classes, a major concept on the exam, and just enhanced my ability to apply Java syntax in logic-based problems.

• Did the course enhance your interest in the subject?
• For sure! I had done some coding before (Python, basic Java, etc.), but this was the first course where everything was constructed well. While this course focused mainly on AP exam content, the Langs both mentioned interesting coding opportunities throughout the year. There was also a discussion section dedicated to CS-specific developments in STEM, which certainly enhanced my interest in this subject.

• What sort of student would do well in this course? Would you recommend this course to other students (if they are willing to work hard!)?
• I think any student that does moderately well in math and just general logic-based problems should do well in this course!

My AP Comp Sci A experience in Ms.Lang and Mrs.Lang's class

I walked into Ms.Lang and Mrs.Lang's AP Comp Sci A class with only a little previous experience with Java. After the course, it feels like I can code any program in Java! Java is the programming language that is tested on the AP CSA Exam. In this class, we covered everything that was on the AP CSA Exam. The programming assignments assigned by Mrs.Lang and Ms.Lang really helped on the AP CSA exam because many of the questions require you to actually write code and to walk through code. Ms.Lang and Mrs.Lang were great teachers who had a deep knowledge of Java and who were very responsive and helpful. I recommend that you definitely take this course if you plan to take the AP CSA exam because it will help you build a strong foundation in Java that will serve you well in the AP CSA Exam when you encounter difficult questions. 

AP Computer Science A Class Review

Did you feel the course prepared you for the AP exam?

I definitely feel that the class prepared me for the AP exam. I came into the class with zero java or other big kid computer science knowledge and was making 5s consistently on practice exams by the end. Even though I completed assignments mostly online, I was well prepared to write out the code for the FRQs on the paper exam. 

How many hours of work per day or per week did you generally put into the course?

I generally put in two or three hours worth of work each week for the vast majority of the class (four if my computer didn't spit out the output I wanted for my code). Towards the end, I had to put in four to six hours a week maybe as practice exams and FRQs were assigned (I also took a while to thoroughly self-score and evaluate my work). 

Are there any particularly favorite assignments that you found especially valuable?

I'd be lying if I didn't say the FRQs. They assigned past exam FRQs so that when the exam came, I knew exactly what to do with the paper they gave me. Overall, I would say the minor "coding bat" and "practice it" assignments that we did throughout the year were especially helpful. They helped me both with the FRQs and the MCQs as well as aided in my understanding of the application of a java concept from the reading. 

Did the course enhance your interest in the subject?

Absolutely! I am looking at pursuing a computer science related field (data analytics) and this class only enhanced my interest in the general field. It also enhanced my appreciation for people who choose this as their major in college. 

Did you find your communications with other students to be interesting or valuable?

Because of class conflicts, I was unable to attend the live class regularly at all. The TAs set up a discord server for the class and I used that frequently to chat with other students and ask for help on assignments, especially in the first few weeks when I felt like a failure for not having much previous coding experience. 

What sort of student would do well in this course? Would you recommend this course to other students (if they are willing to work hard!)?

Literally any student who has a good work ethic and problem solving skills would do well in this class! I would absolutely recommend it and take it again myself if I had to! They are very clear about what they want and can be flexible about due times if you really find yourself in a tight spot or time crunch. The TAs are also very helpful and eager to troubleshoot with you. 

AP CSA 2020-2021

First off, I really enjoyed this course. For background, I took AP CSP last year, then AP CSA this year. If you are a student deciding between these two courses, here is a quick rundown on the differences...

• AP CSP
• An entry-level course. If you are willing to put some time into the course (as we always should as students), you will do well.
• It is generally considered the AP course for non-majors. If you don't have coding experience, I highly recommend it. Even if you do, it's an enjoyable class. If you do want to major in CS, it's still a good class; it's just what gives you credit typically for a CS 101 for non-majors. 
• The course is not entirely focused on programming. It also looks at how technology works, computer vocabulary, encryption, binary, etc. 
• For the coding portion of the class, students use JavaScript. You would begin with block-code, dragging and dropping to get the big picture, before moving into typing some of your own. Don't worry, you are not rushed into it.
• The exam is partially determined by a project you do on your own time at home and then submit online. You will also go into class to do a multiple-choice section
• AP CSA
• It can be an entry-level course, but it's more of an introduction to Java. If you have never coded before, I encourage you to learn some over the summer, to get an idea of how programming works. It does progress nicely from CSP. While possible with no coding experience, it certainly helps. 
• It is generally considered the AP course for majors. If you do have coding experience, want to be a CS/math/engineering major, this is a good choice. 
• It is more challenging than CSP conceptually but very rewarding. It is primarily focused on programming in Java. You would use a NetBeans IDE, class textbook, and other readings. 
• The exam is fully in-person, composed of a multiple-choice and free-response section (like most other AP classes). 

And now to CSA specifics..

• Did you feel the course prepared you for the AP exam?
• For sure. We did lots of FRQ's in the weeks leading to the exam, as well as several practice exams. I felt comfortable with the content. The tests throughout the year were harder than the AP exam itself, so that was nice when I saw what the actual AP exam looked like. The coding projects early on made us think through solving problems with code and led to greater ease with FRQ's later on.

• How many hours of work per day or per week did you generally put into the course?
• It varied depending on the week. Some weeks were as few as one or two hours, one week (with a complicated lab) took around 15 hours (that was quite a week). I would say a median week was probably somewhere around 4-5 hours. I do work pretty quickly though. Projects (and practice exams at the end) were essentially the only time-consuming part of this class. Some projects I would complete quickly; others involved me bothering a bunch of TA's to figure out what in the world was going on. 

• Are there any particularly favorite assignments that you found especially valuable?
• For me, the most valuable assignments weren't about the assignments themselves, but the answers I found through them. For example, a question about one assignment led to a conversation about pointers, their origination from C++, and the parallels on coding languages. These conversations opened my eyes to the big picture and helped me to conceptualize what we were learning. In addition, they helped me to form relationships with the TA's and fellow students that led to additional learning and understanding. Fighting for progress results in growth. Most of the projects helped me to find understanding and community. 

• Did the course enhance your interest in the subject?
• For sure. I will reiterate: the community helped me find interest. Having others working alongside you creates an environment in which all can strive for excellence. This environment encouraged my interest in computer science. I have decided I want to major in computer science in college, and have begun teaching some introductory coding. I also learned some Python over winter break with a TA, reached out to a computer science professor at a nearby university to begin interning in research, completed an MIT Intro to Python Course, and started Stanford's independent study intro to C++ course. I have begun working with my state STEM council to increase computer science collaboration and involvement across my state, which unsurprisingly is very low (hey, we are 50th in education.) To say the least, I have begun pursuing computer science through independent learning and community involvement. I cannot say enough about how it has encouraged me to pursue learning and harness technology for good. 

• Did you find your communications with other students to be interesting or valuable?
  • I have touched on this quite a bit. I do; I believe it's the greatest strength of the class. A common misconception about computer science is that it's independent, void of collaboration. This could not be farther from the truth. This class creates a platform not for group projects per se, but for bouncing ideas off one another, encouraging one another, discussing strategies and ideas, debugging code. It's important to realize you aren't alone. In terms of the students, I formed friendships with several of them, and I was very glad to be able to help and receive help from each. 
    
    In terms of the TA's, I cannot continue to say enough how helpful they were. My assigned TA, Jared, was fantastic. His detailed feedback (often to consolidate my code and consider my code function) was so valuable. It forced me to think through my intentions, consider what was irrelevant, and make my code simple to read and debug. Other TA's were very valuable as well. I have become good friends through my (constant) asking of questions to Micaela Roth and Jessica Liu. Jessica helped me to figure out what was going on with the code and get to the bottom of the issue quickly. She has a knack for direct communication and I have to say I like that. John Grant, another TA, helped me to internalize the purposes of several Java concepts.. setters vs the constructor, using "this." to access, etc. He was also super helpful with understanding exam content and format, and even the college application process. Madison and Gabriel also fielded some questions (now that I think of it I asked A LOT of questions).The TA's as a group ran a discord chat to provide help, created a cool ticket system for contacting TA's, ran review sessions...
    
    Why do I say all that? I say all that to show you how valuable this class format is. There are so many diverse TA's, with various strengths. Their job is to help you succeed. Don't be afraid to use them. I don't regret my constant question-asking in any way; it helped me to learn, as well as form friendships. If you do take this class or any other class for that matter, please don't be afraid to ask questions to your TA's. It's their job, and I can assure you that you aren't a bother. 

• What sort of student would do well in this course? Would you recommend this course to other students (if they are willing to work hard!)?
• I recommend this class to any student who is interested in learning to program. If you have completed CSP and you are wanting a bit more, this is a great fit. If you have programmed some on your own and are looking for some credit or a little bit more, this is a great fit. Or, if you are willing to work very hard even with no exposure to programming, you can do it.
  
  
  

With all that to say, I enjoyed this course. I believe the Langs are a great team and have created a platform for learning and exploration for students. 

Marvelous course!'Take it.

AP Computer Science A with Mrs. Cynthia Lang was by far my favorite AP course that I've ever taken. No competition. Before I get into the exciting details, I should clarify that I was actually in the AP CSA class of '20; regretfully, in the chaos of the end-of-year-AP-exam-crunch, it somehow completely slipped my mind to leave a review for this incredible course. It may have been a year since I received my honorary designation as a 'homeschool hacker' (ha!), but my love for this course has not waned in the slightest. Indeed, in the manner of fine wine, it increases with time. Every time I reminisce on the AP CSA class of 2019-20, I feel a sense of nostalgia. In fact, today, I was hit by a sudden, all-consuming, impulsive urge to express my adoration of this course. Thus, here I am. 

I should begin by saying that I started this course with absolutely zero experience with object-oriented programming in Java. Believe me, if I can do it, so can you. As long as you're willing to take the time to truly understand the concepts and work through the logic, literally anyone can take this course—and succeed! Mrs. Lang has a beautifully organized syllabus that covers every topic in appropriate depth at a suitable pace. Weekly work consisted of short reading from the online textbook, brief reading quizzes, and programming exercises. These coding exercises were both challenging and fun, and what I most enjoyed about them was that they truly trained a way of thinking rather than pointless, tedious drills. By the end of the course, I felt really well-prepared for the AP exam, despite the unusual circumstances that year. Mrs. Lang also provides ample time for review at the end of the year in the form of MCQs, FRQs, and full-length practice exams. (To be honest with you though, I didn't do a single AP-style MCQ all year due to the nature of the AP exams that year, which were exclusively FRQ. Whoops.) The work-load is perfectly manageable and very reasonable if you organize your time well. I really appreciated that this course was focused on practicing the actual applications of programming concepts, because after all, that's what programming is all about. Even a full year after taking this course, I've found many practical uses of Java in my daily life i.e. implementing algorithms to solve biology and physics problems, which is actually sort of funny. (Shh please don't tell my biology & physics teachers.) Of course, this course isn't a comprehensive survey of Java, and that's to be expected, since it is an AP course, and really, there is no 'comprehensive' course that covers all the subtleties of any given programming language. Instead, this course serves as a great introduction to Java, and you'll leave this course with the ability to develop powerful programs. In a sense, it unlocks the door to a wider world of programming. 

Now, I went into the exam last year with a healthy mix of stupid confidence and extreme nervousness. I truly believe that the rigorous training provided to us throughout the year from beginning to end was what carried me through that exam. I probably wasn't really thinking straight, which was evidenced by the fact that I completely messed up the submission process because of a careless mistake. However, because of all the exercises and great review resources Mrs. Lang provided, I felt more than prepared to take on the test.

Mrs. Cynthia Lang and Mrs. Rebekah Lang are both responsive and extremely involved, which makes this course highly enjoyable. Although while I took the course, Mrs. Rebekah wasn't teaching it yet, I took AP Computer Science Principles with her the year prior and I enjoyed every moment of it tremendously. I've had the honor of returning for Round II of CSA fun as a TA this year, and they go above and beyond to make this course fun, educational, and overall an unforgettable experience. Additionally, the year I took this course, my classmates and the amazing TAs (special thank you to Ishaan Singh!) built an inspiring community of camaraderie and mutual aid through a really active Skype group chat. Looking back, I can say with complete confidence that there's no way I would've been able to make it through that year without the help of all my super smart and very helpful classmates and TAs. 

If you're debating whether you should take this course or not, debate no longer. Take this course. You won't regret it. No excuses: do it. No matter how much experience you have or don't have with computer science, this course will reveal to you the art of programming, the gossamer balance of practicality and elegance, the beauty of an exquisite symbiosis between problem-solving and mathematics. What is more, the empirical and theoretical skills you will acquire endure far beyond the duration of this course. Even today, some of my dearest friends are the ones I met in this course, and the principles I learned ignited within me a passion for computer science that was previously undiscovered. I know this sounds unreasonably dramatic, but I say all of this with complete veracity. It couldn't be more true. Once again, thank you to Mrs. Lang, my classmates, and the TAs for a fantastic year. 

- JL

Fantastic class!!

I took AP Computer Science in the 2019-20 school year, so this review is extremely late, but I wanted to add it to the mix because this class is the best and the most enjoyable AP course I've taken thus far at PA homeschoolers. I started the class with zero experience programming in java, and by the end of the course, I felt extremely prepared for the AP exam and comfortable programming in java. I would say that I spent about five or so hours a week on average completing weekly coding assignments/multiple-choice quizzes and attending the live classes which were also super helpful. The weekly assignments were very well organized in the syllabus (which was predetermined so it was easy to work ahead) and were easy to find and refer to. There are also optional coding assignments and reading material in the virtual textbook for each week if extra practice in a specific topic is desired. I usually did all of the readings, optional assignments, and extra credit projects, which I recommend doing (although you can still do well in the class and get a 5 on the AP exam by only doing the required work).

My favorite aspect of the class was probably the Skype group chat, which was very active (with questions being answered in a matter of a few minutes) and was invaluable in answering any questions I had about the material and the assignments. The TAs were also really helpful (huge shoutout to Ishaan Singh for going above and beyond as a TA by helping the entire class and being in general super available and dedicated). If you're planning to take this class, I would definitely recommend making some sort of chat where you can get to know your fellow students and ask for help. I still keep in touch with many of the other students from my APCSA class, and a few of them are currently some of my closest friends. As for AP exam preparation, Mrs. Lang gave us a ton of practice with coding and answering MCQs throughout the year, as well as doing lots of practice FRQs during the review period towards the end of the year (we skipped the practice AP MCQs since the 2020 exam was FRQ-only).

I ended up scoring a 4 on the AP exam because I was extremely nervous and made pretty much every stupid mistake I could have possibly made (and I'm still a bit annoyed at the CB for changing the 2020 exam format so drastically due to COVID). However, the questions on the AP exam were very, very easy compared to our weekly coding assignments, and they were also very similar in structure to the many FRQ practice questions I had previously completed. Overall, this class enhanced my interest in computer science and greatly expanded my previously pathetic coding abilities. A year after the course, I'm still relatively comfortable coding in java and applying my knowledge to other subjects. This year, I came back to be one of the TAs for the class, and both Mrs. Lang and Ms. Rebekah have again been excellent teachers for the APCSA class of 2021.

I would definitely recommend taking AP Computer Science with Mrs. Lang, even if you have no previous programming experience and are not currently interested in computer science. It's a really fun and useful class, and any student who puts in enough effort can easily get a 5 on the AP exam by completing the required work and doing the end-of-year exam review. Thank you to Mrs. Lang and all of my wonderful classmates for such an amazing experience.

-MR

Great Class

I really enjoyed taking AP Computer Science A this year! Mrs. Lang provided a nicely structured framework that consisted of short readings, quizzes, and most importantly practical assignments. Because the syllabus was so well organized, I was able to plan ahead, complete assignments, and come prepared to the weekly live sessions, which were particularly useful whenever I had questions or needed help with challenging material. My favorite assignment this year was creating ASCII art by using a combination of for loops to make a digital spaceship :) Even though I had a java background through robotics, Mrs. Lang made the course exciting by assigning us creative projects like calculating a leap year, creating a cell phone plan, or even determining positions of orbiting bodies! By the time the AP tests rolled along, I felt prepared because the projects we had to code throughout the year were more challenging than the actual FRQs themselves!

A key part of my experience was working with my fellow classmates and the TA's. Whenever I had a question, the supportive Skype group was always there to walk me through a concept or help me debug a piece of code. The best way to succeed in the class is to always be engaged with the community and ask questions on the forums! Mrs. Lang is super responsive in answering questions and is always willing to help out! As we were approaching the AP exams, I had asked Mrs. Lang if we could go over ArrayLists as a class and grade the FRQs as if we were the readers. This exercise was helpful, and I was so grateful that Mrs. Lang was flexible in incorporating students feedback as the year went along. 

Thank you Mrs. Lang, the TAs, and my fellow classmates for a great year! 

Excellent class

• Did you feel the course prepared you for the AP exam?

Definitely. The 6 weeks of review, the built-in FRQ practice throughout the year and the weekly chats all contributed to me preparing for the AP exam. Also, the Kjell assignments oftentimes mimicked a harder version of an FRQ on the AP test (for example, the LeapYear FRQ on the 2019 exam). 

• How many hours of work per day or per week did you generally put into the course?

About 6 hours a week.

• Are there any particularly favorite assignments that you found especially valuable?

Right before Christmas break, Mrs. Lang gave us a test dealing with HTML delimiters. Incidentally, the third FRQ on the 2019 test also dealt with HTML delimiters. This experience allowed me to approach question 3 of the FRQ with confidence since I had encountered this midyear test. Also, many of the Kjell problems mimic AP FRQ.

• Did the course enhance your interest in the subject?

Absolutely. Before this course, I had no previous experience coding whatsoever. Now I have developed a deep interest in the subject.

• Did you find your communications with other students to be interesting or valuable?

Yes, I did. The discussion board and the group chat were both quite active and allowed me to ask any questions I needed to. Also, the weekly chats allowed me to hone my exam skills and learn from others.

• What sort of student would do well in this course? Would you recommend this course to other students (if they are willing to work hard!)?

To succeed in this class, one needs to be hard-working. However, I don't think that you need any previous coding experience. The class moves quite slowly, and my TA, Jason, was extremely quick in responding to me and assisting me in any way I needed. My advice to those of you who don't have any previous coding knowledge but still want to take the class (like me) is to take advantage of students, TA's, and Mrs. Lang. I know that I never would have succeeded in this course without my TA, Jason. He guided me through the whole year, assisted me in any way I needed, and ensured that I never felt alone.

I now know how to code in Java!

Solid Course | Felt Great After Exam

Mrs. Lang has put together and taught a course which made very prepared for the exam, and gave me plenty of practice with the patterns of thought necessary to program and analyze code well.

The course emphasizes coding practice, the best way to learn.  One assignment I found particularly valuable was the Magpie Lab.  It required a relatively long process of developing progressive versions of the program which, while more in-depth than many FRQs, is closer to the process of developing a real-world program.

You are capable of doing well in this course if you're ready to think algorithmically and don't get too flustered when your code doesn't work the first, second, third, fourth, etc. time.  It helps if you've had prior experience coding, because the foundations will go a lot faster for you.  Most importantly, you'll succeed the most if you enjoy it.

Good Class

Overall, I thought this course prepared me quite well for the AP exam. I generally would work anywhere from 6 - 20 hours a week (usually 6, but some weeks were more difficult than others, and i also spent more time in the weeks up to the exam. I thought the textbook was good, and the course speed was also good. However, there were a few times when the scheduled reading was a week later than the assignment, this created a bit of confusion for me, doing assignments i hadn't read the material for. I thought all the resources available before the AP testing was great. All the past FRQs were very helpful to go through. I would recommend taking this class only if you have had past experience in coding. Also, for anyone taking this class, I did many more of the Coding Bat exercises than assigned. I think that is very helpful b/c they ask you the sort of questions you might see on the AP exam and you have to create your own code. I think out of all the assignments, the Coding Bat was the most helpful. Overall, I enjoyed this class, and think it was very helpful for the AP exam. 

Good Class

I came into this class after having taken Java programming in the year before. I knew the basics, but I had a hard time understanding some of the more complicated topics (class design, arrays, etc.). Mrs. Lang did a good job explaining these topics, and now I understand the topics I didn't before as clear as day. I'd say that you would want to have a bit of programming knowledge before taking this class, otherwise I think you'd feel a little bit lost at first.

The workload is managable, with some weeks taking longer to complete than others. I'd say it took me around two to three hours per week to complete the assignments (excluding the chats), but it would take longer if you didn't have any experience. The weekly chats were very beneficial.

There are a few things that I didn't like about this class. It took a long time (in some cases a month) to get grades back on my assignments, but I think this was a fault of my TA rather than Mrs. Lang. If I asked a question on the discussion board, it may have been several days before I got a response back. I would say the pros outweigh the cons.

Overall, this was a good course and Mrs. Lang was a good teacher. It increased my interest in computer programming, and I felt very well prepared for the AP exam. If you like computers and want to understand how to write programs for them, I'd say this is a good course for you.

AP Computer Science A

I took this class without any coding background whatsoever. While it isn't a heavy load compared to other AP courses, some assignements did take me a very very long time (see my last paragraph for more on that). People with no coding background, like me, will definitely have to be more aware of their time. I relt like I was struggling during the first semester (but ended up doing much better than I expected in the end), and I kind of regretted signing up for this class. By the second semester, however, I felt much more comofortable and found the class much easier and more understandable.
In the end, Mrs. Lang prepared me very well for the exam. She didn't really add any busywork or extraneous assignments, which I definitely appreciate! I had enough time for both parts of the exam (and tons of extra time on the free response). 

In the end, if you have coded before, this class should be a pretty easy AP. And, for people with no coding experience, this class is definitely still manageable. My biggest word of advice for people coming from the same place I was, is to start the assignments very early in the week so that you can better gauge how much time you will need. Also, make sure you post questions on the WWW board when you're having a lot of diffuculty! If your question is stupid, you'll probably never see any of the other students in person anyway (and I never felt judged when I posted clueless questions, so there's nothing to be afraid of). If you do wait to start your assignments until the day before they're due, remember that you might end up having to spend and extra 3 hours trying to figure out what you're doing wrong by all by yourself. Also make sure you read the online textbook before the chat every week, so you know what on earth everyone's talking about. 

Pretty Good Class

I enjoyed this class, and this was by far the easiest class out of all my Online AP courses.  I spent maybe 2 hours a week in the beginning on this class, but in the last few weeks this ramped up alot and I ended up spending about 8 hours a week on it.  Toward the beginning I was worried I wouldn't be sufficiently prepared for the exam, but I did well on the end of year test, and I feel confident about my score.  

This course did make me more interested in Computer Science, although I do not think I am going to major in it.  

I would recommend this class to students if they are willing to work hard, although I do have one complaint.  This didn't happen to me very often, but every once in a while I would have questions about home work or something, and I would post about it.  This was rarely resopnded to in a timely mannar, which didn't matter for me because I am an independent learner and I often just found the answers on my own.  But if you aren't going to be able to figure stuff out on your own, I suggest you be prepared to either wait or take the extra step in reaching out to your teacher because sometimes Mrs Lang isn't as available as my other AP teachers have been.

Difficult, but definitely worth it!

I found this class to be both challenging and rewarding. I felt like it prepared me well for the exam. Generally, I spent about eight hours a week total working on the assignments (the reading is certainly the most time consuming). I really enjoyed the code puzzles we did on CodingBat, and I felt like I learned a lot from them. I also have a better frame of reference for deciding whether to continue to study Computer Science. The weekly chats were fun, encouraging, and very interesting. I would definitely recommend this class to anyone who wants to try out (or continue) computer science. 

Also, please don't get discouraged if you're having trouble with the assignments at first! I started this class with no previous computer science experience, and I had to ask for help quite frequently for the first two and a half months. Don't feel like asking for help means you'll never get it. It might just take a while. It does take a while to wrap your brain around the ideas. As long as you are dedicated to learning the material and you don't give up, I have confidence that you can suceed in this class!

Not a bad course, really.

The workload of this course really wasn't too bad (in comparison with other AP courses). On average, I would sepnd a maximum of three hours per week on give assignments. Concerning what sort of student would do well in this course, I think that this course isn't really a course for someone endeavouring to discover the wonders of computer science. Rather, the course is really geared toward the AP exam's sylabus, which isn't necessarily a bad thing.

Helpful Course

• Did you feel the course prepared you for the AP exam?

The course provided many resources that I used to help me prepare for the exam. I felt like I went into the exam with just enough information. The TA's helped many tons, and the WWW board was useful to post questions and ask other students about computer science. The weekly chats were also beneficial because Ms. Lang patiently walked me and other students through problems. 

• How many hours of work per day or per week did you generally put into the course?

I spent about 5 hours a week, give or take for hard or long assignments. 

• Are there any particularly favorite assignments that you found especially valuable?

The labs helped me to apply the things that I learned and use them towards a goal. 

• Did the course enhance your interest in the subject?

Yes, definitely. It made me want to create my own apps and learn other languages. 

• What sort of student would do well in this course? Would you recommend this course to other students (if they are willing to work hard!)?

You definitely need a flexible mind to learn this language. Java has some interesting logic that may differ from logic that we use to figure out problems in everyday life. But if you are willing to work at it and are good at figuring out complex situations, this course will suit you fine. 

AP Computer Science Review

-Did you feel the course prepared you for the AP exam?

I'm not sure. I'd taken other programming classes in the past and was already somewhat proficient in Java, so the majority of the class was review. I did rely heavily on the Barron's supplementary study guide to prepare for the types of questions I would see on the AP exam. 

-How many hours of work per day or per week did you generally put into the course?

About 3 hours a week. 

-Are there any particularly favorite assignments that you found especially valuable?

I enjoyed the College Board's AP labs that Mrs. Lang assigned. One had us explore the basics of natural language processing by programming a "bot" that would respond to a user's questions and comments. Another had us do some basic image processing. I think these labs demonstrated some of the interesting applications of CS in the real world. 

-Did the course enhance your interest in the subject?

Not really (see my response to the last question for more detail).

-Did you find your communications with other students to be interesting or valuable?

Yes. This class was probably the least interactive PA Homeschoolers class I've taken (and you definitely can't expect a computer science class to be as interactive as a history class where people are debating economics and politics on the board!), but we students definitely helped each other out by posting and answering questions on the board. Also, my TA always answered my questions very thoroughly whenever I emailed him! 

-What sort of student would do well in this course? Would you recommend this course to other students (if they are willing to work hard!)?

I wouldn't strongly recommend this course to someone looking to learn more about computer science, although I think that much of this is the fault of the College Board, not necessarily this class in particular. AP Computer Science shows almost none of the beauty or the fascinating applications of computer science (like self-driving cars!) - it's a pretty tedious and dry class. There are so many more interesting ways to study CS. If this had been my first class in computer science, I would probably have been turned off. Thankfully I already know that I love the subject! 

Moving on to this class in particular, the structure of the course was often confusing. It wasn't clear who to contact for help - sometimes students would post questions about assignments on the discussion board and not receive a response for several days. (I think email was the best way to get in touch with the teacher and TAs, but this was never made clear.) Since I was used to AP classes where the teachers or TAs would frequently check the board and respond with help very quickly, this could be a little frustrating. The class mostly felt like self-study to me. I was frustrated by several other parts of the class, as well.

If you already have computer science experience, you could definitely self-study for the AP exam. But if you really want to take another math/science AP, I would recommend this class with reservations. Definitely use the Barron's guide throughout the year to practice with free-response and multiple-choice questions modeled on the AP exam. Also, email your TAs any time you have questions!

Amazing Course!!!!!

First off, I'll just say that I came into this class with absolutely no experience whatsoever with programming or making computers work. I believe the extent of my knowledge about computers was how to use fundamental features of Microsoft Word. Which, of course, is pretty pitiful and has nothing to do with programming. Now I know how to tell my computer to calculate complicated math problems, sort numbers and words, and set up one-person games. So overall I think I learned a lot from this class, and I have quite a bit more knowledge of the world of computers than I ever thought I would. :)

Did you feel the course prepared you for the AP exam? Yes. Definitely. We took so many practice tests during the last couple months that I almost thought I was just taking another one when May 7th rolled around! I felt very confident about most of the questions, including the FRQs, thanks to the amount of material we covered each week, plus the constant support of Mrs. Lang and the TAs.

How many hours of work per day or per week did you generally put into the course? It really depended on the week. If we were doing a lab and/or practice tests, usually well over 6 or 7. Most "normal" weeks I think I spent between 5 and 7 hours a week. Again, it kind of depended on what assignments we had due about different techniques.

Are there any particularly favorite assignments that you found especially valuable? Well, the labs that were scattered across the year (the picture lab, the elevens solitaire lab, etc.) employed all of the skills we'd learned up to then. They were often fun and always educational, with great emphasis on the sort of things you'd need to know for the exam. Also, the textbook we used was very comprehensive and easy to understand, so I looked forward to reading the chapters each week.

Did the course enhance your interest in the subject? Oh, definitely! This was a very exciting class, and I've started seeing everyday problems or questions as things I could figure out using Java.

Did you find your communications with other students to be interesting or valuable? Absolutely! There was a lot of discussion and collective problem-solving among everyone on the WWW Board. Everyone was super helpful wih any questions someone had, and of course the TAs were always willing to pitch in if someone had a problem.

What sort of student would do well in this course? Would you recommend this course to other students? Honestly, I think it would be best to come in with some knowledge of programming. Although I eventually got the hang of things and was able to figure out a lot on my own, it took a lot of effort and brain exhaustion over the first few months to get into the groove. (Let me just say that I was very glad we had the weekend to work on assignments, unlike a lot of my other classes.) Mrs. Lang and my TA were very helpful in this respect, but I wish I'd had even a little bit of experience before starting the class. Other than that, I would definitely recommend this to anyone eager to learn more about programming! This was a really awesome course!

You won't be disappointed.

If you're toying with the idea of taking this CS class, DO IT.  Mrs. Lang is an excellent instructor, the online textbook is humorous (but by no means, watered-down), the assignments are interesting and apt, and the class interaction is superb.  If you know something about coding and computers, this class is a great way to hone your already existent skills and prep for the AP Computer Science exam for those college credits.  If you know nothing about coding, don't be scared away!  Coming into this class, I had no previous experience with computer science whatsoever; and I will say that listening in on the first online chat session of the year, I was not quite sure Mrs. Lang or my more advanced classmates were speaking English!  But in a few weeks, diligently doing the readings before class and emailing my TA if ever I was truly stuck, I was coming into class confident, calm, and excited to discuss the material.  After that break-through, my computer science assignments were always the first thing I wanted to do in the school day.    

• Did you feel the course prepared you for the AP exam?

Oh, yes!  There was not one topic on the exam that we did not cover in the course, and the last few weeks of class were exam prep which prepared me mentally; I went in and out of the exam room poised and confident.  While we spent time reading in Barron's, doing mock exams, etc. in the last few weeks, all the topics/material had been covered previously; so exam prep really meant solid review of the year's work and practice with taking tests.   

• How many hours of work per day or per week did you generally put into the course?

I would say I put in about 3-5 hours per week; if I got really stuck on an assignment, that's when it took longer!  I'd usually be able to finish the weekly reading in an hour and then spend the rest of the time working on the assignments.  (Hint for when your stuck: I tend to work on the assignments for straight periods of time; say, I'll spend my entire Saturday afternoon coding the HW.  When you've been working for a straight two or three hours and you get stuck and feel like hurling your computer out the window, take a break, eat a snack, go for a breath of air outside, and then get back to work.  You'll solve the problem you've been working on for three hours in three minutes.  Trust me.  I speak from experience.  And that right there is the beauty of coding.) 

• Are there any particularly favorite assignments that you found especially valuable? 

While the new AP labs are still rather raw and sometimes just meh, most of them were quite fun to do.  I particularly enjoyed the Picture Lab (although the set-up of the student guide was rather difficult to read) and loved seeing the concepts I was learning applied to image processing.  (Want to see how Photoshop works at the coding-level??  Too cool.) 

• Did the course enhance your interest in the subject?

Definitely!  In fact, I'm considering a minor in CS when I head off to university this September.  I signed up for this class for the simple reason that I didn't want to graduate high school without some basic knowledge of how my computer works.  I came out of this class believing that CS is something I'd like to pursue at a much higher level!

• Did you find your communications with other students to be interesting or valuable? 

Oh, yes.  I always looked forward to the online chat sessions where I could be sure to have great discussion with all my intelligent and humorous classmates.  Mrs. Lang's presentations and the discussions were always helpful in reinforcing the readings.  The WWW board was also a great way to ask questions, give advise, or just crack a Java joke!  

• What sort of student would do well in this course? Would you recommend this course to other students (if they are willing to work hard!)?

I'd recommend this course to any student in the least interested in coding or Java in particular.  If you're a newbie, be ready to work hard for the first few months and then reap the benefits.  Don't get me wrong though; computer science is awesome.

• Did you feel the course prepared you for the AP exam?

Yes. I will admit I was a bit unsure going into the exam, but that was because of my mediocre track record with timed math exams, not because we weren't well prepared. I came out with a 5, though.

If you keep up with your homework and practice exams, come to the weekly whenever possible, make use of the old exams for anything you need extra work on, practice adhering to time limits, and most importantly practice coding on paper (very important--it's much different when you don't have Netbeans to test your code, mark syntax errors, and make rewriting easy), you'll be fine.

• How many hours of work per day or per week did you generally put into the course?

It varied. Some weeks had more assignments than others, and sometimes it took me longer to solve the coding practice problems. I think I averaged 6 hours a week, plus an hour of class.

• Are there any particularly favorite assignments that you found especially valuable?

This wasn't technically an assignment for this class, but I used what I learned in the first semester to write a program to analyze my data for my AP Psych research project, and being able to apply the class concepts to an outside problem was interesting and satisfying.

• Did the course enhance your interest in the subject?

Yes. I'm attending the University of Rochester this fall to major in cognitive science and English, and my goal is to go to graduate school and do research. Cognitive science is the interdisciplinary study of the brain using psych, philosophy, neuroscience, linguistics, and computer science, so this class will be a useful foundation. I'm also considering adding a minor in computer science to icnrease my job options after undergrad.

• Did you find your communications with other students to be interesting or valuable?

While this class, by nature of the subject matter, isn't as interactive as AP English, what interactions I had were great. Group projects assigned in the chats went very well--here in PAH group projects are actually group projects, with everyone learning from each other instead of one person having to do it all. Also, my classmates were always ready to answer each others' questions on the class website.

• What sort of student would do well in this course? Would you recommend this course to other students (if they are willing to work hard!)?

You don't have to have prior coding experience to succeed in this class. Do know that the first quarter will be challenging, but you can catch up.

And contrary to popular opinion, you don't have to be a math person. Yes, the class has plenty of math geniuses (your 12 year old classmates and the freshmen doing college calculus), but I managed as much more of a lit nerd. I love logic and problem solving, but never liked math much (too repetitive). 

Excellent Challenging Course

I feel like this course challenged me a great deal but the workload was not beyond what I was able to bear along with the rest of my schoolwork. This course also prepared me very well for the APs and I learned a lot. I hope to take other PA Homeschoolers courses as well :)

Useful course, helpful teacher

This course was very useful for me. While I had some prior programming experience (not much, though), this course helped me learn how to write better structured code. The course also did prepare me for the exam. I did study quite a bit from Barron's and previous years' FRQ, but this test prep time was built into the class, and I was very glad I did not have to complete many class assignments in addition to test prep. Mrs. Lang is EXTREMELY helpful. She always responded to questions promptly and a couple times when I was having difficulty with an assignment or concept, she met with me individually. 

My time spent on this course varied greatly throughout the year, anywhere from 5 to 15 hours a week. Most weeks were probably in the 7 to 10 hour range. I didn't find much interaction with classmates built into class, though I did enjoy weekly chat sessions, and I ended up with great study partner.

I would reccomend this course to anyone interested in science or mathematics, though really, programming is a useful skill for anyone. Anyone willing to work hard can do well in this class, though I think it would be easier for detail orientated people -- I'm not terribly detail orientated (and had a tendancy to make stupid mistakes, like omitting a single semi colon and subsequently spending two hours trouble shooting :P) and I still managed to do well in the course.

Fun Preparatory Class

I already knew how to program somewhat before taking this class, but I learned more about how to write effecient, well-written, and robust code. I really loved how the class not only prepared us for the test, but also taught us to program well. Additionally, this class was really fun and I would recommend a person who is interested in programming to take the class.

Lot of fun ;D

This AP course did prepare me in some aspects for the exam, but you definately have to know how to do algebra and be good at it. Especially converting into different number systems such as binary and hexadecimal could possibly be tested.

I spend generally 4 to 12 hours a week doing my homework, not including the classtime.

I remember my first program (and how unoriginal it was). I was very excited and enthusiastic about it, and i hope future students will find the same thing. I find joy in seeing an incredibly tricky assignment come through trial and error and turn out to finally work out.

I thoroughly enjoyed the class because I love to learn the easy (and sometimes hard) way and figuring out shortcuts. It would definately be cool if the drjava people made the program be able to create and modify templates or macros so that we did not have to write out public static void main (String[]args) every time we create a program.

Communication among the students is mostly meaningless, but otherwise fun and help others to remember terms better. When there is a change in the syllabus, you could ask the other students what it was.

If you are willing to work hard, a student who is good at math (or at least likes it ALOT) and is somewhat intelligent would do relatively well during the course.

~Alyssa~

Initially challenging but so worth it

Initially, I was very challenged in this class because I had no coding experience before.  But after lots of hard work put in the first semester, everything started to make much more sense and I actually really began to enjoy coding.  Assignments were only due once a week which was nice, and I probably spent around 5-7 hours a week on the class depending on what was due.  I really like the weekly chats that Mrs. Lang held.  Though I had to get up at 6am PST every Monday morning to attend, I found her powerpoints and examples really helpful.  Often time during the chat we were paired off with another student to work on an assignment, but other than that, there were not a great deal of communication in the class.  This class really did enhance my knowledge and interest of computer science.  As a math/science inclined student, I know coding will be a very useful skill for me so I am very glad I took this class.  I would recommend this class to any student who is willing to work hard.  You don't have to have coding experience to take this class because I didn't, but if you work hard it will be worth it!  

Computer Science-- DO IT!

Dear Prospective Student,

I'll begin by saying this right up front. This was a very difficult course. I found myself spending up to 6 hours a day on the assignments for this. Despite the daunting difficulty, this was an incredibly rewarding and valuable opportunity and one that I would really suggest trying out. Allow me to explain.

I came into the course with absolutely no background in Computer Science. While I knew a thing or two regarding computers in general, I knew nothing regarding programming. In the beginning of the year, I had lots of software difficulties with Java, Alice, and NetBeans. I got behind due to these difficulties, so it was discouraging to see my class-mates go speeding off into the sunset. These difficulties got to the point where I considered dropping out of the class with the partial refund. However, Mrs. Lang helped me through the difficulty and encouraged me to stay in the class. I definitely do not regret it. After the software difficulties, the assignments soon became quite difficult also. Each week became a burden and a struggle to complete the assignments, especially since I was already behind. However, due to Mrs. Lang's help, and my own determination, I soon powered my way through the troubles and finished the fall semester with a respectable grade.

Spring semester started and I was out of the blocks much quicker than the fall semester. This good start really helped me to focus in and understand the stuff that I was programming. In the fall semester, I would sometimes just go through the actions, and not really apply myself to understanding the code. Spring semester, with most of the difficulties out of the way, I found myself really enjoying the material. I would sometimes even create a program just because I wanted to, and not because it was an assignment. While the work load was still really hard, I didn't care because I was really really really beginning to enjoy the stuff I was doing. When the exam came into view ahead, I began to study and try practice exams. My first couple practices, I got close to 60% on the multiple choice questions. That wasn't good enough in my opinion, so once again, I set my hand to the grind stone and studied daily, for hours at a time. I would even have a Java textbook for "light" nighttime reading. I took another practice exam, and got a 35 out of 36 on the Free Response questions. By the time the exam came, I was bursting with confidence, in no small part due to my studying and the guidance of Mrs. Lang.

So, was Computer Science worth the hard work? Answer: Yes! 

Despite the furthering of knowledge in Computer Science, I felt that this course really enforced a discipline that would otherwise be lost on us homeschoolers. It helped me become independent and disciplined, which are two brilliantly valuable attributes in college preparation. When I finished, I gained a real amount of confidence by looking back on the year and remembering all the difficulties I went through. The hard work required throughout the year really payed off, and helped me see just what I am capable of. Aside from general programming knowledge, the assignments also improve math, logic, and problem-related thinking. I can't overstress how much I enjoyed this course. I consider myself in a much better light having completed something as challenging and rewarding as this was.

And finally, the teacher. Mrs. Lang is incredible. It was only through her encouragement and guidance that I managed finish the fall semester, and then to excel in the spring semester. I found her to be easily approachable, very encouraging, kind, and patient. On top of those character qualities, she also has a supreme understanding of the material that she teaches. If I ever had a question, I would just drop her a line and she would kindly respond in a very encouraging and informative email. A class is only as good as the teacher. I think this is an good example of an excellent class being led by an excellent teacher. 

Q: Did you feel the course prepared you for the AP exam?

A: I walked into the exam room with 100% confidence that I could perform well. Like all exams, Computer Science requires hours of study and hard work in preparation of the exam. However, I felt the class did a fantastic job in helping you prepare for the exam, either through practice tests or simple tips from the wonderful teacher, Mrs. Lang. This course covers everything (and more!) that is featured on the exam, so there were no "surprises" in the material of the exam. 

Q: How many hours of work per day or per week did you generally put into the course?

A: On average I would do close to 1-2 hours per day. However, when the assignments got tougher, I found myself spending as much as 6 a day. Typically, I would do close to 7-10 hours on a normal week. I found out quite quickly that I was a rather slow programmer, so these numbers might not reflect the time you will spend. 

Q: Are there any particularly favorite assignments that you found especially valuable?

A: I thoroughly enjoyed working through Boolean problems. I found that Computer Science in general really improved my logical skill set, but Boolean in particular really honed my logical thinking function.

Q: Did the course enhance your interest in the subject?

A: Of course! Like all subjects, the more you learn about it, the more interesting it becomes. While I didn't have much experience in the beginning, my interest grew throughout the class. I don't necessarily see myself pursuing a career in computer science, but it is a very valuable and, in most cases, applicable skill set to have.

Q: Did you find your communications with other students to be interesting or valuable?

A: While the interactions were, for the most part, limited to asssignments and meetings in the chats, I did find that the classmates played a large part in encouraging and inspiring me to perform better. All were very friendly, quite happy to answer my questions, and easy and fun to work with.

Q: What sort of student would do well in this course? Would you recommend this course to other students (if they are willing to work hard!)?

A: I found that Java programming requires a logical mind. Solving Boolean problems really strengthened my thought process and logical understandings, which is a very valuable skill to have, even if you don't enter the Computer Science field. If you are a hard working student, then you will do very well in this class. If you aren't a hardworking student, then you should still do this class because it will turn you into one (quite quickly, I found out!). Any student with any background of Computer Science can succeed in this class, depending on whether you apply yourself and work hard.

If you have any qualms about your lack of experience or knowledge, I was in the same place. This course is designed for people like you. Do it! I guarantee you won't regret it. 

-Blake Baer

TAKE TAKE TAKE THIS CLASS!!!!

Hey prospective Compsci student!

Well, what can I say?  The title says it all.  TAKE THIS CLASS!  Mrs. Lang is an awesome teacher and Computer Science is an amazing, fun and, if sometimes challenging, thoroughly worthwhile course.  Let me say right here, even if you're not a computer whiz, or (like me before this class) know next to nothing about programming, you should still take this class.  In fact, you should definitely take this class!  I distinctly remember my stomach plummeting when I looked at my classmates bios and reading about how some had built computers from scratch, etc.  My reaction was something along the lines of "……uh-oh, what have I gotten myself into now?....."   But that brings me to the first question that you, the prospective AP CS student, probably have:

• Did you feel the course prepared you for the AP exam?

Put simply, I walked into that AP test room with a 110% assurance that I knew the material.  And by "knew" I don't mean memorized or something paltry like that.  I mean "knew" as in I understood it, could apply it and could absolutely, positively ace the exam.  As far as feelings before tests go, I felt that I went into the AP CS with the most focused, most prepared and most confident mindset I'd ever had up to that point.  Truly.

• How many hours of work per day or per week did you generally put into the course?

Hmm, this is always a tricky question to answer.  I want to say that I put in about 7-8 hours a week as an average; however, I most definitely put in more time at the beginning of the year (when I was still getting my feet wet I suppose) and somewhere in the middle (when the assignments and material got tougher).

• Are there any particularly favorite assignments that you found especially valuable?

Well, to me, most all the assignments were valuable, but I did particularly enjoy the assignments that were given when we started really moving into object design and implementation.  Also, programing and animating in Alice was always a treat!

• Did the course enhance your interest in the subject?

Absolutely!  It was really (aside from a little previous dabbling in Python) my first exposure to real Computer Science.  And I loved it! 

• Did you find your communications with other students to be interesting or valuable?

Honestly, apart from the weekly chat and several paired programming assignments, I didn't have too much interaction with my classmates.  However the people I did get to know were always funny and smart—a perfect combination for classmates, in my opinion!

• What sort of student would do well in this course? Would you recommend this course to other students (if they are willing to work hard!)?

As I said (or maybe I didn't; but now I am!), I would recommend this class to any student, even if they are inexperienced in the ways of computers or computer programming!  Be warned—this is not an easy course.  But Mrs. Lang structures the schedule at a perfect pace to learn and is always there with a helping hand or word, should you need it.  All in all, if you're on the fence about this course, I hope this review has helped you decided in favor of adding AP COMPUTER SCIENCE WITH MRS. LANG to your courses for next year!

Viva la Homeschool Hackers 2011 and beyond!!!

Excellent

Prospective Student,

"The heart of this course was a series of real-time chats, held weekly.  These chats were engaging, and inspired great discussions.  I always looked forwards to them!" -Matt

"Prior to taking this class, I was able to program--barely.  At the time, I thought my issue was lack of experience.  However, as I took this course, I soon realized my issue was lack of understanding.  I would spend hours debugging because I did not realize how a function worked!  AP CS taught me this." -Matt

BUT WAIT--THERE'S MORE!!

Sign-up now and we'll throw in a great teacher!  Look at our customers again:

"Mrs. Lang was fabulous--she was well-organized and moderated the chats perfectly!" -Matt

HURRY--THIS IS A LIMITED-TIME OFFER!

Enjoyable, engaging, and excellent, but also difficult

I would have to say that AP Computer Science was undeniably my absolute favorite course this year.  Mrs. Lang was an excellent teacher, consistently prepared for class and eminently knowledgeable on the subject.  Our textbook was a pleasure to read and quite informative, though some of the exercises were graced with ambiguities.  What I learned was fascinating and valuable.  Through the year, my experience with Java and ability to code that I learned has come in handy in countless situations, from automating messy processes that would take me hours to do by hand to running simulations and/or generating data for other classes to just improving my overall faculty of analytic thinking.

As regards preparation for the exam, the class was truly excellent.  My preparation for my other AP tests (done outside PA Homeschoolers) could best be described as a mad, nervous dash to the finish that left me exhausted.  This course was different.  Mrs. Lang really began teaching for the AP exam from day one, and started us reviewing in earnest early and in-depth.  There was no shock or sudden change in the amount of work; the work we were already doing simply merged with review.  I scored very well on practice tests and felt quite confident during the test.

Looking over the other reviews, I see some outrageous (I think) numbers on the amount of work necessary.  Though there was fluctuation, I would say that I typically put in around 6 hours or so a week.  Those 6 hours, however, were intensely concentrated periods; I wasn't talking with friends or even listening to music.  I was focused on my code.

Before this course, I suppose I would say my interest in computer science was somewhat blasé.  My father is a software engineer, and I've played around with Ruby and GNU Octave and the like.  However, I gained quite an appreciation for the subject, and far more techniques of coding than I'd ever learned by myself.  I am now quite enamored of the subject, and hope to continue study of it in college, perhaps even work toward a minor. 

Social interaction in the class was. . . hmmm.  I should say that I didn't really seek out my classmates, so I'm not sure what other's experiences were.  

Our AIM meetings were weekly, although the class was so big and schedules so conflicting that we had three class incarnations each week, and hence never had the whole class together.  The meetings themselves were quite businesslike; Mrs. Lang presented the material and we asked questions.  Our social board (a student-led forum) had some activity, though it was dominated by two or three individuals and mainly discussed issues relevant to the class.  Mrs. Lang attempted to get us together by assigning some paired programming exercises near the beginning of the course, but apparently those didn't work out.

However, one of our last activities, a computer ethics mock trial, involved substantial collaboration.  I was quite involved with it, and I found that many of my classmates were extremely intelligent, sophisticated, and motivated.  I'm sort of sad that I didn't take greater advantage of my connections with them.  We had people from various locations around the world, and it was quite interesting figuring out the time differences.

I won't sugar-coat it: this is not an easy course.  You must be dedicated and perseverant to succeed; coding assignments can be highly frustrating.  You must be willing to spend substantial time to make sure things are "just right".  Academically, a strong foundation in both Algebra and logical thinking is essential.  I studied categorical and syllogistic logic previous to the course, and I found that programming had the same "flavor".  My knowledge of logic was eminently useful; boolean operations are really bits of symbolic logic, and were straightforward for me. 

To conclude, to any student who has the background in Algebra, the commitment to quality, and the passion for logical puzzles—I would recommend this course without reservation.  

The Best Class of All Time

This was truly the best class I have ever taken. I had so much fun learning about Java and writing programs about whatever I wanted to write about. I wish I could have worked on this class all day. Mrs. Lang is also amazing, she was always extremely accessible, and answered all of my questions very quickly. Here are my answers to the questions asked about this course:

Did you feel the course prepared you for the AP exam?

Absolutely, this was the only AP class I have taken where I scored well on practice tests from the very beginning. The way Mrs. Lang teaches the material is perfect for the AP exam, and pretty much any other application. 

How many hours of work per day or per week did you generally put into the course?

The actual class work didn't take me that long, maybe 3-5 hours a week. I also wrote a lot of programs that were just for fun, and that probably took an extra 2 hours a week. 

Are there any particularly favorite assignments that you found especially valuable?

Towards the beginning of the year, a couple of the students had a contest to see who could write the fastest program to print out prime numbers, and that was really fun, and I am still improving my prime numbers program today. 

Did the course enhance your interest in the subject?

This was my first exposure to computer science, and I loved it, so yes, absolutely. I was to planning study computer science or electrical engineering in college before this class, and this class made me want to study that even more. 

Did you find your communications with other students to be interesting or valuable?

Yes, there were a lot of really smart kids in the class, and that made this class even more fun. 

What sort of student would do well in this course? Would you recommend this course to other students (if they are willing to work hard!)?

Someone who is gifted in math and science would have a ton of fun in this course, but someone who is more gifted in other areas might have a difficult time. But, anyone could do this course if they work hard enough. And I would highly recommend this course!!! 

I really have no complaints, this class was excellent.

AP Computer Science Class Review

      I took this class because I have been interested in computers and programming for a long time, and enjoyed it very much (it was one of my favorite classes in the year, for sure). At times it could be tedious or frustrating, but always rewarding when you figured things out, and had a working program. I did feel quite prepared for the AP exam, as well. The course usually required about 1 to 2 hours per day of work on the projects. In taking this class I learned not only about Java, but a lot about programming and computers in general as well. I think I was lucky to have such great classmates, and a great teacher (Mrs. Lang) as well, and it was a lot of fun working with them. If you are willing to put in the work and time, are interested in computer programming, and have analytical thinking skills and patience, you would do well in this class, I'm sure.

A class for Nerds

This class was excellent.  The teaching was good.  The format with online meetings needs some work.  The class would tend to go way off topic and lose focus.  However, Mrs. Lang was good at bring the group back on topic.  I found this to a difficult class, and on average I would spent over 12 hours a week on the exercises.  This was easily one of my favorite classes for the year, and I would recommend it to anyone wanting to get a good base in programing, even if they do not want to learn JAVA.

Hard work, but worth the effort.

The AP Computer Science A class is probably one of the most difficult courses I have ever taken. It is the first AP class I've ever been in, so I wasn't sure what to expect.

The class definitely prepared me well for the exam. Everything I needed to know was covered in depth by the online textbook we used. I was nervous but fairly confident on the day of the exam, and I feel that, due to the extensive background familiarity with the subject material (we'd been using all this stuff in programming all year), I did well on it.

This class will take a LOT of time. I think I put in 18 hours a week on average. Coding problems require a great deal of abstract thought and an open, problem-solving mentality. Some of the hardest ones WILL result in banging one's head against the keyboard in an effort to shake loose a critical inspiration.

I have always had some interest in computer programming, reading books out of the library on the subject, but I'd never taken any kind of course on the subject. It was not quite what I expected it to be, but it is definitely an interesting and unique field and I enjoy programming a lot. Taking a course like this was the difference between reading books written in Chinese and actually being able to understand Chinese. I couldn't program before, and I can now, and the skill I gained in this course will definitely be one that I hang on to, in college and elsewhere.

Any kind of student would do well in this course, provided they are willing to put a whole lot of work into it. A natural talent for problem solving or looking at a problem from a different perspective is useful, but not necessary. The only requirement I can think of would be a decent grade in Algebra, I or II, because most of computer science is based on algebra, and the rest just is algebra. The nice thing about this class is it really forces you to pick up logical and clear thinking, even if you didn't have this skill before (which I didn't). You will come away from the class having been given an entirely new outlook on solving problems. From coding in Java, which requires you to solve a large range of exercises with a limited set of tools, you will now automatically respond to any problem by assembling your resources methodically, carefully considering the scope of the problem, and reaching an understanding of small parts of it until a solution becomes clear. I would wholeheartedly recommend this course to other students, especially if they already have interest in the subject material.

worth it

This class is very difficult, but in my opinion, worth it. It takes a very dedicated and motivated student to excel in Computer Science, due largely to it's meticulous and repetitive nature. There are times when you will honestly never want to see another line of code again, but in the end, it's all worth it.

The course was definitely good preparation, perhaps the most frustrating part was not in the actual course, but in the prep work. With AP CS A being one of the least popular AP exams, there are hardly any resources. While my sister had three-four prep books per AP course, I started with one and after much searching managed to find another one.

During the actual course, I put in around an hour or so of work per day. However, as the course progressed and we got more into review, I was reviewing up to five hours a day, taking full length practice tests 4 times a week.

Having a live session every week, we were able to talk with each other live more than other classes do, but our WWW board was pitiful and our social board was even worse. We might have had a total of 3 threads on the social board the entire year. However, we all had each other's AIM addresses, so we were able to chat if we found an assignment difficult and needed an extremely smart fellow student coder. *cough cough*

A student who would do well in this course needs to be, as I said before, extremely dedicated. They also need to be at least semi-good at math. In addition, they need to be willing to spend great amounts of time debugging their code, searching for logic errors, compile-time errors, and runtime errors, and have incredible amounts of patience. Finally, they also can not be prone to beating their computer screen up, otherwise their computer screen will look like a meteor shower hit it by the end of the class.

Fun class, and one that will get you a great grade on the AP

Q: Did you feel the course prepared you for the AP exam?

A: Yes, very much so. I was a programmer before taking this class, but this class taught me more material, and prepared me for the exam.

Q: How many hours of work per day or per week did you generally put into the course?

A: About 5 hours a week; to really do well in a program, one can not do it it in short bursts, one needs to do it in consecutive hours, if I had broken it up over many days I would have been spending a little more time.

Q: Are there any particularly favorite assignments that you found especially valuable?

A: Not really, the homework assignments were most of it, they were very valuable for understanding how to code, but the most useful assignment were the practice tests.

Q: Did the course enhance your interest in the subject?'

A: Yes. As I have said, I was a programmer before this, but this class got me to understand much more about this language.

Q: Did you find your communications with other students to be interesting or valuable?

A: Yes, as it made working out kinks in code easier, and it was easier to find hints. Most of this conversation came though AIM, the WWWBoard is not used very much in this class, but that does not mean that there is no communications between students.

Q: What sort of student would do well in this course? Would you recommend this course to other students (if they are willing to work hard!)?

A: Almost all students, preferably those who can understand how to program, can trace a program, and those who can learn a couple of rules for how to write a program, such as what goes where, and rules like that.

Q: Any other thoughts, questions or comments?

A: Yes: Why is the Computer Science test given on pen and paper?

Toyam Cox