<p>Which would look better to adcoms at engineering schools ( UVA, Michigain)?</p>
<p>I have taken regular bio, chem, and physics w/ A's in all 3, and have also taken all the honors math classes, w/ A's and 1 B+. I currently Am in AP bio ( will have an A in it)</p>
<p>Definitely AP Physics C, especially if your high school covers both exams.</p>
<p>bump, more opinions please</p>
<p>I'd second the Phys C opinion.</p>
<p>Both. (Assuming you can handle both of course ;) )</p>
<p>Seconding the "both," though if you're forced to choose due to scheduling or something, I'd go with the Physics C.</p>
<p>I wouldn't recommend taking both AP Chemistry and AP Physics C at the same time, if they're anything like how those two courses were at my high school. In fact, if you registered for both courses at my high school, the teachers of the two courses would schedule a meeting with you to tell you it was a terrible idea and to talk you out of it.</p>
<p>I mean, it <em>is</em> your senior year. <em>Do</em> try to have some fun, too... you're going to be busy enough as it is, and it's not called "advanced placement" for nothing... It's advanced. It's beyond. It's more than you really need to learn in high school. There is something to be said for sanity, and no top college would turn you away for not taking both courses...! =)</p>
<p>Quit lecturing him on the difficulty of the classes and stuff, I am pretty sure he knows that both are hard. He asked which would look better for engineering between AP Physics C and AP Chemistry, not which is harder. And I was actually in the same situation, but I kept getting stuff saying it depends which type of engineering. Like I want to go into Chemical Engineering or Nuclear Engineering and they said take AP Chemsitry if that is the case. But if you want Mechanical, Electrical, Computer, Civil or Industrial Engineering, go with AP Physics C. Chemical Engineering, Nuclear Engineering, Environmental Engineering and Biomedical Engineering would be best suitable toward the AP Chemistry curriculum. Even though I wanna do Chemical or Nuclear engineering I am choosing AP Physics C just for the fact that I don't have a Physics credit. But seeing u took bio, chem and physics already, i think it depends which engineering u wanna do. If you know that base it off of what I gave you above for which class is suitable for those engineering careers.</p>
<p>I took AP Chem because I wanted to do ChemE. Now I don't any more, but at least now I won't have any problem in General Chem.</p>
<p>what kind of engineering are you interested in?</p>
<p>At our school, the same teacher who taught AP Physics B teaches AP Physics C. The kids love him, so many took AP Physics B. Those who are interested in chem took AP Chem instead tho because they figure they'll get more personal attention NOW than in college & have heard that organic chem is tough so they would rather have the individual attention & help now in HS than struggle with it for the 1st time in college.
My son is planning to get a degree in engineering & chose AP Physics C. He didn't take both APs, but says a few of his peers did & survived. I wanted son to have more energy for his college aps & to enjoy his senior year & believe it was the right strategy for him & most of his peers.</p>
<p>Look in college as a freshman you're expected to take chem and physics at the same time. What better time than now to see if you can handle it or not? Although it might be easier in college -- less courses and all.</p>
<p>
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Quit lecturing him on the difficulty of the classes and stuff, I am pretty sure he knows that both are hard.
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i wouldn't be too cautious with the warnings...i've taken both classes, though not at the same time. chem AP last year and got a 5 on the test, physics AP this year (and a 5 is HIGHLY doubtful, not even sure about a 4). and i dont think i would be here had i taken both in the same year...i mean, this is high school, not masochism haha. your schedule's a lot more structured thus locked down, and there's lots of required homework, so the "you'll be doing it in college" think doesn't work as well.</p>
<p>Physics C seems impossible to get through more than one part of the course (Mechanical or Electricity & Magnetism). i mean...theoretically its possible if you do part of it over the summer, but it seems very unreasonable, at least if you want to do good in both. the content in Physics C Mech also seems a lot harder than anything i've ever seen in a science class. it's mostly due to the fact that there are so many equations, and your ability to succeed relies on your ability to creatively (yes, i said creatively) manipulate them...you really, really have to understand equations, and every related equation. proofs for some equations? dont ignore them (not totally at least), they come back to haunt you. there's no simple step by step procedures (ex: cellular respiration in AP Bio), or even a rough skeleton of how to solve something (ex: advanced titrations in AP Chem). so i guess you can see where i'm leaning...toward AP Chem. but, i'm just leaning that way. in my experience, there was less busy work in Physics because it relied more on logic than process memorization. that said, you still need to read up and do lots of practice problems (something i didn't do much of this year that might have hurt me).</p>
<p>i think as long as you take a lot of APs, exactly what AP you took is almost a moot point to college acceptance people, even if you're applying to the engineering school at a university. i had taken AP Bio and AP Chem (5s on both) but Physics wasn't completed and obviously no AP score came in, and USC, UCLA, UCSD, and UCI all took me handily. given all were in state, but that's not to say some of the schools i applied to weren't competitive...</p>
<p>"...it's mostly due to the fact that there are so many equations, and your ability to succeed relies on your ability to creatively (yes, i said creatively) manipulate them...you really, really have to understand equations, and every related equation...."
Welcome to Engineering.</p>
<p>I think I am gonna do AP chem since my main interest is Biomedical Engineering.</p>
<p>Will probably end up doing UVA ED ( instate, too good of a value and too good of a school to pass up)</p>
<p>thanks for all the replys!</p>
<p>My friend's D enjoyed her 4 years at UVA (out-of-state). She majored in psych & loved the research opportunities at UVA. She's now in China, teaching English & having a wonderful time.</p>
<p>
[quote]
"...it's mostly due to the fact that there are so many equations, and your ability to succeed relies on your ability to creatively (yes, i said creatively) manipulate them...you really, really have to understand equations, and every related equation...."
Welcome to Engineering.
[/quote]
hey, i'm not denying it. but compared to my other years, i didn't study that hard at all. i got lucky that i was able to figure out a lot of physics problems this year, but i ended up running into walls toward the end of the year. so needless to say, i need to throw my brain back into the mix next year haha.</p>