How To Tell If You Are In The Right Computer Science Class at Gunn

NOTE: These are strongly recommended prerequisites. Some students succeed with less, some students fail with more.

You are in the right place if:

• You are interested in learning about computing without having to take a hardcore programming class

You are in the right place if:

• You have completed (grade of B or higher) in GeomH OR
• You have completed (grade of B or higher) in Alg2/TrigA OR
• You have completed (grade of B or higher) in PreCalc or IAC

Some students who are concurrently enrolled in Alg2/TrigA really struggle in this class while others are top flight students. I don't know how to predict how a particular student in Alg2/TrigA will do. If this is a concern, there is nothing wrong with waiting until the following year to take Functional Programming.

You are in the right place if:

• You have earned a B+ or higher in Functional Programming
  • NOTE: For those people who skip Functional Programming, the same prereqs apply.
  • NOTE2: AP CS tends to be easier for those students who do both Functional Programming and Object-Oriented Programming

You are in the right place if:

• You have earned grades of B+ or higher in Functional Programming and Object-Oriented Programming OR
• Your most recent grade in an honors track math class is an A (not an A-, but a rock-solid A) and you have done the Summer Homework (both Scheme and Java portions) [NOTE: This is will be in effect starting in 2015/2016. My observation is that students without the rock-solid A are, as a group, unlikely to earn As in the AP CS class.]
  • NOTE: Some students succeed in AP CS without these things. It usually takes a lot more work. Many students choose not to listen when told that the AP CS class involves a lot of mathematical thinking in ways to which they are unaccustomed. This results in high attrition rates and unnecessary unhappiness.
    
    Please listen.
  
  
• Your transcript shows general strength. When a student is earning Cs and Ds instead of As and Bs, it is almost always a sign that the AP CS class is not going to work out.

You are in the right place if:

• You have earned grades of B+ or higher in Functional Programming and Object-Oriented Programming