How hard is AP Physics C?
Would someone who took AP Calculus (and did fairly well) but no physics course be able to attain a satisfactory grade/score?
Would AP Physics 1 be a better option?
By the way, the prospective major is in engineering.
At many schools Physics 1 / 2 aren’t prerequisite courses for Physics C so you should be fine. It is a challenging class regardless though.
At most schools, AP Physics 1/2 is not a prereq, but some type of intro course in physics is. While it is possible to do well in Physics C without a prior course, it will not be easy. The OP really should ask the teach in his school if previous students have taken Physics C with no prior physics course, and if so, how did they do on the exam and in the class.
For engineering, no. Unless the consensus from the teachers/GC’s is that you would crash and burn in Physics C.
As long as you know basic calculus, AP C is not hard if you are able to understand mathematical and physics concepts fairly easily. I skipped AP Physics B and took AP Physics C as my first Physics course (Mechanics 1st semester and Electricity and Magnetism 2nd semester), got a 100% in the class and got a 5 on the exam. I took AP Calculus BC the same year (Also 100% in the class and 5 on the exam) but really you just need to know basic integration and differentiation, which you could probably learn in like a week. .
Thank you for all the advice. I think I’m going to try C.
hey im a junior considering C right now, how did it workout for you?