<p>i was wondering if anybody knows how difficult it would be to go to college without having any knowledge of physics? i am going to graduate high school this year and will be attending either Emory or USC. i took honors integrated physical science during freshmen year and thats just a random mix of chem, bio and physics. also took honrs chem, honors bio, AP chem and AP bio. will my lack of physics knowledge greatly affect me in college? thanks!</p>
<p>no (10 characters)</p>
<p>Physics is extremely easy, at least it was for me. I found it way easier than Bio or Chem (<---hate Chem!...love Bio). If you know Algebra, Trig, and Calculus concepts, Physics will be a breeze.</p>
<p>i'm still a senior in high school, but i think i can help you out. i decided to skip high school physics and take freshman physics at my big state university. it was my first time with physics, but i am very good at other sciences and math. it's not a top university, but it's not a crappy one either. it wasn't bad at all. i mean, there is some tricky stuff, but if you study, it should be ok. if you're good at math it will really help. basically, for my class, it would seem hard, but none of the really hard stuff was ever tested on the exams so i didnt need to study for them. easy A. if you go to Emory or USC, it will likely be harder, but definitely manageable. </p>
<p>i honestly dont think a background in high school physics will help you. the professor should teach you the basic concepts (which is what high school would give you), and then you just need to practice doing problems and doing the math and knowing the equations. </p>
<p>if you have some clue about science (which you do because you took AP chem and bio), and you know math, did you take AP calc? you're fine. HS physics doesn't do anything. in my opinion.</p>
<p>I assume that you're going to be majoring in something that will require you to learn some physics?</p>
<p>I'd suggest just taking the (first) physics class as soon as possible after you get there and making sure you have a relatively light course load (with no other science courses) that semester. You should be fine.</p>
<p>But if you're really worried, you could </p>
<p>(a) try to find a physics course you could take this summer at a community college,</p>
<p>(b) try to find a syllabus for the same course you're going to have to take, get a copy of the textbook on that syllabus, and start working on it once your current classes end,</p>
<p>(b') start haunting the school bookstore's website as soon as this semester ends trying to figure out which textbook is going to be assigned and start working on that ASAP,</p>
<p>(c) spend an afternoon in a bookstore looking at the various study aids for physics and try to find one that looks useful to you,</p>
<p>(d) go over to the Teaching Company and find an interesting-looking set of lectures you can watch or listen to,</p>
<p>(e) show up in the physics department the day after you arrive on campus asking for help getting connected to a physics major who'll be willing to tutor you, </p>
<p>....</p>
<p>You get the idea.</p>
<p>If you're intelligent, you have good study skills and a good work ethic, you choose your classes wisely and are willing to consider taking more than 4 years to graduate and/or take summer classes where needed, and so on, I would imagine you can handle it without all that. If you're really worried, though, there are things you can do to improve your performance.</p>
<p>If you aren't majoring in anything that would require physics, it won't matter. The large majority of non-science majors wouldn't take it. If you do have to take it, you'll probably be fine anyway, worst that could happen is you have to study a little more than others, or get tutored. Either way, I wouldn't be to concerned.</p>
<p>Unless you are majoring in something math or science-y, it REALLY doesn't matter. You won't have to take it anyway. However, if your intended major requires you to take a physics class, I would take one in high school before going to a 4-year college to take it with no background.</p>
<p>
[quote]
Physics is extremely easy, at least it was for me. I found it way easier than Bio or Chem (<---hate Chem!...love Bio). If you know Algebra, Trig, and Calculus concepts, Physics will be a breeze.
[/quote]
You either took a really easy physics course or you're a physics genius.</p>
<p>Either way, telling people that "physics will be a breeze" is bad advice, because it's a huge overgeneralization.</p>
<p>Lets just say there are plenty of usually straight A students that are happy to get a C in my calc based mechanics course.</p>
<p>I didn't take physics either and I'm a college junior. I (was) a journalism major so sciences aren't pertinent to me. I took bio 100 - the easiest science course available - to fulfill my GE requirement for that area.</p>
<p>a lot of my good friends opted to take another ap science instead of physics and they are doing just fine in college. college is about trying out new things. for example, i've never taken a film class before. does that mean i should be afraid of trying it out? of course not! intro classes are exactly that, intro. and many schools post prerequisite classes next to the classes on the course catalogue so you will know just how much you are expected to know going into the class.</p>
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[quote]
intro classes are exactly that, intro.
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While you are right that one should not be afraid to try new classes without having been exposed to the material, the intro sciences are not like "intro to film". Intro physics, bio and chem can be extremely difficult courses that should especially not be taken lightly if one hasn't been exposed to the material before.</p>
<p>I know some people that took physics for fun( GE maybe?) and ended up failing because of it.</p>
<p>to answer the threadstarter's question, no. you'll find lots of people haven't taken physics before college, and if they did, it was such a simplified version of physics that it wouldn't have helped them anyways. physics depends much more on your ability to problem-solve and reason rather than rely on a previous foundation of knowledge.</p>
<p>
[quote]
Physics is extremely easy, at least it was for me. I found it way easier than Bio or Chem (<---hate Chem!...love Bio). If you know Algebra, Trig, and Calculus concepts, Physics will be a breeze.
[/quote]
i imagine you didn't take engineering physics...</p>
<p>my Electromagnetic Physics class last semester may have been one of the most time consuming and, easily, most challenging classes i've ever taken. i'm no genius, but i'd say i'm pretty smart, and the course dominated me. still pulled off an A, but not without lots of studying when i usually study very little for anything. the physics class i'm in now, Wave Optics and Quantum Mechanics (for Engineers), is actually lots easier than EM, ironically, if only because it does somewhat revert back more to "plug-and-chug" physics. also, it's quite a bit more interesting...</p>
<p>
[quote]
physics depends much more on your ability to problem-solve and reason rather than rely on a previous foundation of knowledge.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>And these skills are the ones that needs to be practiced the most in order to be ready for a class such as engineering physics. I know someone that had a 800 sat1 and sat 2 math score in addition to having straight A's in math( by last min studying). He dropped my physics mechanics class for engineers( at the time, he had a C). He mentioned that he never took any physics before in highschool so it was hard for him. Did I mention that he was a 3.9 student.?</p>
<p>I agree that if your intended major isn't in the math & sciences not taking physics in HS shouldn't pose a problem. </p>
<p>On a side note, I have a friend who graduated last year, no physics. Late in the admissions game he decided he was interested in Applied Sciences. His #1 choice accepted him with the condition that he complete their online course over the summer. Did so, and is doing great.</p>
<p>
i took one physics class in high school, AP Physics C Mechanical. i got a 3 on the test (a "C") while still getting an A in the class because i happened to memorize the right things for those tests. i literally learned nothing that could have transfered to my actual experience in college physics. if you feel like you actually understand an involved problem solving process (i.e. NOT by cramming last minute, which is more or less an exercise in memorization), then taking physics or not in high school is a moot point. success in college physics depends on things much more important than just SAT scores and GPAs.</p>
<p>i've taken 3 semesters straight of college engineering physics, so i've had a lot of time to figure out the best way to approach it...i got an A in both Mechanics/Thermodynamics and Electromagnetics, and i'm looking at a very solid A in Quantum Mechanics/Nuclear Physics.</p>