AP Physics 1 online?

Test Preparation AP Test Preparation
1

I’m thinking about taking AP Physics 1 online and I have a few questions.

  1. I’ll be taking Physics Honors next year at school starting August. Is the material similar (like is there a lot of overlap)? I know that obviously they’re both physics classes so they will be very similar but will I be learning pretty much the same things?
  2. do I need to/should I take physics honors before I take AP Physics 1?
  3. What is the best online provider for AP Physics 1? If you haven’t taken AP Physics 1 online, can you discuss your experience with any other online classes?

Thanks for your help

2

  1. Physics Honors covers all topics from both AP Physics 1 and 2 but in less depth.

  2. No, AP Physics 1 is meant to be offered as a first physics course, so most high schools will offer either AP Physics 1 or Physics Honors as the first course (or do away with the Honors course altogether).

3

Hi @goldenbear2020 I’m taking the AP physics edX course online right now, and there’s a little over 2 months for me to review/learn 2D forces through DC currents. Do you think I will be able to cover all of this information?
I’m planning on taking the AP physics 1 test btw.

4

@Iloveband is the edx course good? How are the instructors? Also are there tests, homework, and a textbook? Do you like it so far?

5

1.) The fact that you’re taking physics honors in your school is good. Physics honors goes over all the chapters (except one) from AP Physics 1 but it’s all in one dimension. AP Physics 1 is in two dimensions and there are a couple of more equations.
2.) I would most definitely take physics honors before taking ap physics 1. It builds a solid foundation and it introduces all the basics which are very important to remember in AP physics 1. I also wouldn’t suggest taking AP physics 1 online if you haven’t learned pre calc yet.

6

I actually did the same thing as you this year. I had a schedule conflict in school so I decided to take Honors Physics in school and study AP Physics online at the same time-- I used John Hopkin’s CTY program, which was pretty good, but challenging. Itwas definitely helpful to take Honors Physics along with the AP; yes, it is mostly overlap, but from my experience the pace of the honors class is much slower, so its helpful to use as sort of a review … but AP physics goes at an extremely fast pace, and it takes a huge amount of time to study the and understand the material. Do not underestimate the difficulty and time commitment this course involves (as I kind of did). This is definitely not a course you can even remotely pass by cram-memorizing formulas. It requires sitting down and doing large amounts of reading and practice to really understand the material. I was lucky to be able to get a lot of help from my mom, who is (conveniently) a physics tutor. Honestly, if it was not for her, I am not sure if I would have managed to pass the class and retain any of the material.
If you choose to take this course online, expect to be studying physics with any spare time you have during the year. I can safely say that there has not been a more than 2 or 3 saturdays this school year that I have not entirely spent studying physics. I am not trying to scare you, but I really wished someone had warned me this before I made the decision to take physics online. I like to believe that I am a relatively intelligent student- I got above a 2200 on the SAT and am taking all the highest classes in my school with a A in all of them. But AP physics really killed me this year. I don’t remember doing anything significant this year besides studying physics, yet I barely managed to get a B in the John hopkin’s course, and I just took the AP exam yesterday and completely bombed the free response section (so i probably got like a 2). I personally found the course really interesting, so I wouldn’t say that I wasted the incredible amount of time that I spent on it, but honestly, if you don’t have a particular interest in physics, I don’t think the amount of effort and time is worth the very small chance of good results in the end. CHeck the stats online for the score distributions: Only 4% of AP Physics students got a 5 last year, and the average score was a 2.5. Speaking from experience, AP Physics 1 is definitely an incredibly challenging and time consuming course, and there is truly a very small chance that the effort will even pay off at the end.
WIth that said, however, AP physics is a truly enriching and interesting course. It opened my eyes to a lot of things in the way the world and everything in it works. So I really do encourage you to take it if you are willing to put in the time and effort despite the risk of having it amount to nothing on your college application.
Good luck and feel free to message me if you have any questions !

In addition, if you do choose to take AP Physics, check out this youtube channel; it was very helpful for me in addition to my coursework :slight_smile:
https://www.youtube.com/user/onlearningcurve