AP CSA FRQ Guide
2025 FRQ 1: DogWalker
Write two methods for a dog walker. The first chooses how many dogs to walk for one hour using company helper methods. The second runs an inclusive shift, calculates pay per dog, and adds the correct bonus.
Skills Tested
What this FRQ is really practicing
Treat these skills as the study checklist. If any tag feels shaky, review that topic before attempting the full written response.
Starter Approach
How to begin without copying a solution
- 1Part A: decide how many dogs can be walked during one hour, update the company, and return the number walked.
- 2Part B: loop from startHour through endHour, call walkDogs for each hour, calculate base pay, add any earned bonus, and return total pay.
Write a first attempt before revealing any solution outline. Most AP CSA FRQ progress comes from tracing your own code and finding the missing case.
Common Mistakes
Mistakes to watch for while writing
Self Check
Review questions before you submit
Gets the available dog count for the requested hour.
Look for a call to the provided company helper using the hour parameter.
Limits the walk count so it never exceeds maxDogs.
Use Math.min or an if/else comparison between available dogs and maxDogs.
Updates the dog-walking company with the chosen hour and dog count.
The one-hour method should call updateDogs after deciding the count.
Returns the number of dogs walked for the one-hour method.
Do not return the available count if it can exceed maxDogs.
Uses an inclusive loop from startHour through endHour.
The end hour counts as part of the shift.
Calls walkDogs inside dogWalkShift.
Part B should rely on part A behavior, even if part A was imperfect.
Calculates base pay as 5 dollars per dog walked.
Each hour adds dog count times 5 before considering the bonus.
Adds the 3 dollar bonus for full capacity or peak-hour walks.
The bonus condition needs capacity OR hour between 9 and 17 inclusive.
Practice Links