Hello, I am new here so sorry if I’m doing anything wrong!
I’m going to be in 11th grade next year, and I’m a bit worried and confused when it comes to science class sequencing. This is my sequence so far:
9th: Honors Bio & Honors Alg II Trig
10th: Honors Chem & Honors Precalc
11th: planning to take AP Physics C: Mechanics & AP Calc BC
12th: planning to take AP Chem & AP Stat
Is this a good sequence to have? I feel like I shouldn’t be taking AP Physics C as my first physics course since middle school, but I’m not really sure. I was advised by someone on a different site to just go over basic physics concepts this summer and I should be ok, but would it be better to take AP Chem 11th grade instead since I took Honors Chem in 10th? Or does it not really matter?
Thank you for reading, any advice would be appreciated!
I would suggest taking either AP Physics 1 or physics honors (whichever you school offer as an introductory physics course) before you take physics C. C is meant to be taken after an introductory physics course.
If you feel you’ll forget chemistry concepts and you really want to take AP chemistry, I would suggest you take AP chem your junior year then. What do you want to major in? Physics C is generally taken by kids who want to go into engineering. If this is not you, you’d be fine with only an introductory physics course.
If you want to go into engineering, may I suggest doubling up on AP chem and the intro physics course your junior year (assuming you really want to take chem, if not, just drop AP chem)? Then senior year you could take C without a problem.
If you do not want to go into engineering, then I feel you should take AP chem your junior year, then just take the intro physics course senior year. Hope this helped!
I have friends who took AP Physics C this past year, and it is a very difficult class- you really need a strong foundation in physics concepts.
My recommendation is as follows:
11th: AP Chem (since it is fresh in your mind from Honors Chem) and AP Physics 1 (or Honors Physics, whatever your school offers)
12th: AP Physics C and AP Stat
@Shanban1607@yonceonhismouth Alright, I’m now considering taking AP Chem next year and then introductory AP Physics my senior year. But I’ll wait until the school year starts and ask my teachers what they think before changing up my schedule, just to make sure. Thanks guys for the advice!
A student confident in their calculus skills has no reason to take Phys 1 over APC. If an individual’s school allows him/her to take APC without taking a prior physics course, then the APC teacher will be teaching in such a way that students without previous physics experience will not face undue difficulties.
Furthermore, APC: Mech as a yearlong course is not going to be the fast-paced horror story APC that you’ll read about; that’s almost always reserved for schools that do Mech+E&M over a single year. In fact, AP Chem will almost certainly cover material more quickly than yearlong APC: Mech.
I’m a little confused; are you taking any Calculus before Physics C? It seems you’re jumping straight from Precalc to Physics C and Calc BC, which is not recommended at all
@1d51jklad1 Yeah I think I remember asking the APC teacher about it last year and she said some kids were in my situation (no prior phys classes & in APC) and were doing fine, which is why I’m planning to ask about it again once the year begins to clear things up. Also thanks for the info!
@nyuhopeful44 Maybe, but I wasn’t really interested in doing the college credit plus thing… I might look into it, thank you for the recommendation
@DaedricSaiyan At my school, Honors Precalc includes Calc A
@MYOS1634 I’m not really sure yet… because of that should I not take AP Phys C next year and take AP Chem instead? And then introductory AP Phys in 12th grade?
Yes, taking AP chemistry next year sounds like the best plan . It gives you another year to decide if you want to go into engineering and thus which Physics class to take, and if you choose physics c you can plan to self study an intro to physics class over the summer preceding senior year. Ap physics 1/2 is already pretty good for any other stem major beside engineering.
