Parents of the HS Class of 2022

Thank you so much! Will do

1st day of college is going to be very hard.

AP physics is definitely harder than regular Physics.

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Jinxing is not real. You should take out the uncertainty and book.

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I think there are two kinds of AP Physics courses – the ones with calculus and the ones without. The ones with calculus are two separate pieces of AP Physics – AP Mech C and AP E&M C. Those are much harder. Especially for the E&M, you need to have done AP Calc BC ahead of time, or at at least concurrently. I suspect there will also be a difference between Regular Physics and Regular AP Physics (i.e., without calculus).

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BC is not needed for AP physics C, just AB, but yes, needs to happen at least concurrently, and way harder than AP Physics I

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In our school BC is mandated for AP E&M C. Probably not true elsewhere. My bad. And the AP E&M C has math that goes significantly beyond Calc BC. Green’s theorem / Vector Calculus etc.

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Thanks! I know that C and E&M tough and needed only for Engineering students. Yes, I was thinking the same that AP Physics 1 (Algebra based) may also be harder than regular Physics but the teacher told them differently.

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At my son’s high school, you can’t take AP Physics C without finishing AP Physics 1 first.
And AP Physics C is calculus based, so you do need to be at least concurrently enrolled in a Calc class, but it doesn’t have to be an AP class. At least not at my son’s school.

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It wouldn’t hurt to have an idea of what you want to do in college. My son found out that at his college, if you had a 5 in AP Mech C, E&M C and AP Chem, you could completely skip out of the freshman year engg requirements in Science. This is a much easier path than going through the placement test, which tends to be much harder than the APs. Something to consider for parents that have kids who still have time to accommodate these in your high school curriculum. If you are going to Electrical or Mech or something similar, you may want to redo the Physics, but if you are going into something like CS, you don’t really need that Physics and certainly the Chemistry. They are better off skipped.

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I’ve found for CS, it resides in the School of Engineering at many schools thus requiring 2 semesters of Physics and sometimes Chem. My son had Honors Physics freshman year but should have taken AP this year.

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My son is in the school of engineering. And he has taken no physics and no chemistry. His academic advisor was not happy as a matter of principle, but his opinion was not binding. My son just ignored the opinion. At some point in the senior year he may or may not take a physics course. Purely out of interest. But that is his choice. Like in the case of everything else, I suspect this may vary by school.

An ABET EAC-accredited school of engineering with no Physics or Chemistry requirement? That’s quite abnormal.

I suspect that Honors Physics in our school system is quite similar to AP Physics 1, which isn’t offered. Do any schools offer Physics, Honors Physics and AP Physics 1?

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Regarding the cartoon above:

Honestly? I love my kiddos to the death. And they are great kids. But - 2 of the 4 are gone off to college and I couldn’t be happier. Our youngest is Class of 2025. I already told my kids that 1 week after we drop the youngest off at college, the wife and I are going on a celebratory two week vacay. Being a dad is the greatest thing ever for me. But by 2025, I’ll be more than done.

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My son’s school offers only AP Physics Mechanics. And it’s widely considered one of the toughest courses on campus along with Multi Variable Calc. Regular Physics is far easier.

I don’t believe that CS at the school is accredited. Employers don’t care in this case. Other traditional engg branches are accredited. There are other schools like that. For example, I don’t believe Stanford CS is accredited. Harvard CS is not accredited. Incidentally I did not say that my son’s school doesn’t require. I merely said the let you place out of it.

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All year long before D19 went off to college I would say “this is our last Christmas that’s the 4 of us,” “this is the last Super Bowl,” “this is the last Opening Day!” And I was sure I was going to be a bag of tears on drop off day. But she was so ready, so excited, and I was excited for her. Yes it was emotional, but not the sad event I feared. And now with S22 heading off, like @CalAlumandDad, H90 and I are celebrating our 50ths with a trip starting directly from drop off. Largely to celebrate, and partly to defer going back to the empty house.

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Our NJ HS offers Physics, Advanced Physics, Honors Physics, AP Physics 1, AP Physics 2, AP Physics C. And for some reason it’s taken freshman year besides the higher level APs.

Our HS offers college prep Physics, honors physics, AP Physics 1, AP Physics C-Mechanics and AP Physics C- Electricity and Magnetism. My son is in Honors Physics and a friend is in AP Physics 1 - same teacher and much of the same material. Kids who are serious about Physics will take AP1 junior year and AP Physics C senior year.

Our school offers regular physics and AP Physics 1&2 which is a one-year course.