Move from diagnosis through targeted review and timed sections, with the timing, calculator, and task-verb decisions that earn the points.
Eight weeks of AP Computer Science Principles, one week at a time
Each week names the AP Computer Science Principles units you work on and one thing you finish and keep. Tick a week off when the deliverable exists, not when the time is up.
Eight-week AP Computer Science Principles schedule
Week
Focus
AP Computer Science Principles units
What you finish that week
Done
Week 1
Diagnose and start the Create task
Creative Development
An error log plus a chosen Create-task idea with a list and a procedure already sketched.
Week 2
Build the Create-task program
Creative Development; Algorithms and Programming
A working program with one student-developed procedure that takes a real parameter.
Week 3
Finish and document the Create task
Creative Development
The video, the written responses, and the code segments selected and captured.
Week 4
Data
Data
Convert twenty numbers between binary and decimal by hand, and explain lossy versus lossless compression with an example.
Week 5
Algorithms
Algorithms and Programming
Trace ten pseudocode segments in a variable table, including nested loops and a binary search.
Week 6
Programming concepts
Algorithms and Programming
Write ten short pseudocode procedures in the exam's reference language, not in your usual language.
Week 7
Systems, networks, and impact
Computer Systems and Networks; Impact of Computing
A chart of protocols, fault tolerance, and one written tradeoff analysis for a real computing innovation.
Week 8
Full timed rehearsal
All five units
One complete timed 70-question section, scored by big idea.
AP Computer Science Principles exam strategy
A plan tells you what to study. This tells you how to spend the exam itself. Work these decisions into every timed week above, so exam day is a rehearsal rather than a first attempt.
AP Computer Science Principles timing: what one question is worth in minutes
Work out your pace before exam day so you never discover it during the exam.
Section timing for AP Computer Science Principles
Section
Time
Questions
Pacing note
End-of-course multiple choice
2 hours
70 questions
About 1.7 minutes each. Code-tracing items are slower, so bank time on the vocabulary and impact items.
Create Performance Task
Through-course
Program plus written responses
Done during the year, not on exam day. Start it early enough to record the video and write the responses without rushing.
Calculator and reference rules for AP Computer Science Principles
Calculator rules change from section to section, and they are different on every AP exam. Practice each section under its own rule.
What you may use in each part of the AP Computer Science Principles exam
Section or part
What you may use
What that means for your work
End-of-course multiple choice
No calculator
Binary, compression ratios, and speedup are all small mental arithmetic.
Provided during the exam
Exam Reference Sheet
The pseudocode language is given to you. It is not Python or JavaScript, and reading it as if it were is a common way to lose easy points.
Create Performance Task
Not applicable
Built during the course on a computer, submitted before exam day, and scored separately.
AP Computer Science Principles task verbs and what earns the point
Free-response points are written for a specific verb. Answer a different verb and the work can be correct and still score zero.
Task verbs used on AP Computer Science Principles free-response questions
If the prompt says
The point is earned by
Identify
Name the line, the variable, or the procedure. One phrase.
Describe
Say what it does from the outside - what goes in and what comes out.
Explain how
Walk through the logic step by step, referring to your own code by name.
Justify why
Say what problem this choice solved - why the list, why the procedure, why the parameter.
Trace the algorithm
Write a table of variable values after each pass. Guessing from the shape of the code is where most errors happen.
How students lose AP Computer Science Principles points
These are specific to this exam. Read them again the night before.
The Create task needs a student-developed procedure with a parameter that actually changes what the procedure does. A parameter that is never used, or a procedure that ignores it, fails that row of the rubric.
The task also needs a list (or other collection) used to manage complexity. Storing one value in a list does not count - the program has to be genuinely harder without it.
Written responses that describe what the program does instead of how it works. Reference your own code by line and name, and explain the logic.
Reading the exam pseudocode as your own language. Its list indexing and its loop syntax differ from Python and Java, and questions test exactly that difference.
AP Computer Science Principles priorities to protect every week
A useful plan is course-specific. Whatever else a week contains, keep time for the content and response habits that decide AP Computer Science Principles scores.
Create-task evidence capture
List and procedure requirements
Algorithm tracing
Internet protocols
Ethical impact tradeoffs
AP Computer Science Principles unit-by-unit response plan
Required
Creative Development
Program purpose, collaboration, iterative design
Practice recognizing how creative development can be tested, naming the evidence or method required, and writing a concise response that earns credit.
Required
Data
Binary, compression, abstraction, data analysis
Practice recognizing how data can be tested, naming the evidence or method required, and writing a concise response that earns credit.
Practice recognizing how algorithms and programming can be tested, naming the evidence or method required, and writing a concise response that earns credit.
Required
Computer Systems and Networks
Internet protocols, fault tolerance, parallel computing
Practice recognizing how computer systems and networks can be tested, naming the evidence or method required, and writing a concise response that earns credit.
Required
Impact of Computing
Bias, privacy, security, digital divide
Practice recognizing how impact of computing can be tested, naming the evidence or method required, and writing a concise response that earns credit.
Questions about AP Computer Science Principles eight-week study plan and exam strategy
How should I split eight weeks of AP Computer Science Principles revision?
Week 1 is “Diagnose and start the Create task” and you finish it with one thing you keep: An error log plus a chosen Create-task idea with a list and a procedure already sketched. Week 8 is “Full timed rehearsal”. Start at the week that matches the time you have left, not at week one.
How should I pace myself on the AP Computer Science Principles exam?
End-of-course multiple choice — About 1.7 minutes each. Code-tracing items are slower, so bank time on the vocabulary and impact items. Create Performance Task — Done during the year, not on exam day. Start it early enough to record the video and write the responses without rushing.
What does “Identify” mean on the AP Computer Science Principles exam?
Name the line, the variable, or the procedure. One phrase. Answering a different verb can be mathematically correct and still score zero.
What is the biggest scoring trap on the AP Computer Science Principles exam?
The task also needs a list (or other collection) used to manage complexity. Storing one value in a list does not count - the program has to be genuinely harder without it.
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