AP Physics 1 after College Prep Physics? Not Sure What to Do.

Pre-College Topics High School Life
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<p>As a junior I took college prep physics because I had never taken an AP course before and I was in three other APs and one honors course. I put honest work into the course (though I did not prioritize it over my APs or honors trig/precalculus), and finished the year with an A-. </p>

<p>Of all the basic sciences (biology, chemistry and physics), physics was my favorite by far (although I may have a bias: while the biology class I took freshman year was pretty dull and I'm not particularly interested by the life sciences anyway, I absolutely despised chemistry, because I mistakenly chose not to go with Honors chemistry[the highest level offered at my school], and CP Chemistry was one of the worst classes I have ever taken [the teacher was alright, but the class and curriculum...well it just wasn't for me]. Though I tried to enjoy the subject, I really didn't learn anything, and honestly I began to feel embarrassed I was enrolled in the class; that's how bad it got). </p>

<p>Towards the end of my junior year, I began seriously considering what I may want to major in (acknowledging that my decisions would possibly be subject to alteration), and I narrowed my options down to either computer science, computational physics, applied mathematics with a computer science emphasis, or as a last resort, general physics (although I've never seriously looked into it, on the surface, engineering doesn't seem too interesting to me). With these options in mind, for my senior year, I requested to be enrolled in AP Calculus BC, and the highest level physics class offered at my school, AP Physics B. I was partially afraid that I would be repeating material by taking another algebra-based physics class, but from what I heard from friends who were in AP at the time, the material provided enough rigor and difference from prep physics that it would be worth my time and effort to take. </p>

<p>Well, I didn't know it at the time of registration, but as most people who are active with collegeboard stuff probably know by now, 2014 was the last year the AP Physics B exam was being administered. The AP Physics B curriculum was split in half (AP Physics *1 and AP Physics * 2), and now my school would only offer AP Physics 1.
As a senior, I have been placed in AP Physics 1, and today was my first day in the class. Right off the bat my teacher made it clear (or so it seemed) that the class was intended for students with no background in physics. He followed this up by stating that a lot of material from the previous year was now part of a course that our school does not offer (AP Physics 2). As it happens, this material comprised most of, if not all of, the stuff I never learned in prep physics. Now I'm stuck with reviewing basically the same material we covered last year, just at an AP level, and with all the students who had opted to take an honors life-science class the previous year. </p>

<p>I really wish my school offered AP Physics C (alongside AP Calc BC), because I would definitely try to switch to that, but as far as dual enrollment goes for my school, I don't know if they'll allow me to take a course online, and they will not allow us to take science classes at the local community college. As it happens, AP Physics 1 seems to be my only realistic option. </p>

<p>If my potential major(s) will require me to take the Physics w/ Calculus series, and I plan on going to a community college for my first two years after high school, keeping in mind that I've already taken a year of algebra-based high school physics, should I bother with AP Physics 1? I don't want this to end up like a rigorous version of my experience with prep chemistry, but at the same time, I don't want to drop the class only to discover that it may have helped me immensely. Can anyone offer any advice? What would put me at an advantage and what would put me at a significant disadvantage? What are my best options? I'll look into this myself as much as possible, but advice from this community, particularly those in any of the majors I listed above who transferred from a cc, would be greatly, greatly appreciated. Thank you!</p>

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<p>Sorry about the formatting. I tried to edit the post but that only made it worse.</p>

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<p>Yes AP physics 1 is essentially honors(or in your case college-prep) level physics. You may look at what topics AP P1 covers and compare it with what you learn in your physics class last year, but it’d probably be a waste of time.</p>

<p>Computer Science and Applied Math will not require a physics background beyond the basic levels, calculus however is probably a big plus to have if you entering these majors. If you’re going to CC then I’d recommend just dropping the class and use the time to do more productive things.</p>

<p>I hope my advice helps.</p>

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<p>Thank you for the advice. Would you have given me the same answer if Physics B was still a thing? And does anyone else have a similar (or dissimilar) opinion?</p>

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<p>Yeah, I have the same problem. Not sure what advice I could give you though. I would think that there are enough juniors who have taken Physics 2 (College Prep Physics, Physics 1 is a freshman class) who will also be in Calculus senior year in my school that there could have been an AP Physics C class offered, but sadly I’m just going to have to take an honors version on what I took junior year. This is quite strange, as you don’t really see people enrolling in regular Chem one year and Honors Chemistry the next year. Now I’m just going to have to self study AP Physics C for the exams so I can start out advanced in Physics in college.</p>

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<p>I talked to the AP Physics 1 teacher, and he said that there would still be enough difference between the course I took last year and the new curriculum to make taking AP worth my while, unless there was another class I would much rather take. Given that my school doesn’t offer any other physics or math courses (AP Physics C or Statistics), nor does it offer any sort of computer science class, there really is no other class I would rather be enrolled in that would work for my schedule. </p>

<p>So in short, I’m sticking with it. But feel free to continue the discussion if there are any points you would like to address. </p>

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<p>

No, but it’s moot, since Physics B is no more.</p>

<p>At this point, stick with it, because there are not any good alternatives.</p>

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<p>Yeah; it’s kind of odd because my High School is very college-oriented as far as what they require and support. Maybe it has something to do with budget, but they don’t offer all that many APs, at least not as many as other schools I’ve read about on here.</p>

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<p>philosofish, same situation for our student. Like you, she really did not have any other option to switch to, so she is staying with AP Physics 1. She plans to study STEM in college also. She is figuring she will have a strong physics foundation.</p>

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<p>For anyone else who may be in my situation, I’ll suggest something I’ll probably try. While the exam will require the use of algebra and trig, as much as possible, I will try to apply calculus to homework/ textbook problems. While I don’t plan to take the Physics C exam in May, at least these will give me a bit of a head start, however minor, in accessing physics with calculus. Again, I’m concurrently enrolled in AP Calc BC, so I don’t know how well this will go, but I’m going to give it a shot. </p>