Day 7: MCQ Sprint + Exam Day Plan | AP CSA 7-Day Cram Kit

DAY 7 | MCQ Sprint + Exam Day Plan

55% of your score | 42 questions | 90 minutes | ~2 min per question

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Your Plan for Today

STEP 1MCQ Sprint (50 min)

Take the full 42-question practice exam under timed conditions.

apcsexamprep.com/pages/ap-csa-practice-exams

Set a timer for 90 minutes. Use the 5 strategies below.

STEP 2Score and Diagnose (15 min)

Score your exam. Sort missed questions by unit.

-> Missed 3+ Unit 4 questions: reread Day 1-2 concept boxes.

-> Missed 3+ Unit 2 questions: reread Day 3 concept box.

-> Missed 3+ Unit 1 or 3 questions: reread Day 4-5 concept boxes.

-> Fewer than 5 missed total: you are in strong shape.

STEP 3Final Review + Rest (15 min)

Read the Quick Reference page.

apcsexamprep.com/pages/ap-csa-reference-sheet

Look at the topics you missed today. Read them once. Then stop studying.

Eat a real dinner. Sleep 8 hours. Cramming tonight will hurt you tomorrow.

5 MCQ Survival Strategies

1. Predict First

Before reading the choices, figure out what the answer should be.
Cover the choices with your hand if you need to.
Students who read choices first get anchored to wrong answers.

2. Slash the Trash

Immediately eliminate the 2 most obviously wrong choices.
Now you have a 50/50 shot even if you need to guess.
On I/II/III questions: test each statement alone first.

3. Flag and Move

If a question takes more than 2 minutes, circle the number and skip it.
Return to flagged questions after the rest are done.
Never let one hard question cost you three easier ones.

4. Key Word Alert

When you see NOT, EXCEPT, ALWAYS, or NEVER in the question -- circle it.
These words flip the logic. Most wrong answers come from missing the key word.

5. Trace on Scratch Paper

For code tracing questions: write variable values step by step on paper.
Do NOT trace in your head -- it causes errors on nested loops.
Make a table: variable name across the top, iteration number down the side.

Practice Questions

Q25. [TRACE]

What is the output?

for (int i = 1; i <= 5; i++)
{
 if (i % 2 == 0)
   {
 System.out.print(i + " ");
   }
}

(A) 1 2 3 4 5
(B) 2 4
(C) 1 3 5
(D) 2 4 6

▶ REVEAL ANSWER

Answer: B

Condition i % 2 == 0 selects even numbers. i goes 1 to 5. Even values: 2 and 4.

Q26. [SPOT THE ERROR]

This method should return true only when BOTH a and b are positive. For which input does it produce the WRONG result?

public static boolean bothPositive(int a, int b)
{
   return a > 0 || b > 0;   // BUG: || should be &&
}

(A) a=5, b=3
(B) a=-1, b=-4
(C) a=0, b=5
(D) a=3, b=-2

▶ REVEAL ANSWER

Answer: C

The condition uses || instead of &&. When a=0, b=5: 0>0 is false but 5>0 is true, so || gives true. But a=0 is not positive, so the method should return false.

Q27. [I/II/III]

Which are ALWAYS true for any non-null String s?
I. s.length() >= 0
II. s.substring(0, s.length()).equals(s)
III. s.indexOf(s) == 0

(A) I and II only
(B) II and III only
(C) I and III only
(D) I, II, and III

▶ REVEAL ANSWER

Answer: D

All three are always true for any non-null String.

Q28. [TRACE]

An ArrayList named scores contains [85, 92, 78, 95, 88]. What does it contain after this line?

scores.remove(2);

(A) [85, 92, 95, 88]
(B) [85, 78, 95, 88]
(C) [85, 92, 78, 88]
(D) [92, 78, 95, 88]

▶ REVEAL ANSWER

Answer: A

remove(2) removes the element at INDEX 2 (value 78), not the value 2. Result: [85, 92, 95, 88].

Q29. [NEVER]

Which of the following CANNOT cause an infinite loop?

(A) while (x != 10) { x += 3; } when x starts at 0
(B) for (int i = 0; i < 10; i++) { /* body with no break */ }
(C) while (true) { if (x > 0) { break; } x--; } when x starts at -5
(D) for (int i = 10; i > 0; i--) { i++; }

▶ REVEAL ANSWER

Answer: B

Option B always terminates in exactly 10 iterations -- it cannot be infinite.

Q30. [TRACE (RECURSION -- tracing only)]

What value does this method return when called as mystery(4)?

public static int mystery(int n)
{
   if (n == 0)
   {
      return 1;
   }
   return n * mystery(n - 1);
}

(A) 4
(B) 8
(C) 16
(D) 24

▶ REVEAL ANSWER

Answer: D

mystery(4)=4*mystery(3)=4*3*mystery(2)=4*3*2*mystery(1)=4*3*2*1*mystery(0)=4*3*2*1*1=24. This is 4 factorial. On the 2026 exam, recursion is TRACE ONLY.

Exam Day Battle Plan

When	What to Do
Night before	Review the Quick Reference. Then stop. Sleep 8 hours.
Morning	Eat breakfast. Bring pencil, pen, and your ID. Arrive early.
Section I starts	Scan all 42 questions in the first 5 minutes. Mark ones you can answer instantly.
First 70 min	Work at 2-min pace. Flag anything that takes more than 90 seconds.
Last 20 min	Return to every flagged question. Slash the trash. Commit to an answer.
Section II starts	Read all 4 FRQs before writing anything.
FRQs 1–4	22 minutes each. Write something for EVERY part. Never leave a part blank.
Final 5 min	Check that every method header matches what the prompt asked for exactly.

★ You Did the Work

You practiced harder questions than what the exam will throw at you.

Predict first. Slash the trash. Flag and move. Never leave an FRQ part blank.

Good luck on May 15, 2026.

Answer Key (for printing)

Q25: B Q26: C Q27: D Q28: A Q29: B Q30: D

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