Do engineering schools prefer AP Physics C or AP Physics 2 in their admission process? I’m trying to decide which one do I take. I’m comfortable with Calculus.
If you have the option, take AP Physics C.
For admissions? Probably no preference. However, if you’re going into engineering, credit for AP Physics 2 (if the college even gives it) is going to be pretty useless. I’d opt for AP Physics C.
AP Physics C is more advanced—it covers 1st year college curriculum.
AP Physics 1 and 2 is just cheese, pretty elementary stuff that most serious engineering students can pick up in a week or two.
Take AP Physics C if you know the material. It’s not just calc—you need to know how to solve problems, something that AP PHys 1&2 doesn’t test well.
Are you just taking mechanics? If you’re taking mechanics, you should be comfortable with force diagrams, work and energy, kinematics, angular momentum and torque, and orbital mechanics.
If you’re taking E&M, you should know gauss’s law, capacitors and inductors, circuitry, and induction/magnetic fields. This is significantly more challenging than Mech topics, because it tests conceptual understanding of elementary vector/multivariable calculus.