<p>Would it be more beneficial for me to take AP Physics or AP Calc my senior year? I can't fit both classes into my schedule so I must decide between the two. Any input is appreciated. </p>
<p>Thanks in advance</p>
<p>Physics has advantages and disadvantages.</p>
<p>The disadvantage is that you will NOT want to use it in college; i.e. you will not want to skip out of intro-level physics. This is unlike chem (probably don't want to), bio (probably do want to), and calc (almost certainly want to use some but maybe not all).</p>
<p>The advantage is that having high school level physics will more than prepare you for the MCAT, meaning that you don't have to take it until, say, your senior year, which opens up slots for important biology and English classes your first two years.</p>
<p>Which class do you feel would look better on an application?</p>
<p>I would say that doesn't matter, since colleges don't know which is more difficult at your school.</p>
<p>AP calc -once you know calc, physics will be easier. If you apply yourself you should have no trouble getting a 5 on the Calc AB, I found the exam to be very easy. Also, if you place out of calc one in college, you can finish calc II and III before ever taking physics, and this should be a huge advantage; my calc teacher said that essentially you could do all the application problems in your calc book and you'll have seen half of college physics.</p>
<p>Obviously this is all very biased towards my experience, but calculus is something that will most likely be entirely new to you, and it's a valuable skill to have before entering college.</p>
<p>I'd say take AP calc, skip the AP test, take Calc I again (1st semester freshman year) and be done with all math other than stats, while acing Calc I in the process. Most schools that I know of, Calc I is a 4 or 5 hour course so getting a great grade in it helps your overall and BCPM GPA.</p>
<p>Because the physics on the MCAT doesn't even necessitate having any understanding of calculus at all (and in some cases only asks you to plug numbers into algebraic formulas - with no calculations) going beyond calc I and certainly beyond Calc II is overkill in my opinion - a waste of time and money.</p>
<p>Well:</p>
<p>1.) Physics on the MCAT doesn't have calc, but physics at your school might.</p>
<p>2.) Calc II and III are... well, fun. They're nice things to know. I feel like they really help conceptualizing the way things change over time, thinking in terms of how things add up or multiply or compound...</p>
<p>Well, I think you should give up, you proably go to some half wit school like Cal Poly. The only chance you have to get into any med school is to go to UC Davis.</p>
<p>As much I like physics I hear that AP physics is usually intense for a HS'er, even during Senior year. My school didn't have AP physics but I enjoyed the regular physics class. Anyway I took Calc AB and ended up getting a four on the AP. I must admit when people say do tons of practive problems, they really mean it because my teacher forced sample F/R as quizzes and ironically you can see the pattern of repeating questions as I did on the actual AP. </p>
<p>Also I took Calc after I did physics and Calc reall helps if you take physics afterwards because a lot of the problem sets are so similar to physics problems.
Anyway I plan to just do Calc I and II in college b/c I don't think I can handle III/multivariable =(.</p>
<p>sorry for that post it must ahve been a friend that got on to my computer</p>
<p>i would say ap calculus.</p>
<p>it's usually recommended to take ap calc before ap physics (or at least concurrently). there's some basic differential (and occasionally integral) calculus in ap physics (but your physics teacher might cover those concepts briefly).</p>
<p>yeah, it's probably not a good idea to skip your college's intro physics course.</p>
<p>neither looks better on an application, though getting an A in ap calc definitely looks better than a C in ap physics.</p>