Our AP Physics 1 teacher told his students if you are not taking AP Physics 2, do not take the AP Physics test. My son had an A in the class, but he didn’t take the test because the teacher told him that most students can not get a passing score without AP Physics 2. Our school has 4 classes each semester so AP Physics 1 is taught 1st semester and AP Physics 2 was taught 2nd semester. It just wouldn’t work in his schedule to take AP Physics 2. It will, however, help in college when he takes College physics because he will already have a solid foundation on which to build. My son got a 1 in AP Computer Science (our football coach taught this class - big mistake to take it!) and it had no effect on his college admissions. He also got an A in the class - he did not even attempt the “coding” section of the test as he learned close to nothing in the class.
If the kids at this school are not getting a passing grade on the AP Physics 1, then I’d posit that the problem is not that they did not take AP Physics 2. That’s akin to saying that one should not take AP European History if one did not have AP World History or that one should not take the AP Spanish Language exam until after taking AP Spanish Lit; each is offered as a standalone class (as they are in college), so success in one should not require completion of the succeeding course.
@skieurope The best students in his class were only getting a 3 if they took only AP Physics 1 - the reason is that they have an entire semester between learning the material and taking the test. It’s a major downfall of the 4 classes a semester. It’s very hard to retain information with months in-between the test - it means that the student has to keep studying on their own. Our experience has been that our lowest AP test scores across the board are the ones taken in the 1st semester. They should honestly have all AP classes be split block and taken throughout the year. Our Physics teacher is one of the best teachers in our school and he knows what it takes to get a 4 or 5 on the AP test.
Which reinforces my earlier point. The issue, IMO, is not that the students are not taking AP Physics 2; the issue is that the school operates on a block schedule. So perhaps for that school, and others that operate similarly, it may be more advantageous to take another physics class in the Spring to keep some material fresh (although taking AP Physics C: Mech would be better, but that’s probably only offered in the fall, keeping the calculus corequisite out of the discussion).
But I would not make a blanket statement that AP Physics 2 is needed.
My kids’ school teaches Physics 1 the entire year. What am I missing about the expected pace of this class?
@skieurope I did not mean that as a blanket statement regarding all AP Physic 1 tests. I was just trying to reassure the OP that other students have AP tests that they do not successfully pass and it will be OK.
Physics 1 approximates the content of the first semester physics-for-biology-majors-and-premeds course in college (physics 2 approximates the content of the second semester). It is not unusual for high school AP courses to be slower paced than the college courses covering similar material. However, in the case of physics, college physics courses commonly expect that the student has had high school physics before (though that is more often the case for physics-for-physics-and-engineering-majors courses).
A high school teaching physics 1 in a semester would be running it at college pace, similar to teaching calculus BC in a year starting from completion of precalculus.
I don’t know how “expect that the student has had high school physics before” manifests itself, but it certainly is not necessary for success in college physics courses that a student has had high school physics already.
You’re not missing anything; most (but not all) high schools teach it as a full-year class. However, the college-equivalent is a semester long, so while the material is comparable, the pace is not.
^ Our state flagship (University of MN) will give you a semester each of Physical Sciences L/E if you pass Physics 1 and/or 2 with a 3, 4, or 5. However, these particular AP’s won’t serve as a pre-req. for bio. or pre-med majors. Those students must actually take higher-level physics courses. Haven’t checked across a wide range of top elite schools but UChicago and Harvard won’t give you any credit at all - not even “Core”, L/E or elective - and not even with a “5”. So Physics 1 is probably more advanced than regular H/S physics but can be problematic if you are looking to fulfill some college credit with it. We learned this a few years ago from a friend of my oldest D so we understand the limitation (and this is the highest physics taught at our high school - they don’t even teach Physics 2), but we know others who have been caught off-guard.
If thinking of Bio or pre-med it’s best to understand early on which physics courses satisfy what at your college of interest. Most subjects are taught at a higher quality in college than in high school and so, IMHO, worth “repeating”, but advanced students looking to save on tuition and/or credits need to research this to avoid surprises come time to register.
Medical schools commonly expect pre-med courses to be taken in college, not as AP credit. Since physics-for-biology-majors or AP physics 1 and 2 do not lead to more advanced physics courses that could be taken in college, it is very likely that a pre-med will eventually have to retake a frosh level physics sequence anyway if s/he stays pre-med.
“I don’t know how “expect that the student has had high school physics before” manifests itself, but it certainly is not necessary for success in college physics courses that a student has had high school physics already.”
A bit off the subject from the comment above, but it’s not just college physics courses. Again bringing up the example of our state flagship, which is a reasonably competitive admissions process for some of its colleges of entry, they require you to have taken at least one year of high school physics in order to qualify for admission to the school of business (in addition to the colleges of bio. sciences and engineering which, of course, would be expected). Competitive colleges are increasingly encouraging at least three years of science, including one year each of Bio, Chem, and Physics, and college prep curricula increasingly expect students to graduate with at least three years of science, regardless of eventual college major. None of my kids is a stem kid -mand all have taken or are planning to take four years of science (not all at the AP level, however).
Perhaps the strong encouragement of physics at the hs level is a screening tool for colleges. Hard to argue that physics is needed for a humanities major or for the majority of social sciences; but you at least get incoming students who are more comfortable with scientific “thinking” (not to mention the scientific method). Perhaps there’s a higher correlation with ability to handle more challenging college courses and better employment / grad school outcomes.