Burbank High School grad aces AP tests

For recent Burbank High School graduate John Yee, acing most of the five Advanced Placement tests he took during his junior year seemed like no big deal.

He received a 5 — a perfect score — on his AP calculus BC, chemistry, computer science and U.S. history tests and a 4 on his English-language exam, all in one year.

“I did well enough,” Yee said.

However, his ace on the AP computer science test was more unique. Yee said he received his AP scores last July and thought nothing much of them, but then he received a letter in December from the not-for-profit College Board, the organization that oversees the SAT and AP programs, informing him that he was one of 112 in the world who earned that perfect score.

“It was a pleasant surprise,” he said. “I felt that the exam was relatively easy, but not to the point where I could get a perfect score.”

The exam tests a student’s ability to understand Java programming and see if they understand what certain codes do or how to create a code that will do a specific task.

Yee attributed his success on the test to his teacher Brenda Kosbab, who he said gave him and his classmates exams that were more difficult than the AP test itself.

The perfect score wasn’t just for the grade, however. Yee said he plans to attend Cal Poly San Luis Obispo and major in computer science. He added that he hopes to become a video-game programmer with that degree.

“I like computer science because it’s logical and mathematical,” Yee said. “Those sorts of things come quickly enough to me, and I enjoy doing that stuff.”

anthonyclark.carpio@latimes.com

Twitter: @acocarpio