<p>In my school, we have Physics 1 honors and then AP Physics B. You can take physics 1 honors or AP Physics tjunior or senior year, and you dont have to tae physics 1 honors t take AP Phyics. Im a freshman and I am an Excellent student with excellent GPA (4.00) and HPA(4.50) with AP and Honor classes. Math is not my favorite subject, but I always end up pulling off an A. I am currently taking Gemoetry Honors. B junior year I will be taking Pre-calc honors. Should I take physics 1 honors in junior year and then AP Physics in senior, or can I just go into AP Physics junior year? Please help :)</p>
<p>Depends on what colleges you are hoping to apply to. If you are planning to to apply to Tier 1 and Tier 2 Colleges IMHO you should take physics B. It is not a particularly hard course and it is designed for first year physics students. </p>
<p>Given, math may not be your favorite subject, Physics B will still be a great class to challenge yourself. It would be redundant to take a physics honors course and take physics B again the following year. Plus, it may indirectly suggest laziness or lack of interest in learning if you take two essentially equal courses two years in a row. </p>
<p>Take Physics B, get a 5 on the AP, and take something else senior year. This would give you something more to put on your transcript and show that you are constantly challenging yourself to advanced classes</p>
<p>Hope this helped –</p>
<p>What classes should I take before going into it?</p>
<p>At least Trig, IMO.</p>
<p>Will Pre-Calc do?
Like is it vital???</p>
<p>Aren’t they pretty much the same? You just have to know a lot of the sin, cos, tan, etc. Rest is pretty much algebra</p>
<p>Physics B is, IMO, MUCH MUCH easier than AP Bio, AP Chem, and AP Physics C (which is about one billion times harder than its non-calculus counterpart). It’s the perfect hard science AP for a student who is more inclined towards the humanities. I would say go for it.</p>
<p>I’m assuming you have a strong interest in science. If you don’t, and the main gist of your question is how to make you a stronger candidate for selective colleges, then I have a different answer.</p>
<p>So if you have a strong interest in science, you’re fortunate that your high school offers AP physics. I recommend that you take the regular (non-AP) physics course, AND then take AP calculus and AP physics concurrently. The standard physics course will introduce concepts and set the stage for the AP course. The AP physics course will complement the calculus course. Often math courses without science/engineering/economics context are too abstract, and not necessarily compelling.</p>
<p>In practice, if you end up at a very selective college, especially at one that has strong science/math, you would not want to place out of freshman (with calculus) physics. Colleges courses in science are at a much higher standard than AP classes. That’s less the case for calculus. You can effectively place out, and take the followup calculus course. But having the AP physics course will allow you to take in the college course, and understand the subject matter with much more depth if you hadn’t taken it.</p>
<p>If you’re asking because you want to make your transcript more compelling for selective colleges, then I’d advise against AP physics.</p>
<p>I have always gone directly to the AP course and have managed just fine. Yes Physics is math oriented and a bit difficult, but the math is just application of physics knowledge, not really math math. So go ahead and take AP, you’ll do fine.</p>
<p>By the way, AP Physics B, matches well with precal, and uses no calculus whatsoever, if your school offers it, I reccomend taking AP Physics C senior year with the calc, those two go together.</p>
<p>Basic trig is necessary, but your precal class should cover that soon enough (actually we did some things like vectors in physics first, then in precal, it shouldn’t be a problem).</p>
<p>Thanks! You guys really helped me!</p>