I’m currently a junior and I currently have a C in AP Physics right now. I’ve never gotten anything other than an A in my other courses and I’m doing well in my other current classes.
It’s not just me- as a whole, students are struggling in my teacher’s Physics 1 class as well as in his regular conceptual physics class. Honestly, I don’t think I’ll get my grades up to an A at this point- the material is hard to understand and despite studying hours every week to prep for his class, I’m still not doing well. I’ve looked at Khan Academy and have looked at prep books, but it hasn’t helped me.
If I manage to get a 4 or 5 in the AP Exam, do you think admission officers will look past my bad grade? Also, I’m not planning to major in science or anything math related… I mainly took this course because I wanted to get college credit (from the AP exam) so I wouldn’t have to deal with science during my freshman year or college.
Maybe this is the problem? Looking at resources doesn’t help you. Serious study does.
You should watch the videos covering what is in your class, you read the chapter in your textbook, then you start solving practice problems. You should get the “Physics Problem Solver” assuming your prep books are just reviews of the material and not filled with practice problems. What happens next is you start to solve problems and quickly realize you haven’t learned the material as well as you thought. You realize that you recognize it when you read it (which gives people the “I know this” feeling) but can’t recall it. Turn back in your text to the section, reread it, try another problem. Rinse and repeat. It’s frustrating and slow, but by the time you’ve solved the 100th problem on momentum or power you’re going to do fine on the next ones on the test in class. The deal is most kids don’t want to put in this kind of work, or they tell themselves that the hours they spend reading and re-reading the same pages is somehow drilling it in.
At lot of smart kids, and I’m assuming you’re in that category if you’re taking AP Physics as a junior, have got thru HS without learning how to really study. A couple of hours with the text and their notes before a test and they learn enough to fill in multiple-guess, while their verbal skills let them fill out any essay questions. This doesn’t work well in science and math classes as the material gets more challenging. And if you think you’ll dodge this in college, classes in all kinds of subjects outside of math/science will hit this level of difficulty at the college level.
I’ve watched flipping physics videos along with anything else I could find online, and and have read chapters in my book along with additional problems. I only mentioned Khan Academy and prep books because when I asked for additional support/help from my counselor/other teachers, that’s what they’ve always recommended.
The examples and explanations in the book are often complicated and hard to grasp. I read the explanation/method, but sometimes I get stuck in a step.
By hours each week, I mean about 2-3 hours about every other day so maybe 6-9 hours a week? I’ve spent a good hour before trying to understand a physics problem. I used to get 2-4 hours of sleep or no sleep because of this. I’m only human. I don’t study nearly as much anymore because it took a toll on me mentally and physically. I have other classes to take and extracurriculurs I need to focus on.
The tests are nothing like the homework, notes, or what we go over in class. The highest score on the unit 1 MC was 14/20, with the lowest score being a 1, so other students are struggling as well.
I’m not going into a science/math course simply because I have never had an interest in it. I enjoy the work outside of science/math. I know college courses will be difficult for me regardless of the subject. However, I would like to focus on what I actually enjoy doing and want to pursue a career in rather than waste money and time on things I don’t enjoy/won’t pursue a career in during my time in college, which is why I chose to try to take care of any science gen ed requirements before college.
By the Physics Problem Solver, do you mean the one by Joseph Molitoris? I’ll look into it.
AP Physics is a notoriously difficult class at my kid’s HS. Most kids wait until Sr. year to take it because it helps to have a year of calculus under your belt. Only thing you can do now is work hard to get the grade up. The good news is there is still plenty of time since only the final grade in the class will appear on your transcript.
You or a group of you may want to get a tutor to explain some of the concepts and go over problem solving techniques. I’m assuming your school doesn’t have a tutoring program where upperclassmen help out or a homework center, as those would be the first things to consider. Since you’re a junior, may be you can get a senior who’s taken the class to tutor, for money or volunteer hours.
At a certain point, it’s just time to turn your lemons into lemonade. If you truly think you’re doing the most you can for this course, spend some time figuring what your college major “might” be. Inventory your interests, academic strengths, and those ECs. You have music and two years of swim. What else? How do you expand that, show energy, responsibilities, concern for others? What can you do that shows more peer involvement (not just ensembles,) plus stretch, impact, and some relation to that possible major? Find reasonable colleges, look into what they offer and look for.
Decisions on where you apply can wait. The ECs should be tackled now. Get in some real comm service. Activate.
That’s more than enough time. However spending an hour on a single problem is not a good use of your time. After 10-15 minutes its time to either move on to other ones you can solve or close the book and look for outside help.
The book by Molitoris is the one I had in mind. Every question has a worked answer.
It may be that you don’t have the math background you need for this class?
This may have been an ill-advised move. Many colleges offer easier science classes such as “Rocks for Jocks” (not the real name of the class, just what students call it) to allow non-science majors to meet the distribution requirement for science. If the workbook mentioned above doesn’t help then you should see if you can drop down into an easier class.
mikemac, i don’t lack the math background (it’s algebra based, i’m in AP calc), but i do struggle with reasoning. i have trouble applying the concept to the math.
i’ll look into the workbook and continue trying to solve other problems in the book and in another workbook my teacher has. unfortunately, i can’t drop down into an easier class or it would end up as an F on the transcript- i have to wait next semester.
i was completely unaware of the “rocks for jocks”… i wish i’d been more informed about how colleges work and not so eager to take this course. i’ll have to make do with what i can for now.
The online workbook is a very expendable resource in terms of AP Physics; it compiles all the previous AP Physics questions administered. However, this only serves application for the algebraic aspect of AP Physics, which in itself is not as large as the conceptual aspect.
In terms of increasing performance in the conceptual aspect of AP Physics 1 (which is notorious for shafting most students), I would say (having been a Physics 1 student myself and currently Physics C Mech.) that the easiest way to ramp up is to practice approaching the problems with the use of theory, laws, and theorems (such as energy conservation, Kirchoff’s rule, Newton’s 3rd law, etc.) The fundamental problem I’ve noticed is that people would often tend to take a more “practical stance” on being able to answer the question, or that any single complication would resolve to their overthinking of the situation.
The best mitigation for these kinds of struggles is sheer practice of thinking more as a physicist does in these kinds of situations. The basis for that kind of problem solving relies on being able to notice specific elements of the question where a law is applicable (or a concept), and then use that law as necessary.
A lot of the responses on here are brutal in my opinion. Not uplifting whatsoever. You can improve this grade by the end of your junior year, so keep your head up and ask the teacher for extra help, get a tutor, or find some other approach you have not already tried. Do well on the SAT. DO WELL ON THE SAT. Join a new club or sports team, pick up another extracurricular. One C does not have to define you, and it shouldn’t. Use this bad grade as motivation to improve in other areas that will reflect your character. The summer before your senior year, join a summer program at a college you’re interested in, get a job, volunteer somewhere, get an SAT tutor so you can perfect your score in the early months of your senior year. Don’t dwell on the C, and don’t let anyone think you have to. If a college cares so much about your C, it just wasn’t meant to be. Good luck!
If you don’t understand the problem descriptions, now’s the time to get a live person in front of you, who can explain. A tutor from your high school or even a local college student.
What colleges? At some it won’t matter. At others, it will.