It’s halfway into the year and I’m doing fairly well in my Physics 1, but I doubt I’ll get a 5
I’ll only receive credit for it a get a 5 and I’m already in college.
Should I drop it and instead study Calc BC which I just need a 4 to get the credit? (I’m already in AB)
I want to be pre-med and I’ll need to retake physics anyways for the MCAT but I heard you don’t need to really know calculus.
Advice?
If you are already in college, why are you taking high school AP physics 1? Or are you taking college courses while in high school?
Calculus may be a prerequisite for other courses in college, and may be required by some medical schools. (But you can take calculus 2 if your college allows an AP calculus score for calculus 1.)
I was accepted ED. Sorry I wasn’t clear there.
I know colleges want you to retake science courses even if you got a 5 as they are tested on the MCAT but never heard of retaking calculus yet even with an AP exemption.
Also, by the time I come around to take calc 2, I’ll probably forget calc 1. I can also take STAT instead of calc 2 to fulfill the 2nd math requirement (calc 1 as the first)
Actually, medical schools often want to see applicants take pre-med courses in college, rather than have AP credit for them. However, if your school allows AP credit to fulfill the entry level course and go directly to a more advanced course in the subject area, that is typically allowed (and often preferred because repeating AP credit may look like grade-grubbing, even though many pre-meds do it anyway to try to get higher grades). But you may want to try the old final exam of the course to be skipped before deciding to do that.
But for AP physics 1 and 2 and the college courses it emulates, there is no more advanced course, since that sequence is typically a terminal one for biology majors, so you may have to repeat it or take the physics sequence for physics and engineering majors (which requires more advanced math like multivariable calculus). The students you will be competing for grades with in the latter course may not have as much grade-focus as those in physics for biology majors, but will typically be stronger at physics than those in physics for biology majors.
One thing to keep in mind: if you drop the class, you need to notify your ED school of the change.
Personally, I would continue with physics. Most people in AP Physics 1 have this as their first HS physics course. Even if you don;t take the AP exam/get credit, you don’t want to go into a college physics course full of pre-meds with no physics background.
I’m with skieurope. Do you really want to notify your ED school that you’re dropping a class that may have been one of the reasons you were accepted? This isn’t printmaking or pottery we are talking about. It’s a core AP class that relates to your intended area of study.
@skieurope do you suggest I go ahead with self-studying bc while keeping physics?
I really doubt I’ll lose my acceptance over dropping an AP course, especially if I’m compensating with another.
“I really doubt I’ll lose my acceptance over dropping an AP course, especially if I’m compensating with another.”
You are probably correct, but I assume they require notification for a reason. Why take any risk at all over a few college credits that you may or may not get? Also, I don’t know that self studying BC Calc compensates for a dropped AP Physics class.
But you’re not compensating for another, if I’m reading correctly. Dropping a class to self study is not an equal trade, IMO. Whether admissions agrees or not is a different question.
True, but I also highly doubt my acceptance would be revoked based on other people that have dropped AP Classes, like AB, after acceptance.
@TheBigChef I’m sure I can get at least a 4 on BC. I need like 50/108 points or so. I can get credit for a 4 on BC but only a 5 on Physics which I’ll probably retake for the MCAT and I’d need to take Physics 2 in college and by then I’ll forget all of Physics 1.
moskort - As I said before, you are probably correct that this would not result in your admission being revoked - the operative word being “probably.” Fact is, neither you nor anyone else on this board knows for certain how the school will react. Picture yourself composing the e-mail to the school and hitting the send button. Does it make you at all uncomfortable? The fact that you are asking about it here tells me you must have at least some reservations. If it were me, I wouldn’t want to take the risk, even though it’s a small one, over some college credit. In the end of course, you will have to decide what’s best for you. Whatever you do, I wish you luck.