<p>My son has the impression that AP Physics does not really count at USC because you have to take the USC Physics anyways for the Engineering school.
Also, I heard there are two different levels of Physics for EE/CS majors. Does anyone know about this with any suggestions which class to take and how the AP exam fits in?</p>
<p>I have no authority on this, but here's what jbusc said when this was discussed before:</p>
<p>"You can always petition to have requirements waived or substituted, but I would consider it unlikely that they would approve an AP for GE credit that wasn't already approved (and that USC has no equivalent class for, at least that I'm aware of) In general they're hesitant to make ANY substitutions for GE's, even other USC classes.</p>
<p>AP Physics gets you elective unit credits (which help get earlier registration times, until you hit the 32 unit cap) and it also lets you ask to get into PHYS 161/162/163, which is the alternative honors physics sequence, instead of PHYS 151/152/153 which is the ordinary calculus-based physics sequence.</p>
<p>Regardless, though, you still have to take their physics. As someone who did both AP Physics C exams and got 5's o both, USC's physics goes further than the AP.</p>
<p>(If given the opportunity, and you're interested in physics, I highly suggest you take the 16x sequence! It is taught by one of the best professor on campus and goes FAR beyond anything AP physics might offer)"</p>
<p>How hard is it to get an A or B in the 16x Physics series? My son likes circuits and is really interested in hardware.</p>
<p>EE/CS people have to take physics in college, either the 15x or 16x series, regardless of AP's. I don't know the rules if you have transfer credit or some other exam besides AP.</p>
<p>(note that it's different for different majors: EE's have to take all 3 courses, CECS only 2, and regular CS I think just 1 or 2)</p>
<p>If you did well on AP physics (my guess, 4 or 5?) you can ask to take the honors 16x sequence. </p>
<p>Considering which AP physics - I think most people in the class will probably have taken AP Physics C, or at least been exposed to calculus-based physics. A couple people had taken AP Physics B instead, but I'd think you would need to know some calculus also on top of that. </p>
<p>Definitely for 162 you should be rocking both physics and calculus, but that's not important to think about because usually people can tell by the end of 161 whether to go on to 162 or take 152 instead.</p>
<p>For EE's, because they have to take EE 330 (which is electromagnetics) anyways, it can be great to have extra preparation from 162 instead of 152 (in fact, some people think that a lot of EE 330 is covered in 162)</p>
<p>There's less circuits in 162 than you might think, but more than in 152 for sure. But like I said, 162 is fairly beneficial to EE's.</p>
<p>As for grades, well, the assumption is that anyone in 16x would get A's or B's at least in the 15x class, and he's not about to punish people grade-wise for taking the harder elective. But at the same time, the tests are harder, so someone who's not as well prepared or doesn't really like physics might get a lower grade than in 15x. And you can't expect to put in the same effort and learn the same amount of stuff and get the same grade in both classes, you're definitely expected to learn a lot more for the same grade.</p>
<p>Any more questions? :)</p>