AP Computer Science Principles Study Guide

If you are a parent reading this, PLEASE DO YOUR STUDENT A HUGE FAVOR! Send them this AP Computer Science Principles exam prep resource ASAP.

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If you are a student reading this, we assume you are taking the AP Computer Science Principles exam, and we want to help you prepare for your upcoming exam.

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We made this AP exam prep resource precisely for students who WANT:

• Knowledge of what is on the AP Computer Science Principles exam
• Access to lesson notes
• AP Unit review videos
• Concept review videos
• AP exam multiple choice practice problems with answers
• Full AP practice exams with solutions
• Access to a REAL COLLEGE BOARD EXAM released from the test room
• A 12-week plan for studying for the AP Computer Science Principles exam

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This resource guide was made with the intention of organizing the BEST FREE RESOURCES the internet has to offer IN ONE PLACE for you. To avoid any sort of copyright infringement, we’re listing links to the pages where you can find all of these helpful resources and providing instructions on how to utilize these resources rather than including copies of them here.

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We’ve spent countless hours searching for quality AP exam prep materials over the last decade, so you don’t have to! If you would like to find more exam prep resources like this one for a different AP exam, head over to www.simplifiedu.com/ap-exam-study-guides.

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If you need better explanations of the concepts being tested or help from someone who has passed this exam…

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Give us a call at 310-584-7077 or email info@simplifiedu.com, and we’ll match you with an AP Computer Science Principles tutor who can help you on your way to earning a 3, 4, or 5 on the exam.

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Now that we’ve explained what help this resource is supposed to provide you with and how we plan to do that let’s dive in!

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All your resources are on the pages that follow ⇩⬇⬇⇩

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Exam Structure and Weighting

Understanding the structure of the test, what’s covered, and how much each section is worth is essential to passing this exam and deciding how to spend your time prepping for this exam.

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Here’s a link to a downloadable poster with all this information:

AP Computer Science Principles Exam Structure And Weighting Poster

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If you want to know more about each unit covered on the exam and the percentage of questions on the test that utilize the concepts covered in a unit, click the link below. Be sure to scroll down to the course contents section and click “expand all” to see all the unit details.

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Here’s a link to the units covered on the test:

AP Computer Science Principles Exam Unit Breakdowns

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Access AP Daily Videos

If you haven’t taken the time to check out the AP Daily videos that College Board provides to students when they enroll in their AP classes or sign up for the AP exam, then you are missing out on a huge resource.

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AP Daily videos are great for learning the concepts covered on the test. They are best used as a review resource to cover anything you need further explanation on from week to week when you are learning concepts covered on the test or learning a concept your teacher at school never bothered to cover in class.

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If you already feel pretty confident that you are at least familiar with every unit covered by the exam, you’re better off just watching the college board’s AP unit review videos posted to Youtube (see the next section for a link to unit review resources).

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Here’s a link to instructions on how to watch AP Daily Videos:

Get access To College Board AP Daily videos

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Access AP Review Sessions

The College Board has hired university professors and outstanding high school teachers to record unit review videos that will help you review weeks’ worth of exam concepts in a single sitting.

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Unfortunately, whoever manages the College Board’s Youtube content could not be bothered to put the unit review videos in sequential order from the first unit to the last. So, you’ll want to keep that in mind and start reviewing earlier units first if you want to review the content in order.

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Here is a link for students in the final stretch of their AP Exam review who want to watch College Board unit review videos with AP Teachers and Professors (you will need to navigate to the AP Computer Science Principles review session playlist, but the content is very well organized, so it should be easy to find): College Board Unit Review Videos

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AP Exam Concept Notes

This resource calls itself a study guide, but really it’s just a set of written notes for reviewing every concept covered on the exam.

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Here’s a link to downloadable AP Computer Science Principles concept notes:

AP Computer Science Principles Concept Notes

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AP Exam Multiple Choice Quizzes With Answers

We highly recommend using the resource below for taking bite-size practice quizzes that will test your knowledge of concepts covered on the exam and provide you question specific explanations of how to find the correct answers to the questions provided.

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This website is divided up into ten sections. There are eight units that cover the big ideas from AP Computer Science Principles as well as two additional sections regarding exam preparation. Simply click “Get Started” under the first section to begin.

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Here’s the link to short multiple choice practice quizzes:

AP Computer Science Principles Multiple Choice Quizzes

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REAL AP Exam Multiple Choice Questions With Answers

The link below will take you to an assortment of materials for AP Computer Science Principles. There are two document with both single-select and multiple-select multiple-choice sections for you to access. Navigate to “2020MCQ” to view the multiple-choice questions and then navigate to “2020MCQAnswers” to correct your responses. This applies for the 2021 versions as well! The only catch is that they are laid out in a way that you may want to solve them on a separate sheet of paper since there’s not much room to do your work on the test if you were going to print these questions.

Real Multiple Choice Questions For Everyday Practice

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REAL College Board AP Computer Science Principles Exams

The best way to prepare for taking the AP Computer Science Principles exam is to practice answering questions on the actual exam. That’s why you should plan to use past exams released by the College Board as a part of your exam prep process.

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There are only a few REAL full-length college board exams with answers and scoring keys released from the test room available to the public, so please be sure to use these tests when you feel ready to test your knowledge of the concepts being tested on the exam.

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DO NOT WASTE THE FULL-LENGTH PRACTICE TESTS!

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Plan to take at least one of the full-length practice tests timed in one sitting so that you know where you are with your ability to pass this exam.

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2014, AP Computer Science Principles Exam

2016, AP Computer Science Principles Exam (USE JUST BEFORE YOUR EXAM)

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The two exams listed below are additional full-length practice exams to prepare you for the structure of the AP Computer Science Principles exam. You will complete these as untimed assessments, but please be mindful of how long each section takes you and where you need to make improvements for when you attempt the timed full-length college board exams.

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AP Computer Science Principles Practice Exam 1

AP Computer Science Principles Practice Exam 1 Solutions

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AP Computer Science Principles Practice Exam 2

AP Computer Science Principles Practice Exam 2 Solutions

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