Computer Science in FCPS

[Anonymous]

I have a freshman, not at TJ, who is cruising thru AP Comp Sci A (already doing quarter 3 homework). There is one followon class, AB for next year (which, sidebar--does this get the AP bump even though it is not an AP class?). I looked at the FCPS course catalog and saw all these other CS classes, but it appears they are only offered at TJ. Is that correct?

[Anonymous]

You could try NOVA Community College. They have a ton of CS classes.

[Anonymous]

If you are looking for advanced CS courses (beyond the basic AP ones), yes TJ is really the only high school that offers them. That's what makes it a very attractive option for kids who are really interested in programming/math/CS.

[Anonymous]

Could also try the academy courses.

[Anonymous]

Comp Sci A and AB are both AP classes.

After that, Woodson has a Computer Systems class which I believe is independent study/project-based. DC is in Comp Sci A as a sophomore and plans on taking AB next year and Comp Systems senior year.
I don't know if it's offered at other base schools. You should definitely check out NoVA or the Chantilly academy. The downside of academy is that you have to allow for a travel period in most cases.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Comp Sci A and AB are both AP classes.

After that, Woodson has a Computer Systems class which I believe is independent study/project-based. DC is in Comp Sci A as a sophomore and plans on taking AB next year and Comp Systems senior year.
I don't know if it's offered at other base schools. You should definitely check out NoVA or the Chantilly academy. The downside of academy is that you have to allow for a travel period in most cases.

Lake Braddock also has computer systems class which is in the series after AB comp sci

[Anonymous]

Look for classes outside of FCPS, NOVA is a good option or online options. Feel free to take all that is offered but class only teaches the basics. If your DC sees a future in CS then other online options may be more interesting. Also try other languages, whatever sparks interest. Speaking from my own experience in FCPS then CS major in college.

[Anonymous]

My kid did all the fancy CS courses at TJ. However, we found that when you apply to colleges, most of them have their own way of teaching CS, with their own progression that they want students to follow, particularly with the highly ranked programs. You might get out of the intro course, but it's unlikely you'll be skipping to third year courses. If you do CS as part of an engineering degree rather than as an Arts and Sciences degree, they'll still make you do the math/physics/chem requirements, unless you can skip out of these with AP or dual enrollment courses.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My kid did all the fancy CS courses at TJ. However, we found that when you apply to colleges, most of them have their own way of teaching CS, with their own progression that they want students to follow, particularly with the highly ranked programs. You might get out of the intro course, but it's unlikely you'll be skipping to third year courses. If you do CS as part of an engineering degree rather than as an Arts and Sciences degree, they'll still make you do the math/physics/chem requirements, unless you can skip out of these with AP or dual enrollment courses.

That's a good point. Typically you'd expect classes in things like computer architecture, compilers, databases, assembly language, networking and advanced math topics and so on after you've had a data structures and algorithms class (which I guess is AP Comp Sci AB?) before you move on to the types of classes they offer at TJ. So maybe the advanced TJ classes are more sampler/intro type classes to whet the kids' appetite for those specialties?

My kid took intro to CS at base school last year and I don't know if that was the intended curriculum but they seem to have gone through the intro to CS topics in the first semester and then spent the second semester on Android development, which may be similar to the web app class at TJ for instance.

[Anonymous]

50% of high school grads go to college now. Thats the academic level that AP grading is targeting. "College-Level" means NVCC, nor Caltech.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My kid did all the fancy CS courses at TJ. However, we found that when you apply to colleges, most of them have their own way of teaching CS, with their own progression that they want students to follow, particularly with the highly ranked programs. You might get out of the intro course, but it's unlikely you'll be skipping to third year courses. If you do CS as part of an engineering degree rather than as an Arts and Sciences degree, they'll still make you do the math/physics/chem requirements, unless you can skip out of these with AP or dual enrollment courses.

It's not about skipping courses. It's about being prepared to engage in the highly rigorous courses at top colleges. Even top colleges have basic/medium/enriched courses to choose between.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My kid did all the fancy CS courses at TJ. However, we found that when you apply to colleges, most of them have their own way of teaching CS, with their own progression that they want students to follow, particularly with the highly ranked programs. You might get out of the intro course, but it's unlikely you'll be skipping to third year courses. If you do CS as part of an engineering degree rather than as an Arts and Sciences degree, they'll still make you do the math/physics/chem requirements, unless you can skip out of these with AP or dual enrollment courses.

You won’t get skipped over courses, but they sure will feel a lot easier than if you didn’t already have experience with the material. That’s literally the point of the post-APs at TJ - to make college easier.

[Anonymous]

What CS classes are offered at TJ not anywhere else?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What CS classes are offered at TJ not anywhere else?

Not sure if they are offered elsewhere, but at TJ there other CS classes include Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning, Computer Vision, Web App Development and Mobile App Development.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:50% of high school grads go to college now. Thats the academic level that AP grading is targeting. "College-Level" means NVCC, nor Caltech.

This comment is why you resurrected a thread from 6 years ago?