Hello! I go to a private school that does not have to follow our state’s Standards of Learning. However, it is now the fourth quarter, and we have only covered half of the material public school students are supposed to do. As someone who wants to be an electrical engineer, how will this affect my future as we will not be learning about electricity? Is this a genuine problem of the school? I asked the teacher why we are only covering half the book, and he said it would be too difficult, but I am unconvinced as it is a high school textbook. Thank you for any feedback!
My daughter took AP Physics I her Junior year at a public school. A lot of students were struggling and dragging the course speed. She was able with the few students taking the AP test to get extra tutoring on things that weren’t covered in class yet. She finished the class with like a 96. She only scored a 2 on the Physics AP exam.
She is taking AP Physics II her senior year and has chosen not to take the AP exam this year.
I have heard that most Engineering colleges want you to take Physics at the University and don’t recommend taking credit for any AP exams, maybe because of that reason that they know many High Schools do not teach to the level needed at their college.
Fret not…I only took Honors Physics in HS and became an EE.
You will take Physics 2 (electricity and magnetism) in college and you will take Intro to Circuits as an EE which starts from scratch.
AP physics 1 is not calculus-based, so it would not be given subject credit for calculus-based physics required for engineering majors.
AP physics C is calculus-based, but is designed for students less advanced in math than a typical calculus-based physics course in college. I.e. the nominal prerequisite for AP physics C is calculus concurrently. But the first calculus-based physics course in college (with mechanics) often has calculus 1 (calculus AB) as a prerequisite and calculus 2 as a co-requisite, and the second calculus-based physics course in college (with E&M) often has calculus 2 (calculus BC) as a prerequisite and calculus 3 (multivariable calculus) as a co-requisite. So it may not be surprising if acceptance of AP physics C credit (especially for E&M) is limited. College physics courses may also cover more topics than AP physics C does.
In other words, engineering majors should plan on taking calculus-based physics in college, regardless of AP credit. (However, AP calculus with a high score is much more likely to be accepted for subject credit and advanced placement.)