AP Computer Science A Prep, 2024 - Rob Franek 2023

The Structure of the AP Computer Science A Exam
Part III: About the AP Computer Science A Exam

The AP Computer Science A Exam is a two-part test. The chart below illustrates the test’s structure:

The AP Computer Science A course and exam require that potential solutions of problems be written in the Java programming language. You should be able to perform the following tasks:

· design, implement, and analyze solutions to problems

· use and implement commonly used algorithms

· use standard data structures

· develop and select appropriate algorithms and data structures to solve new problems

· write solutions fluently in an object-oriented paradigm

· write, run, test, and debug solutions in the Java programming language, utilizing standard Java library classes from the AP Java subset

· read and understand programs consisting of several classes and interacting objects

· read and understand a description of the design and development process leading to such a program (examples of such solutions can be found in the AP Computer Science Labs)

· understand the ethical and social implications of computer use

The following table shows the classification categories and how they are represented in the multiple-choice section of the exam. Because questions can be classified in more than one category, the total of the percentages may be greater than 100%.

Have You Noticed?

You may notice that our Part V content chapters align exactly with these units. You’re welcome ☺

In addition to the multiple-choice questions, there are four mandatory free-response questions. You’ll have a total of 90 minutes to answer all four of them. You should spend approximately 22 minutes per question, but be aware that you must manage your own time. Additional time spent on one question will reduce the time you have left to answer the others.

The multiple-choice questions are scored by machine, while the free-response questions are scored by thousands of college faculty and expert AP teachers at the annual AP Reading. Scores on the free-response questions are weighted and combined with the weighted results of the multiple-choice questions. These composite, weighted raw scores are then converted into the reported AP Exam scores of 5, 4, 3, 2, and 1.

Scores from May 2022 AP Exam administration. Data taken from the College Board website.

To score your multiple-choice questions, award yourself one point for every correct answer and credit 0 points to your score for every question you got wrong.

Free-Response Questions

Section II of the AP Computer Science A Exam is the free-response section. Free-response questions are scored from 0 to 9.

Unfortunately, we can’t give you a ton of black-and-white rules about free-response question scoring—the actual scoring for each question is all based on the questions themselves. There is no one-size-fits-all way to score a Computer Science A free-response question. The College Board does map out some penalties, though, and they’re in this handy list.

Stay Up to Date!

For late-breaking information about test dates, exam formats, and any other changes pertaining to AP Comp Sci A, make sure to check the College Board’s website at apstudents.collegeboard.org/courses/ap-computer-science-a

1-Point Penalty

· Extraneous code that causes a side effect or prevents earning points in the rubric (e.g., information written to output)

· Local variables used but none declared

· Destruction of persistent data (e.g., changing value referenced by parameter)

· Void method or constructor that returns a value

No Penalty

· Extraneous code that causes no side effect

· Extraneous code that is unreachable and would not have earned points in rubric

· Spelling/case discrepancies where there is no ambiguity

· Local variable not declared, provided that other variables are declared in some part

· private qualifier on local variable

· Missing public qualifier on class or constructor header

· Keyword used as an identifier

· Common mathematical symbols used for operators (× • ÷ ≤ ≥ < > ≠)

· [] vs. () vs. <>

· = instead of == (and vice versa)

· Array/collection element access confusion ([] vs. set for r-values)

· Array/collection element modification confusion ([] vs. set for l-values)

· Length/size confusion for array, String, and ArrayList, with or without ()

· Extraneous [] when referencing entire array

· [i, j] instead of [i][j]

· Extraneous size in array declaration, (e.g., int[size] nums = new int[size];)

· Missing; provided that line breaks and indentation clearly convey intent

· Missing { } where indentation clearly conveys intent and { } are used elsewhere

· Missing ( ) on parameter-less method or constructor invocations

· Missing ( ) around if/while conditions

· Use of local variable outside declared scope (must be within same method body)

· Failure to cast object retrieved from nongeneric collection