I got a four; honestly, this being one of my first AP tests, I wouldn’t have been surprised with my score no matter what it was. I was equally sure of my chances for a one and a five! I’m a bit disappointed I didn’t actually get a five, but I’m satisfied enough that I passed above a three.
(And I’m so thankful for proxies: I would’ve died if I had to wait for my scores to be released to my location, having seen the score distributions.)
I am extremely upset and disappointed with myself right now. I just got my score back and it’s a 4. I know a 4 isn’t necessarily bad, but I personally feel that it’s terrible. I tried my absolute best to study for the test, using both 5 to a 5 and Barrons, but in the end I still think I didn’t get enough practice, especially in the way of FRQ and conceptual reasoning. (By the way I had Form D. I think I lost points on FRQ 3,4 and 5).
I really can’t accept a 4 right now. It’s my first AP and I strove to study as much as I could, but on test day, I just wasn’t able to think creatively enough to devise the experiment and precisely answer some of the analytical questions. It didn’t help that we barely did any labs in class, and definitely nothing in which we had to devise an experiment (especially ones without electronics…aaargh)
I have very high aspirations for colleges, and like any student, my goal is to go to a top tech or Ivy school. I know many people say that AP scores don’t count for college, but for a math/science oriented person like me, I think a 4 on AP Physics 1 looks really bad. Now it may be the first year and a little harder for everyone, but that’s not something you can rely on a college to recognize, especially the best. Considering how competitive top colleges are, a 4 vs. 5 can be the difference between acceptance and rejection (based on what I know about admissions).
I will be taking AP Physics 2 next year, but I’m thinking I should probably retake this test. With extra study materials, it might be easier to get a good score. I don’t know how worth it is, and that’s what I hope I can get some help on from you all.
Considering that I literally, and I do mean literally, guessed on 95% of the test (there is no way for me to understand physics), I will gladly take my 3.
@PSAT2014TAKER I’ve heard many people talk about their woes on the FRQ, and I do agree (to some extent). However, it seems that literally every APP1 taker has forgotten about the multiple choice, as if it had no bearing in their score. Surely, there are no paragraph-length response/lab designs on that section? If you did not do well on the MC (not that I’m insinuating that you didn’t), then it probably means you didn’t go hardcore enough on drilling practice problems. In the end, this exam was strange, but there was still a more traditional aspect within it.
Anyways, I would recommend that you don’t retake your APP1 4. At that point, any preparation for APP1 next year could be used toward preparation for other APs (in order to secure your must-have 5s and prevent more fours). But that’s just what I would do (and I am aim for the top as well).
@Kyuutoryuu I felt pretty confident on all the MC. I thought that my review books in addition to the released test prepared me well for the conceptual questions. For the FRQ, I did all the ones in the practice books, some released ones my teacher had, and the College Board’s course description which had a few. During the test though, I just wasn’t able to come up with the correct experiment and the correct paragraph response questions. I blame it on myself, and I think I could have gotten a 5 if I had done more comprehensive, rigorous studying.
I am leaning towards not retaking it, but I’m not sure yet. I was thinking that if I’m going to take AP Physics 2 next year anyways, maybe I’ll feel confident with retaking AP Physics 1. With more released content and more accurate review books it may be easier to study for next year’s test. For the time being, I’m going to ponder what went wrong as I definitely cannot afford to do this again.
@stantonstudent Find worksheets online such as nTipers throughout the year to work on. Also make sure to understand every problem; if that means going in every day after school or looking up videos online than do it! On my AP Test I felt that a lot of questions had a graph, so work on your ability to understand graphs/tables.
I would focus on getting basics and concepts DOWN FLAT as essentially the majority of the problems felt more inclined towards theory and applications to real-life stuff rather than plugging in numbers into equations. Just knowing the equations won’t get you anywhere unless you know where and how to use them. Deriving concepts is also a pretty useful tool to have. Don’t kill me for this, but I felt knowing a little bit of basic calculus helps on graphs (mainly stuff relating to motion), although you aren’t required to know it, obviously.
After that, I guess what really helps is solving a bunch of problems from each “topic” from the curriculum (kinematics, circuits, etc.). Tedious yes, but it pays off in the long run. You will definitely see questions similar to those you find from problem sets.
Doing all that, I thought the test was pretty simple and I got a 5 on it so certainly you can do it too.
This website mostly helps with quantitative questions. For qualitative questions, just type in the unit name with “Concept Test” afterwards. Ex. Centripetal Motion Conepts Test.
Soon, you’ll accumulate a wealth of practice problems, of which some will undoubtedly appear on the test.
In the way of online resources, I found that http://www.learnapphysics.com/index.html was a very good website. It includes derivations and helps you solidify understanding of concepts in their animated videos surprisingly well. They have a ton of other stuff that you’d find interesting as well such as AP Physics C stuff, problems, and other physics resources.
I don’t have a specific textbook preference, but if you want to continue physics and do well in USAPHO or Physics Bowl, I’d recommend Fundamentals of Physics by Halliday, Resnick, and Walker (both volumes, if you want). The Feynman Lectures (three volumes) is the holy text for physics theory, although you’d need a bit of conceptual maturity and mathematical ability to truly appreciate the text.