<p>I am currently a junior in high school and I've recently been notified of schedule problems. I originally planned to take AP Physics, but I could not due to conflicting AP classes. I have not taken a physics class at all and I am planning to major in engineering at Rutgers. Would me not having a background in physics hurt my chances of being an engineer major and would I be turned down from colleges if I do not have physics?</p>
<p>I highly doubt it. I had classmates that never took physics in high school. Just be prepared to work hard in your college Physics course, it might be a “weed out” class.</p>
<p>I’m going to take AP Calculus BC next year, would having a calculus background help with the Physics course? And if I want to take AP Physics next year, I would have to drop AP Spanish. Should I just drop Spanish or just take a Physics course in college?</p>
<p>Most STEM Physics classes require Calc as a pre-req/co-req. At DD’s school. Physics 1 has Calc 1 as a pre-req and Calc 2 as a co-req.</p>
<p>If you are not planning on continuing on in Spanish in college, or you will not need it to fulfill gen ed reqs, I would recommend dropping Spanish and picking up Physics. You should check to see if computer classes would fulfill a foreign language gen ed req. If so, then you might possibly not need Spanish at all.</p>
<p>I’ve wanted to take AP Spanish because I would like to learn another language. Would taking a foreign language for all four years of high school look more appealing to colleges? I want to take Spanish, but, according to the requirements for the Rutgers’ School of Engineering, I apparently need to take Physics.</p>
<p>Drop Spanish and go for Physics. Any Physics ( Honors or AP) is better than no Physics when entering Engineering. Most schools like 3 years of language ( some require only 2) so you are ok. AP Spanish is not that difficult. If you just want to fulfill the requirement for gen Ed maybe you can CLEP the class or register for the AP exam on your own ( it will not appear on your HS transcript but some colleges do accept it). If you just want to learn the language, do it in college, specially if you do not practice it often.</p>
<p>Ok, I’ll try and see if there’s an Honors Physics class open and try to keep Spanish. If there isn’t an Honors class open, I’ll drop Spanish for Physics. Thanks to all of you who replied! :)</p>
<p>By all means- take AP Physics! I am taking Physics I over the Summer, a 8-week course and this has been one of the most challenging courses I have ever taken. I had no Physics background prior to this and it has been torture! </p>
<p>If you go into Physics I at least having a good trig foundation + knowing basic concepts like vectors, linear motion formulas, a good understanding of forces, Newton’s 3 laws of motion, torque and centrifugal motion, you will be good</p>
<p>A good Calculus foundation will also help-make sure you know how to integrate and differentiate.</p>
<p>You will be fine without having it in HS. For calculus, I needed very little in my calculus based physics. Most of it was a little speech on how a formula was derived from a calculus concept and then its just algebra/trig to apply it.</p>
<p>High school physics (does not necessarily have to be AP) is often a recommended prerequisite for university physics. You may have a harder time in university physics without previous high school physics, though it should be doable with more work without.</p>
<p>Can you take AP Spanish and regular high school physics, or AP physics and a different advanced level Spanish course?</p>
<p>I had a similar problem to you where I could not take physics due to my schedule. I just enrolled in online AP Physics over the summer to fix the problem</p>
<p>I will have to ask my guidance counselor about an alternate physics course, but AP Spanish is the only remaining Spanish course to take, since Honors Spanish 5 is combined with the AP class.</p>
<p>Physics is an entrance requirement for Rutgers Engineering.
From Rutgers website:</p>
<p>Entrance Requirements for:
School of Engineering
English: 4 years
Foreign Language: None required
Mathematics: 4 years, including algebra I, geometry, algebra II, precalculus
Science: 1 year each of chemistry and physics
Other Courses: 6 other academic courses (computer programming recommended)
Total: 16 academic courses
Note for first-year applicants: If you have completed precalculus before your senior year, we recommend that you take calculus in your senior year.</p>
<p>Notice that for foreign language it says NONE but for science it lists chemistry and PHYSICS.</p>
<p>Can a person do engineering without physics? Yes. Can you? No clue, we don’t know you. </p>
<p>Will a hard STEM major be made easier if you take AP Spanish? No. You are talking about taking an AP Elective instead of an AP class related to engineering. That does not make your application stronger.</p>
<p>Will a hard STEM major be made easier if you take AP Physics. Yes. You will be behind if you haven’t taken any physics. It is that simple. You will have to work harder and longer to get the same grades in physics as many of your classmates. Can it be done? Yes. Why would you not prepare yourself as well as possible? I can’t imagine anyone who is seriously considering engineering taking the Spanish class over Physics particularly since is listed as an entrance requirement!</p>
<p>^^Like. Like. Like</p>
<p>Psu85mom more power to you</p>