<p>I've always been a good student, 92.49 unweighted average freshman-sophomore year. However, this year I'm taking AP Physics and I absolutely hate it. I got a 71 in the class the first semester (4 semesters total + a final) and it brought down my average for junior year so far to a 87.4 unweighted. I still have 3 semesters to catch up, but my average now is a 66 and I don't understand anything. My guidance counselor won't let me drop it because I'm not actually failing. I HATE the class and I don't want to ruin my GPA and waste $90 & 5 hours taking an AP exam I'll probably fail. I want to drop AP Physics and take regular physics (which I would probably have a 90 average in.) I'm still taking 2 other APs (English Lang and US History,) Precalc accelerated, and SAT prep so my schedule would still be rigorous. So... I have a few questions.</p>
<ul>
<li>Should I have my parents talk to my guidance counselor and convince her to let me drop AP physics?</li>
<li>If I drop the class will it look bad on my transcript? Does it look like I'm giving up?</li>
<li>Can I continue in AP Physics and just not take the AP exam?</li>
</ul>
<p>I'm in New York and colleges I'm looking at are pretty average. Touro, Berkeley (NYC), SUNY Old Westbury, Molloy, Baruch, LIU Brooklyn. I'm worried that colleges will see a downward trend from freshman/sophomore year to junior year. What should I do? :(</p>
<p>DO not drop it. You are too far into it, and it will look like you gave up.
Fight through it, and learn from it. Next year, don’t take AP classes that you don’t care about. Stick to ones that you are passionate about, and you will do well in them, because you actually want to be good at the subject. I learned that the hard way also.
Get a tutor if you can afford one. Go to your teacher and ask for help if you can’t. Or ask a smart kid in your class. Utilize youtube videos.
Also, AP exams seriously don’t matter. Fail it. Who cares. You only send AP scores if they’re good. Many colleges don’t take AP credits anyway. They can make your application look more competitive though I guess, but if the rest of your app is good, it won’t make a difference. Try to pull some kind of B. you’ve still got time. </p>
<p>You are too far in this semester to drop, but why a GC won’t let you drop a class you clearly hate second semester is puzzling. At the very least, you should be able to drop down to the non-AP version.</p>
<p>In the mean time, see if you can look up what you don’t understand on something like Khan Academy - it’s possible your teacher just isn’t very good at teaching the concepts and a different “teacher” may do you a world of good. Also, don’t go in with the attitude you “know” how the world works - physics is often counter-intuitive and students who struggle with it are often resistant to what physics is teaching them because it’s the opposite of what they think their real world experience is. You need to reprogram your mind to work the physics way if you’re to have any chance at getting it.</p>
<p>Agree. Stay with it. Don’t give up. Get a tutor, aska friend for help. Seek out the teacher for extra help. The important thing is to not just give up when things get hard for you. This will happen to you over and over again. Giving up is not really a good default reaction or response.</p>
<p>You have three other marking periods to bring up your grade. Teachers will usually help students who ask. Also, if you do bring up your grade to say 86 by the end of the year, that teacher could write a fairly strong letter about your persistence and improvement. This is a good thing.</p>
<p>Thanks for the replies everyone. I forgot to mention that I have tried studying with friends, watching online videos and tutorials, taking practice exams, and working with my mom. Nothing has helped. My teacher offers extra help after school but due to personal reasons I’m never able to stay after school. This AP class is driving me nuts. I’ve cried over it and its constantly on my mind, worrying me. Its giving me a lot of stress. If I simply dropped down to the Regents (regular) version of physics instead of AP, would it really look bad? </p>
<p>Why do you think you would do better at the lower level? The concepts are the same in both classes, it’s the level of math that different, and you don’t claim it’s the math that’s defeating you. Again, I’m going to guess you’re sabotaging yourself.</p>