Rising Junior here looking for advice on Junior and Senior year courses, specifically science courses.
So far I have taken Honors Biology and Honors Chemistry and got As in both, and I have AP Chemistry planned for Junior year. I also have AP Calc BC and AP Comp Sci A scheduled for next year. However, am wondering whether or not it would be a good idea to drop AP Comp Sci A for AP Physics 1 next year. I plan on majoring in engineering, and will be taking AP Physics C: Mechanics Senior year (school does not offer AP Physics 2 or AP Physics C: E & M).
My scheduled classes for Junior and Senior year are as follows:
Junior:
US History
Engineering Design
AP Chemistry
AP Comp Sci A (could replace with AP Physics 1)
AP Language and Composition
AP Calc BC
Senior:
AP US Gov (1st Semester)/AP Macroeconomics (2nd Semester)
AP Literature
Dual Enrollment Linear Algebra/Differential Equations
AP Physics C: Mechanics
Engineering Capstone
*Unknown (could be AP Comp Sci A, AP Comp Sci Principles, AP Statistics, or potentially AP Biology)
As I see it, I can do AP Comp Sci A Junior year with either AP Comp Sci Principles or AP Statistics Senior year, or I could do AP Physics 1 Junior year and any of the three classes (CS A, CSP, or AP Bio) Senior year. I am interested in all of these classes, so it is a matter of what will best prepare me and looks best to engineering colleges.
*I should note that I am currently doing a dual enrolled Spanish course with my CC that my school accepts as spanish 3, and will not be taking AP Spanish, so foreign language is out of the way.
Since you’ll have physics anyway senior year, as well as the fact that taking 2 sciences in 1 year can get very demanding, i’d recommend taking CSA junior year and then CSP (if you like CS and want a decently east course) or Stats (if you like math and explaining math lol).
There are three things I am still a little worried about:
If I dont take AP Physics 1 as a Junior, when I apply to colleges early decision, they won’t see a grade for me in any physics class, and when I apply regular decision, they will only see one semester of AP Physics C: Mechanics (correct me as I may very well be wrong on this one). I’m not sure if this will hurt me since I will be applying for engineering.
Taking AP Physics 1 would allow me to take the Sat II Subject Test in Physics (I will be taking Math II in the fall and Chemistry after Junior year). I have seen a lot of engineering applicants have all 3 of these subject tests, but I won’t be prepared for physics without AP Physics 1 and some self study to fill in gaps).
Will only having taken AP Physics C: Mechanics prepare me well enough for physics in college? I know AP Physics 1 is algebra based, few colleges give credit for even a 5, and it really isn’t college level, but I am unsure whether or not I will enter college with only a small portion of the physics knowledge I will need. *Unfortunately, my school doesn’t have AP Physics 2 or E&M (Mechanics is its own class).
You should be fine, the grade at the time of application isn’t necessary especially since a lot, if not most students take physics as a senior. Taking the AP class will look good regardless of them having no/only one semester of grades for it. The physics subject test also isn’t necessary; two tests suffice for most colleges (I’m taking the same ones!). If you’re super duper keen on taking the test, you can probably self study for it as if it were an easy AP exam. If I’m not mistaken, Physics C: Mechanics will prepare you just as well, if not better, for college physics than Physics 1 as they’re both the first course in their series and Physics C is calculus based. Overall, you’re all good with just taking Physics C as a senior, and I think your GPA will come out better than if you took Physics 1 junior year.
@MYOS1634 Why do you say that? The only prerequisite to physics C is calculus (taken before or concurrently), many people take Physics C without having ever taken Physics 1.
Your schedule looks to be reasonable for a hopeful engineering student. However, if you’re taking Physics C senior year, don’t take AP Biology along with it. It’s usually a bad idea to take two or more of Physics C/Chemistry/Biology as AP/dual enrollment at the same time, and you will need extra time senior year for college applications.
A previous physics class is a very common prerequisite for Physics C.
OP, the SAT Subject Test draws from AP Physics 1 and AP Physics B–you’ll need to do a fair amount of self-studying for the test no matter which sequence you choose.
Physics C is designed to be the second level in a sequence that starts with honors physics or AP physics 1. Calculus is a co-requisite although it’s better to have taken calc honors or Calc AB beforehand.
I thought so about biology and physics C both at once. It seems like taking the physics subject test won’t be necessary as long as I have math II and chemistry. Also, my school requires concurrent enrollment in at least AP Calc AB to take AP Physics C: Mechanics, but I will be ahead as I will have already taken BC. However, the course requires no physics prerequisites, and I have yet to take a physics class in highschool. My main concern is whether or not I will be looked down upon when applying for engineering due to having just one year of physics, and it only being the Mechanics half, as my school doesn’t offer E&M. It seems like my best bet may be to stick with what I have now unless you guys think that having physics 1 along with physics C is important beyond just being a prerequisite for physics C. Does physics C cover all of the topics in physics 1, the only difference being that it is calculus based vs algebra based? Or is physics 1 more broad?
You will need AP physics 1 Junior year as a way to indicate your ability in this very important subject and as a way to have the basics down before you take physics C. You really don’t want to take AP physics C cold.
Ok, I think I will do that then, and take AP Comp Sci A Senior year. I really was hoping to get AP statistics in but I know physics is far more important. Thanks to all again!
As a future engineer, stats is an elective, two physics classes are core classes that also indicate ability to succeed in chosen major. If you really want to take stats you can always see if there’s an online class.