AP Physics 1?

Applying to College
1

Hi, I’m a junior right now and I took the AP physics exam yesterday. I don’t know what it was, but during the exam I just blanked out and I wasn’t at my best mental state. Maybe it was because I had spanish right before. Anyway, I feel like I got a 3 on the exam, and I usually have a pretty good gauge of what my score will be. Is a 3 really bad? I do want to go into engineering, and I feel like I’m not bad at physics per se, but rather that I didn’t study very much and my teacher did not prepare us super well. I did earn As for both semesters.

So my question is:
is a 3 really bad? I know its not a big deal if you’re not going into engineering, but I plan to. I’m worried that colleges will not take me seriously as a prospective engineering student if I get a 3 on the AP exam. However, I do enjoy physics and I’m willing to work hard to succeed. I am also planning on taking Physics C next year.

2

AP physics 1 and 2 will not give you any advanced placement in an engineering degree program, since that will require calculus based physics. So the score may not be all that relevant, except as a way of comparing your high school’s course quality and grade inflation relative to standardized AP test scoring.

3
  1. No it's not bad
  2. It won't hurt you since AP scores are pretty much only used to give course validation and not in the admissions process
  3. Physics 1/2 are almost useless anyways as most advanced stem degrees require calculus based physics
4

I’m in the same boat as you dude, I totally messed up the physics test. What they said ^, plus, I wouldn’t despair about your score yet. You never know, maybe they’ll be very generous with the curve! Best of luck to you. =D>

5

While true for most courses, considering how horrible the AP results have been in this class the past couple of years, I doubt colleges will draw any correlation. Everything else, I agree with.