<p>Hello,</p>
<p>I just had a fearful experience today. I took the AP Physics C Mechanics exam and thought it was really really difficult, especially the free response portion. I plan on majoring in computer engineering. I realize that computer engineering has more electrical engineering than mechanics, but in general, how can I be successful in this engineering if I think I am bad in physics?</p>
<p>Thanks.</p>
<p>I took Physics in HS and have a similar problem. I did fine (A-/B+), but I feel I was lacking compared to other students at the time. (10th grade, before I decided I wanted to pursue an engineering related topic though). Now I'm planning on doing Chemical Engineering, I hope I'm not setting myself up for disaster. Although I do have a little bit of confidence in my abilities. Good luck to you archrival.</p>
<p>i have the same problem</p>
<p>Chemical Engineering a piece of cake don't worry.</p>
<p>Which has more physics: Chemical engineering or computer engineering?</p>
<p>AP tests are designed to be overwhelmingly hard. I wouldn't completely write off all physics ever. Plus, now you just have the opportunity to retake the course in college and get better at it!</p>
<p>Physics in college just takes come getting used to. I always had As in high school physics classes and I knew that I was good at it and liked it. When you get to college and take a physics test for the first time, it may seem like you bombed it, but you most likely got the average score from a curve. That was the case for me; I generally got the average score on Mechanics exams and I'm pretty sure that's how it went down during the latest final.</p>
<p>Chemical engineering is a piece of cake? It's actually one of the hardest majors out there. I'm an environmental/structural engineer myself and I've had to take some chemical engineering courses. Thermodynamics is a killer. Same with Heat and Mass Transfer, Kinetics...etc. At Udel, more than half the students in the program drop out by the second year.</p>
<p>Engineering's not easy. It is, however, doable. Everyone struggles in the science cores, and AP Phys C isn't a cakewalk.</p>
<p>
[quote]
Chemical engineering is a piece of cake? It's actually one of the hardest majors out there. I'm an environmental/structural engineer myself and I've had to take some chemical engineering courses. Thermodynamics is a killer. Same with Heat and Mass Transfer, Kinetics...etc. At Udel, more than half the students in the program drop out by the second year.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>I was kidding brother.. about half my class dropped out after the first year. They didn't even hit the "real" ChemE classes like unit operations yet. Mass transfer and chemical engineering thermodynamics was killer...</p>
<p>so if you have a basic understanding of physics you will be ok in upper division cs/ce courses you think ?</p>
<p>From experience, even the most hardcore professors review some basic physics/chemistry concepts to motivate their topic before jumping right into the intense derivations. This is for chemE not compE.</p>
<p>ah, I see :) haha, I didn't pick up on the joke Milton.</p>
<p>Well for the cmpe degree itself, as you'd expect, it's built off of a small section of physics - Electricity & Magnetism. So you really get into Electrostatics, Conductors/Capacitors, Circuits, Electromagnetics,etc... If you hate this kind of stuff then yea you'll probably not enjoy the major.</p>
<p>Thanks for all the input. After thinking about all this, I realized the reason I didn't get a confident feeling after the AP exam was because I simply didn't study thoroughly enough (senioritis, sports, etc.). Surely in college I think the 20 grand per year cost will have a positive influence on my study habits.</p>
<p>yeah man physics isnt hard if you study I guess</p>
<p>Glad i didn't have senioritis; I had my best GPAs during my senior year: 3.8 & 4.0. I was so close to getting a 4.0 1st semester, damn that 88-89 in government!</p>