AP CS-A

[Anonymous]

My son wants to take AP CS A next year, but his counselor is concerned because he has not taken AP CS Principles. Should a student who has completed AP AB cal and is on his school's robotics team (coding component) be able to handle the class? I legitimately don't know. His math teacher from last year says it should be ok, his AP AB Cal teacher declined to weigh in.

[Anonymous]

I took AP CS AB back in the day concurrent with Algebra II/Trig. There's not a ton of math to AP CS - that comes later in college when you have to apply logic (sort of geometry, although formal and boolean logic are more helpful) and discrete math to your CS.

But I don't know if these days AP CS A builds on the AP CS Principals class that didn't exist back when it was AP CS AB.

My kids' school doesn't require Principals before CS A, for what it's worth.

[Anonymous]

Yes, AP CS A is very easy for coders

[Anonymous]

AP CS Principles is viewed as a weak AP by many colleges. He probably should skip it.

[Anonymous]

He'll be fine. One is not a prereq for the other.