<p>HI, my name is Pablo, and I'm a 10th grader. I really like math and physics, and I'm taking AP Calc next year.
Should I take AP physics even though I have never taken a physics class before? (I actually took fundamentals of science, which scratched the surface of real physics)</p>
<p>I'm currently taking Honors Chemistry if you're wandering why I'm not taking physics.</p>
<p>Is it going to be harder that way? Should I just take honors physics?</p>
<p>Uh, I went straight to AP Physics w/o taking honors, and it was pure hell. You might do well if you're really good at math and science. And I mean <em>really good</em>.</p>
<p>the only reason I'm doing pretty well (A-) in ap physics now is because I took honors physics last year and a lot of the stuff this year just expands on last year stuff, but with calculus this time. </p>
<p>I definitely wouldn't be able to get above a C if I hadn't had previous experience with physics. I'd advise against it.</p>
<p>Can you do AP Chem and honors physics next year? Then you can take AP Physics your senior year. I would really advise against going straight into AP Physics. I have two friends that did it, and they made straight B-'s all year and really struggled. Extremely bright kids too.</p>
<p>thanks for the advice guys! I am going to do what NeoEpisteme said</p>
<p>I think that is a good choice. I took AP Chem and honors Physics last year, and I'm in AP Physics this year. It has really worked out well and I've done great in all my science classes.</p>
<p>And once I take that honors physics, should I take Physics B or C (I'm taking AP calc next year)</p>
<p>I took regular physics in 10th grade, but sometime during 11th grade I decided that I wanted to take AP Physics in 12th grade. At my school, you're supposed to take physics honors before AP Physics, so what I did was I mostly self-studied the additional material (with some guidance from the honors/AP teacher) and took the physics honors final, and since the teacher didn't feel I did well enough on that, over the summer I read the summer reading for AP and wrote a short summary on it.</p>
<p>Obviously, there are some areas in which I don't have quite as good of a background, but I haven't had any trouble in AP Physics so far.</p>
<p>Your best bet would be to take physics honors (and perhaps AP Chem) next year, and AP Physics senior year. You will likely struggle in AP Physics if you haven't even taken regular physics yet.</p>
<p>AP Physics B is not calculus based, while AP Physics C is calculus based. If you're taking AP calc and AP Physics C concurrently, you might be okay, depending on how good your math background is; you might have to play a little catch-up, but again, it depends on how much math you already know. Also, if you plan on being a physics or engineering major in college, you're not likely to get credit for AP Physics B, although many colleges offer credit for AP Physics C.</p>
<p>ap physics B...no problem... ap physics C...might be a little harder but still manageable since you're taking calculus.</p>
<p>Thanks. I'm actually planning to major in Physics (or double major in math and physics)</p>
<p>If you want to major in physics, I would take AP Physics B next year and AP Physics C senior year. That's the normal sequence at our school where it's usually honors or ap physics junior year.</p>
<p>Shouldn't be much of a problem if you like math and problem solving.</p>
<p>Going straight into Physics B is absolutely fine... I think you'd be wasting your time actually if you took Honors one year and then took Physics B. For Physics C, though, yeah you'd almost need to have a year of physics already before taking that.</p>
<p>There's not even that option at my school. I'm doing fine in AP physics with no physics history at all. We have an excellent teacher, and my math background was set, but I think I would have been fine otherwise. Our class is almost entirely examining a situation with no math, and just making your equations.</p>
<p>Interesting to hear what people are saying about AP Physics C - my school has a very different policy.</p>
<p>The majority of juniors take physics. However, my school does <em>not</em> offer AP Physics B. We offer a regular physics class (just called "physics"), and AP Physics C (Mechanics and E/M). If you are going to be taking calculus as a junior, you take AP Physics C. If you aren't, you take physics. Therefore, all the juniors who go into AP Physics C have no physics background. My school has been doing it that way for years and there haven't been any big problems.</p>
<p>At our HS we had the choice of either Honors Physics or AP Physics B, we could not take AP senior year if we took Honors before.</p>
<p>It sounds redundant to me. An intro to physics sure, but two of essentially the same class with dif difficulties? why bother.</p>
<p>Uhhh...I hate to be the odd one out here, butttt:</p>
<p>Let me preface this by saying that I don't consider math or science to be my strengths by ANY means. I'm a humanities guy through and through.</p>
<p>I'm taking Physics C this year without any prior physics experience at all, and I have a solid 92 in the class. I've rarely studied.</p>
<p>Guys, it's really not that hard.
lmao</p>
<p>Hmmm...Interesting, I'm going to talk to my counselor and see what she says, I think I should try AP Physics B, and if it's too hard, I'll just drop down to Honors</p>
<p>^^In many schools, 92 is a 3.0, 3.5, or 3.7. Consider your self lucky.</p>
<p>You should buy a physics textbook and study it over the summer.</p>