<p>My son, a senior, just experienced class schedule implosion. It would have been nice if his counselor had been a little more proactive about it, but this is a public hs, so 6-7 counselors for about 1500 kids. Anyway, we hustled around and got him signed up for EPGY Physics 51, Intro to Mechanics. I just wondered if anyone has had experience with taking courses through EPGY. Comments? Caveats? Supposedly it's not UC approved, but he meets the UC requirements without it, and he's planning to take the AP Physics C test in the spring.</p>
<p>I completed EPGY M041 and M042 (Calculus B and Calculus C). I got a 5 on the Calculus BC exam with no other preparation, and really didn't put effort into the EPGY course; walked away with an easy A and a rushed B+, and the school counted it as AP credit. In that respect, I'm a huge fan of EPGY, as long as the student is responsible (preferably more than I was).</p>
<p>For the record, I didn't complete the Calculus B coursework, and instead I just took the tests. I also did all of Calculus C in less than two weeks right before the AP exam. EPGY allows for such things, which is why I bring up responsibility.</p>
<p>I did M013 Precalc with EPGY when my high school decided not to offer honors precalc, and I actually really liked it.</p>
<p>For one, it went as fast as I wanted - I watched all the lectures in the first month (once I figured out how to speed up the taped lectures by 15% :) ) and kind of wrapped up the homework and exams later on when I had to. </p>
<p>Second there wasn't very much busy work at all - it was a lot more like a college class than a high school class, which I especially liked as well.</p>
<p>On the other side, I took 1 or 2 weeks of M040 Calc "A" and decided I really didn't like it as much. It was better than a regular high school class, but it seemed way more tedious and slow than the precalc was. So I just didn't do that course and self-studied for the Calc BC exam on my own. (I also did the same with AP physics C - I didn't bother with the EPGY and just self studied)</p>
<p>My son started the EPGY physics class (just for fun, not for credit). I watched some of the lectures and was really impressed. Things are explained clearly, and from a physicist's point of view, that is, the explanations and exercises are good at encouraging the right kind of intuition. </p>
<p>My son did not finished the course, as partway through, he decided he wanted to learn a LOT more math. That was fine with me. One of the really nice things about self paced courses is that you can do them really fast (as the posters above said) or you can drop them and pick them up later. Later, when he wanted to learn physics he used MIT's open course ware (free!). This was also fun and VERY entertaining. He had no trouble getting 5's on the AP Physics B, and both parts of the Physics C exams.</p>
<p>Now the sad and ironic part of the story. The high school will not give him credit for this, and he needs a third science to graduate. Neither will they offer an appropriate level class (we don't have AP Physics at our school, let alone post AP). Arrrgh.... In the end we are paying for a university physics class for him ourselves.</p>
<p>My D was/is not fan. It appears that the mentor (or whatever they call the student assigned to grade tests and answer questions) is important. D's school ends at Calculus AB and she wanted to take BC so she signed up for EPGY. She'd take a test and grades never came and it became a problem with no feedback. She called several times to get her tests back with limited success. She ended the semester and finally I had to call and complain. I think the undergad assigned was just overwhelmed with her own life at the time. </p>
<p>To their credit the EPGY folks were aghast and offered her a free course to make up for the problems. D declined and took C on her own with just a book and a few contacts with a teacher. She made a 5 and had a lot less stress. She really is not a fan of that type of distance learning. </p>
<p>I expect it would have been better with a different "mentor", "teacher", whatever they call the contact person.</p>
<p>Thanks, everyone. I'll pass along your comments to him, especially the one about the student responsibilty. Good to know about the mentor being important - if we see a problem there we'll let EPGY know early on.</p>
<p>Hey everyone: new member here. (not new - just very few posts)
Anyone successful in getting in to the EPGY summer program?
I really want to get in this year. Does anyone have any advice and/or tips?
I didn’t get in last year.</p>
<p>My D took EPGY Physics B. It was very high quality and quite intense. Hers was self-paced, and she did it on and off over 2 years.</p>
<p>I imagine the Physics C will also be of the same high quality.</p>
<p>S took Real Analysis the summer before his senior year. The summer program covered a third of the class and, for a small fee, he was able to complete the remainder during his senior year. I think the same factors that influence a college application were at play in his acceptance - high GPA, good test scores, good recs.</p>
<p>You may want to start a new thread. This one is so old that it’s likely to be locked.</p>
<p>If you need to ask about EPGY, please start a new thread and ask for recent experience. I think EPGY is now run by Stanford University Online High School. It’s not the same as what EPGY used to be 5 years ago; and from what I know, things are changing pretty fast.</p>
<p>I prefer the “original” OHS, but that’s my opinion. It’s not necessarily better or worse, just different.</p>
<p>My S took physics C through EPGY within the last few years. His HS didn’t offer anything but a basic physics class that was considered…well…not very good. He didn’t do well with the self pacing. The lack of deadlines kept him procrastinating and got us to pay more $ to extend the class… He did up finishing because high school graduation was his final deadline ( and he needed the class for college entrance). </p>
<p>The course was rigorous and he learned enough to pass the AP exam before officially finishing the course. It made him learn to hold himself accountable, a priceless lesson. If there is no good alternative at your HS then EPGY is worth looking into.</p>
<p>Our son had a bad experience with the geometry course several summers ago. The computer program that came with the course (the graphics part) was broken; EPGY discontinued using it mid-way through. The program was written by a grad student many years previously and was very unwieldy and kept hanging. Our son’s mentor was unresponsive. Our son would email him and then have to wait a week before he got a response. He was trying to do the course in a 5 week period over the summer so time was important. We were very unhappy with EPGY.</p>