Not sure where to start when it comes to practicing for your AP
Computer Science Principles test?
Then stay tuned.
Because in this video, we're going to go over 11 study tips that can help you
score that four or five on your AP exam.
This video is brought to you by Albert.
If you haven't already created your free account to start practicing for your
AP CSP exam, you can do so using the link in the video description below.
Without further ado, let's jump into these tips.
The first thing to look at are some multiple choice tips.
When it comes to the Computer Science Principles exam, you're going to have
120 minutes to answer 70 questions.
And these 70 questions are going to make up 70% of your exam score.
So it's really important that you do particularly well
on this part of the exam.
Since there are 70 questions and they're worth 70% of your exam score, as you
guessed it, each one of these questions is worth 1% of your overall exam score.
When it comes to the CSP exam, you're going to have a mix of multiple
choice and multi-select questions.
These multi-select questions are questions in which you're going to have to choose
more than just one answer choice sometimes in order to identify the right answer.
The second tip when it comes to tackling the multiple choice section in the
computer science exam is to make sure that you understand each of the big ideas.
There are five big ideas when it comes to Computer Science Principles.
The topic ideas are related to algorithms programming data
and the impacts of computing.
If you were to focus on just these big ideas alone, you'd already have
covered 85% of the content of the multiple choice section of your
Computer Science Principles exam.
For example, big idea, three on algorithms and programming makes
up 30 to 35% of the overall exam.
So pro tip here, if you're short on time, when it comes to preparing
for your Computer Science Principles exam, you're going to want to focus
on the areas that are tested more frequently than the areas that are
tested a little bit less frequently.
The third tip we have for you is to make sure you're making the
use of some well-known tried and true multiple choice strategies.
For example, you're going to always want to make sure that you guess for
every single question, even if it's a complete guess and the reason why is
because when it comes to AP exams, the College Board does not deduct points
for questions that you get wrong.
You only earn points when you get questions right.
So it makes no sense for you to just leave five or 10 questions blank at the end of
the exam, in the case where you'd, haven't had enough time to finish the section.
Instead, just make sure that you're bubbling in something.
Another tip is even without knowing the right answer, you should try
to think about the type of answer that you would be looking for.
For example, are you looking for a boolean statement or a recursive command?
These sorts of questions to ask yourself can help you sift through
the answer choices once you actually start reading through that.
You're obviously gonna want to read through all of your answer
choices before you select a final answer and also practice the
process of elimination or POE.
The process of elimination is a great way for you to boost your chances of
getting a particular question right.
Even if you can only eliminate just one answer choice, it goes a
long way in your chances of getting that particular question right.
When it comes to 120 minutes for 70 questions, it means you're going to
have close to two minutes for every single question that you are answering.
So it's helpful for you to keep that in mind, because if there's a particular
question that you're struggling with, you might be better off just circling
that and moving on, then continuing to belabor the point in rereading
that question over and over again.
You might also find it helpful to actively read as you're working
through the multiple choice section.
This means circling or underlining key phrases or words, just so
that you truly understand what the question is asking you.
Lastly, you might find the strategy of trying to think about what the answer
might be before you read the answer choices to be helpful in just forming
an approach for you as you work your way through the multiple choice section.
The last tip we have for you when it comes to just tackling the multiple
choice section for the Computer Science Principles exam is to make sure that
you're familiar with the ways that the College Board phrases questions for
you in the multiple choice section.
To do this, you can take a look at sample practice questions that have been released
in the course and exam description guide or you can check out a site like Albert
in order to get some extra practice and exposure to the sorts of phrasings
that you can expect on your CSP exam.
Now that we've covered four tips, when it comes to the multiple choice
section, let's transition to talk about seven tips that you can take
to do well on your performance tasks.
Before we do so, if you're finding this video helpful, do us a favor
and hit that like button below.
By doing so, you'll help other students that are taking the
CSP exam find this video.
The first tip when it comes to doing well on your performance tasks is
to make sure that you're comfortable collaborating with your peers.
Oftentimes your performance task is going to be connected to some
sort of collaborative work that you've already done in class.
By collaborating with your peers, it can be a great way for you to think about
some new potential ideas or perspectives that you personally may not have had.
Our second recommendation is to make sure that you choose a challenge or
problem that actually interests you.
This is going to be a project that you're going to be investing
a decent amount of time on.
So if you don't really like it in the very beginning, you're not going to
probably grow to like it later on.
Instead focus on the sorts of things that peak your interest
when it comes to computer science.
The third thing you're going to want to do when it comes to your
performance task is make sure that your task covers all of the requirements.
This means that your code should include instructions for input, collection
of data and lists of procedure, sequencing, selection and iteration,
as well as instructions for output.
You don't want to wait until the last second to use your video editing software
to put together your project summary.
You're going to want to figure out which software you're going to use.
Whether that's Camtasia, Screencastify, Loom, QuickTime Pro, or iMovie.
Whatever software you end up settling on, it's helpful for you to storyboard
out your video before you actually take on the task of creating your video.
To do this, you're going to want to make sure that your video
covers these key requirements.
Your videos should be one minute max, it should have no voice narration,
it should demonstrate input, output, and functionality, and be output
in the proper size and format.
If your initial take doesn't meet these requirements, that's totally okay.
That's the beauty of video editing software.
You can easily change the format or size of your video to fit the
requirements and also you can incorporate captions in the place of narration.
Whatever your final output is, the important thing is
that it is one minute max.
And so you're going to want to practice working with the video editing software
that you're going to use a few weeks or months in advance, as opposed
to waiting till the last second.
Our fifth tip when it comes to the AP Computer Science Principles
performance task is to practice writing succinct written responses.
You're going to be faced with three written responses, and you're going to
have that max 750 words that you can use.
This means it's important for you to assume that your reader is educated
in computer science and that you don't have to explain every single thing to
them versus what's important for them to understand about your response.
What's most important is for you to explain and communicate your work,
show how your program accomplishes the task and that you understand
what your program is doing.
Our sixth tip when it comes to the performance task is to understand
how your task is going to be scored.
The best way to do this is to reference the previously released scoring
guidelines by the College Board.
For example, let's think about the first point, which is typically rewarded
for the program, purpose and function.
A common mistake that students make is not taking advantage of the video format they
have and showing that their program works.
Screenshots are not enough.
You have to show the visual results of your code.
Our final tip is to check out these sample student portfolios that have been
shared in the past so that you can better understand how other students were graded
when it came to their performance tasks.
Something to keep in mind, is that in prior versions of the AP Computer
Science Principles exam, there were two sections to the performance
task, a create an explore section.
Starting in 2021, there is only a create performance tasks.
When you look at older tests like the 2018 or the 2017 exams, you'll be able
to look through some commentary that people have on the create section.
By doing this, you're going to be able to take a look at a few students that score
perfect scores followed by students that didn't necessarily score full points.
A common error was whether or not responses could clearly
identify two algorithms in the code and how they related to the
overall function of the code.
So if you're looking for the sorts of things that trip other students up, it
can be a great thing for you to work your way through the sample student portfolio.
There you have it.
11 AP Computer Science Principles tips and tricks to help you score
that four or five on your exam.
If you found this video helpful, do us a favor and hit that like button below.
By doing so, you'll help other students like yourself find this video.
Also, if you haven't already created your free account on
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With it, you'll get access to a few free topics that you can use to
start practicing for your exam today.
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