I will be a senior going into the upcoming school year and I was wondering if I should take AP Physics C or not. I took AP Physics 1 and ended up getting a 3 on the exam. I believed that I was capable of getting a 4 on it, so as you can imagine I am very depressed right now. I plan on doing engineering in college and I dream of attending the Cockrell School of Engineering at UT Austin. I struggled through AP Physics 1, as my teacher was very lazy and useless. Should I take AP Physics C off my schedule for next year? I am aware that if I do it and plan do get a five on the exam, I will have to take a different approach from the one I had for AP Physics 1 and will probably have to do way more practice than the mediocre amount provided in class. Thanks for your advice, I really appreciate it! I am having major trouble making decisions because my self esteem is very low at the moment.
If you did well in the first physics class, I see no reason not to take AP Physics C. I would not stress over the AP score; AP Physics 1 has one of the lowest pass rates.
I would definitely recommend taking AP Physics C, especially since you’re interested in engineering. And even if you don’t do well on the exam, taking AP classes shows interest and commitment. I would definitely recommend a lot of personal studying though. I don’t know about your school, but the academics at my school are kind of a joke, so the only way I have been able to do well on AP exams is a lot of studying outside the classroom.
If you got a 3 on Physics 1, I wouldn’t count on getting 5 for either section of Physics C. Physics C will be the hardest AP class that you will take in HS bar none. Having said that, definitely take the class. I’ll assume you have already taken Calculus or at minimum taking it concurrently.