<p>I looked at the syllabus for 8.01 and it seems to mirror my mechanics class from junior year, and I can already do the problem sets posted on OpenCourseWare. I'd like to take 8.012 for a bit more of a challenge, especially because of Pass/No record, but I'm starting to question that decision after reading MIT</a> Admissions | Blog Entry: "What Though the Odds"</p>
<p>Does anyone on here have any experience with the two? Just how horrifying is 8.012? Can 8.01 still be interesting for someone who got a 5 on physics C mechanics? Could 8.012 be more manageable if I study ahead with OpenCourseWare over the summer?</p>
<p>I took AP Physics C in high school and even though I didn’t do very well, I thought the pace and material covered in 8.01 was very slow. It was frankly quite boring. I also did not personally like the TEAL style of teaching. </p>
<p>Pass/No Record is there to try new things. Especially if you think you have learned the material already, I would give 8.012 a shot. It is easier to switch to 8.01 from 8.012 than the other way around.</p>
<p>I took AP Physics C in high school and even though I didn’t do very well, I thought the pace and material covered in 8.01 was very slow. It was frankly quite boring. I also did not personally like the TEAL style of teaching.</p>
<p>Pass/No Record is there to try new things. But I also appreciated the freedom to slack a bit (or maybe, more than just a bit) after all the studying in high school. There will come time for difficult classes and arduous psets, surely. MIT will not leave you intact in one piece, so enjoy the one semester of reprieve that you get! ; )</p>
<p>I took AP Physics C in high school and even though I didn’t do very well…</p>
<p>okay just kidding. :] But in some seriousness, I have the same kind of question that you do. I did take AP Physics C in high school, but just the Mechanics portion, not the E&M half. I didn’t take the AP test because I knew MIT wouldn’t give me credit for just half the exam, but I think I would have gotten a 4 or 5. I like physics, and think 8.012 sounds like a good way for me to try challenging myself without completely killing myself first semester. Pass/No Record. But it does sound a little intimidating.</p>
<p>I’m not sure if you have a 5 on both parts of the AP, or if you just have a 5 on one part, but if you don’t already have a 5 on both parts of the AP, you could try what I’m doing, which is to take the 8.01 ASE. If I pass it, then I’ll take 8.012, I think, and if I fail, then I’ll take 8.01. :)</p>
<p>I might be in a good (or possibly bad) place to answer your question: as a first-term freshman at MIT, I didnt score well enough on the math placement test to get in to 8.012, so I spent my first few weeks in 8.01. Now, when you take 8.01, one of the first things you do is take a physics diagnostic exam. I somehow scored two standard deviations above the average, and Dourmashkin pulled me aside after class one day and asked me to consider switching into 8.012. I did just that.</p>
<p>Since youre a little worried about the class, Ill start off with the positive aspects. 8.012 is pretty amazing. I think 8.012 and 8.022 have managed to seduce many undergraduates into the physics program at MIT, with their elegance and apparent simplicity. One of the reasons why the content delivery in these classes is much clearer than their counterparts is that they assume that you know Calculus (8.01 and 8.02 dont). Youll come away from these classes with a visceral understanding of mechanics and E&M. If you are the slightest interested in physics (you dont have to be an intended major), I highly recommend taking them.</p>
<p>The bad news? The stories are right: 8.012 is a <em>hard</em> class. I survived the unit on gyroscopes by badgering one hapless TA several days a week after class. Friendly upperclassmen who took the time to re-explain concepts and help you on problems were lifesavers. Looking at a problem set, I had no idea how long a given problem would take. If youre not comfortable in Calculus, the class is not impossible, but youll need to bootstrap yourself their in a very short period of time.</p>
<p>tl;dr If youre interested in Physics take 8.012, and dont feel ashamed of switching down.</p>
<p>Just to clarify: the math diagnostic has no bearing on what class you take. I didn’t do too well on it because I was in a rush to get back to by FPOP and finish programming my little robot, haha. But I was able to register myself in 8.012 nonetheless.</p>
<p>As for the class itself: if you managed 5’s on both portions of the AP Physics exam, you can definitely pass the class (and a pass is all you need). Yes, the psets can get ridiculously hard at times, e.g. calculate time/path of a bouncing ball with elasticity of collision x (turns out the ball actually bounces an infinite number of times in a finite time, which absolutely blew my mind). Or - everyone’s worst nightmare - gyroscopes on a slope.</p>
<p>However, you’ll find that the 8.012 community is very collaborative. The professors and TA’s are often more than willing to help you in and out of office hours. There are pset parties abound (usually lasting until around 3am), and no one sleeps until everyone has gotten all the problems done. If you want, I can forward you copies of some of the pset questions, and you can gauge your interest from there.</p>
<p>I see Zwierlein’s teaching again next semester; he’s a super-nice guy and has been either teaching or TA-ing 8.012 for the past 3+ years. You might also have Prof. Rappaport, who can explain things in ways that make your inner lightbulb suddenly switch on. </p>
<p>And of course, if after a few weeks in 8.012 (I recommend you stay at least until you get your first exam score) you decide to drop down to 8.01, it is totally doable.</p>
<p>8.012 is a good class in that it is complete: you will derive almost everything there is to derive with Newtonian Mechanics. Also, it has very challenging and cool mechanics problems, and those can be helpful for later classes if you end up being a mechanical engineering student.</p>
<p>However, as a physics major, I think how challenging your Newtonian physics is , isn’t THAT important. You’ll get plenty more practice as a physics major doing cool and challenging problems, and learning NEW material(Lagrangian, Hamiltonian…). Also, knowing Newtonian physics like a beast has very little bearing on later more advanced courses in physics anyways. I would much rather learn new physics (quantum, waves etc…), so my advice is, ASE as many classes as you can, especially 8.01, 8.02 so you can learn new material, especially during P/NR. As far as collaboration is concerned, I wouldn’t care too much about that. In upper level smaller classes in Physics, it is just as easy, if not easier, to talk/discuss with TA’s and Professors, as well as make a study group. I would be concerned only if you want SPECIFICALLY your study group to be made of freshmen. I don’t see why you would want that though. I like my student group to have upperclassmen because I tend to learn more from them.</p>
But it does sound a little intimidating.</p>