<p>They are AP Physics C: Electricity & Magnetism and AP Physics C: Mechanics, right? </p>
<p>Does each one count as a separate AP exam, in terms of State AP Scholar?</p>
<p>They count as two separate exams, so yes.</p>
<p>Alright, thank you.</p>
<p>How hard are these exams ?</p>
<p>Extremely hard, which is why the curves are usually somewhere around 55% for a 5 and 30% for a 3.</p>
<p>I’ll be self studying these because my school doesn’t offer Physics B. What prep books should I get for next year?</p>
<p>Both exams are straightforward (maybe E&M is a little less so) if you understand calculus well and have developed good physical intuition meaning that you know how to identify which laws and conservation rules are applicable given a problem. The thing about AP tests is that they are all very formulaic once you know the material and how the test works. This allows you to read questions carefully and do problems in the most time efficient way.
Ideally you should either have taken BC calc beforehand or be taking it concurrently. I got 5s on both of these exams last year. I had taken calc BC my junior year and took Physics C my senior year. My class covered both mechanics and E&M. I would recommend that you get a text book such as Physics for Scientists and Engineers by Serway and also the Princeton review for extra practice.</p>
<p>^Thanks for the advice. I’m going to learn Calc as far as I can take it over the summer with my Dad - he’s expecting we get to at least MultiVar Calc. I’ll probably buy a textbook for Physics C, a review book for AB and BC, and go through all of those. After I’m done with those, I’ll just start going through all of the math textbooks we still have. I’ll be taking the Calc AB, Physics B, both Physics Cs, both economics, language, and computer science A AP exams next year. This summer, I’m focusing on preparing for the Calc/Physics/Comp Sci tests - the others I’m not so worried about. Wish me luck!</p>
<p>If you are already taking both Physics C exams, I wouldn’t waster my time taking Physics B. Although physics B technically covers more topics, it does so superficially that there is virtually no benefit in taking it if you are interested in science and plan to major in either the physical sciences or engineering. If you will be using these exams to get college credit, physics C will count for the two semesters of intro physics taken by engineers and physics/chem majors. Physics B would not satisfy any major requirements because it is not calculus based.</p>
<p>The main reason I’m taking it is so I have another AP test taken; I’m aiming for State AP Scholar.</p>
<p>I’m not really sure that’s a worthwhile goal. While it sounds impressive to be a State AP scholar, if you end up at a top college (which I assume you would like), there is really not much use taking all of those tests because most of them will not give you anything more than an elective credit for a 5 (which is essentially useless unless you don’t have enough electives). They are also very expensive, $86 per test! They make you pay separately for tests like mechanics and E&M and Macro and Micro Econ too even though they are in the same subject. When I was in high school I took 9 AP tests during my junior and senior years (they were not offered in freshman and sophomore years. I received eight 5s and one 4 (In Spanish, because my speaking is pretty lacking). I now attend an ivy league school and I have really only used one of my credits, the credit for Calc BC. The school actually does not accept credit for AB. 4 of them became electives, one of them was replaced with a course number after I took a departmental exam, Spanish allowed me to place out of the language requirement, but i could have done that already because I had taken the subject test. Because I am a physics major, I did not take the credits for Physics C and instead took the honors course which is much more in depth and theoretical than the material on the AP.</p>
<p>My school will pay for every AP test I take - that’s the only reason I’m aiming for state AP scholar. I’m not worried about not doing well on Physics B; I’ll actually be in the class, so preparation will be minimal. </p>
<p>Basically, everything I’m planning on self studying is an extension of a class I’m in that year. </p>
<p>There’s also another reason I’m aiming for State AP Scholar: my school sucks. That does two things:
- Allows me to take 4/6 AP classes junior/senior year, and
- Make me less confident that I’ll be successful in college. </p>
<p>I’m trying to prepare myself and so in taking the most rigorous course load available. If I can get State AP scholar, why not? I’ll only take two extra AP tests - Calc AB + BC instead of just BC (which has an AB subscore anyway) and Physics B + both physics Cs instead of just the physics Cs. Well, three, because I’ll self study euro history when taking world, too. + the three I’m self studying now (bio, Env Sci, us g&p). So I’ll take six extra AP tests because I’m aiming for state AP scholar.</p>