No Physics?!

College Majors Engineering Majors
1

<p>I am a junior in high school, and come 2013, would really like to study engineering, more specifically Aeronautical Engineering.</p>

<p>I really don't have a background in physics, aside from small units here and there in my middle school and underclassmen science classes. While my High School offers some AP classes, physics is not one of them. Obviously, going into the engineer physics series in college, I will have to have a decent knowledge of physics.</p>

<p>I'll put this plainly, our physics program is a complete and utter joke. The extent of the teachers' physics knowledge is "a single class during his sophomore year of college." Students aren't even having a final exam, and, according to my friend who is currently in the class, "we spent an entire period arguing over which superhero was better- the Flash, or the Green Lantern."</p>

<p>I'd rather not waste my time with that class, and decided to take AP chemistry instead. Would it be worth my time to get the AP physics book and try to learn? Or will I be alright walking into college with a blank slate?</p>

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<p>You certainly won’t be worse off with more physics, that’s for sure.</p>

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<p>Why is this obvious? I had zero physics experience and got an A. Physics I is Physics I for a reason.</p>

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<p>If you can handle basic linear, quadratic, and trig equations, you can understand physics enough</p>

<p>Sent from my ADR6300 using CC</p>

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<p>“Why is this obvious? I had zero physics experience and got an A. Physics I is Physics I for a reason.”</p>

<p>I was under the impression that college physics built off of high school physics, but it looks like I was mistaken!</p>

<p>Thanks guys.</p>

6

<p>Taking physics in high school is really something they look for to see if you’re interested enough in math and science. Most schools want you to relearn the material their way when you get there anyways. Even if you get a 5 on the AP Physics C exam, which it doesn’t look like anyone at your school is doing, it’s still often recommended you retake these courses. If you want to learn some physics just because you’re interested in it, Physics I and Physics II here are much better than trying to interpret a textbook:</p>

<p>[Free</a> Online Course Materials | OCW Scholar | MIT OpenCourseWare](<a href=“http://ocw.mit.edu/courses/ocw-scholar/]Free”>OCW Scholar Courses | MIT OpenCourseWare | Free Online Course Materials)</p>

<p>AP Chemistry should be fine, however. If you have any interviews, maybe mention something about being interested in physics but lacking the best resources to study it.</p>

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<p>You could always take community college classes; most high schools will allow that to be counted for credit (but talk to your counselor/administration).</p>

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<p>It’s not necessary. I went in cold and did fine. College classes are totally different than high school - everyone is going to be at your level whether they had physics already or not. Only study for it if you want to.</p>

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<p>I am glad someone mentioned this.</p>

<p>Often times I read on this board about some potential engineering students worried because they are going to school with other students who may already have AP credit for Calculus I or Physics I, etc. The usual number of semester credits for Calculus I is 4 credits and 4 credits for Physics I. A student starting off with 8 more credits than you is STILL GRADUATING WITH YOU after 4 years…SAME SEMESTER TOO! Now from a “minor competition” or “beating their chest” prospective, I guess it is good to have folks know that you started in higher Calculus & Physics courses…but at the end of the day, it means very little. On top of that major engineering majors take more than the standard 8 semesters to graduate.</p>

10

<p>College physics courses sometimes recommend a high school physics background, although a studious student can succeed without that (but college physics for engineers and scientists does require calculus, unlike high school physics courses other than AP physics C). If your high school physics course is a joke, and you really want to get an idea of what physics is, then you may want to preview a physics textbook (e.g. [Light</a> and Matter, an online physics textbook](<a href=“http://www.lightandmatter.com/lm/]Light”>Light and Matter, an online physics textbook) or [Motion</a> Mountain - The Free Physics Textbook for Download](<a href=“http://motionmountain.net/]Motion”>http://motionmountain.net/) for a non-calculus-based course, or [Simple</a> Nature, an online physics textbook](<a href=“http://www.lightandmatter.com/area1sn.html]Simple”>Simple Nature, an online physics textbook) or [Calculus-Based</a> Physics](<a href=“Homepage | Saint Anselm College”>Homepage | Saint Anselm College) or [The</a> Physics Hypertextbook](<a href=“http://physics.info/]The”>http://physics.info/) for a calculus-based course).</p>

<p>Students who start a semester or two advanced in math or physics do gain extra free electives later that effectively replace the skipped freshman math or physics courses. But that is not necessary.</p>

11

<p>Try Khan Academy’s videos on Physics for a good intro: [Physics</a> | Khan Academy](<a href=“http://www.khanacademy.org/science/physics]Physics”>Physics library | Science | Khan Academy)</p>