<p>Quick background: I'm strongly considering double majoring in Physics and International Studies (International Studies is definite, physics is a strong possibility). That being said, I was planning on my first semester freshman year schedule looking something like this: introductory political science course, second year physics class, post-calculus math class, and a freshman seminar (in addition to the required health 101, pace 101, etc.)</p>
<p>I just got my AP scores and got credit for BC Calc and Physics C E&M, but not mechanics. I'm actually better at mechanics, but that test just didn't go well for me. Anyway, this kind of throws off my planned schedule (I was counting on getting credit for both mechanics and E&M, but that didn't work out). Any suggestions to rework my schedule? Do people take physics 141 or 151 but not 142/152? Is there any other way to get exempted from 141/151? A placement test, perhaps? Or an appeal? Thanks!</p>
<p>unfortunately there’s really no way to skip 141/151 w/o ap/ib credit, and for exam where like 40% of the people will get 5s gettng a 3 or less probably indicates a major weakness in understanding. And in fact, to actually get ap credit for phys 151/152 here you have to talk to one the people in the physics department to allow you to get the credit, otherwise they’ll by default just give you phys 141 credit for the AP physics C: mechanics exam and 142 for the e&m exam. Also, most of the physics majors i know don’t really recommend skipping 151/152 to go into an upper level physics class ur freshmen year, as there’s supposed to be some complication about the ap/ib credit not counting towards a physics major.</p>
<p>thanks for the advice. I seriously think it was just a bad test day for me, and I know that’s probably what everyone else who did as poorly as I did is saying. I didn’t realize many physics majors advise not to skip over 151/152- that makes me feel better about taking it. I hope you don’t mind if I ask you a follow-up question- are there a lot of people who double major in a science and a humanity, or two other majors without a lot of overlap? I’m a bit worried about the difficulty level, although I really want to pursue both subjects. </p>
<p>A decent amount of people double major in a science + non-science, including myself (Chem and Econ). And it’s definitely doable, especially if you have lots of AP to help you skip some of those GERs, which was my case and even with the double major I’m still going to have very few classes my senior year the way i have things planned out (im a rising junior right now). And even w/o any AP credit, the worst that would happen is taking a 5 classes during a few of the semesters, which a few students may tell you not to do but if you have good time management and can study efficiently/effectively it should be fine. If you plan to go on one of the pre-professonal tracks you’ll have to take those needed additional prerequisites that don’t overlap with your major, but i’ve seen a lot of people do it just fine (if they know what they’re doing) and others struggle (mostly because they aren’t trying at all or are not doing it the right way), so it’ll ultimately come down to what type of student you are.</p>
<p>5 classes honestly ought to be normal, it is at many peer schools (those on the 3 credit system), you just must choose them wisely. Also, it may depend on which 2nd year class you take. I’d imagine you could handle modern physics. 151/152 at Emory is honestly not that tough, especially for students that took AP. 152 is probably much easier than AP E and M. 151 definitely is not that hard either. Our calc. (and non-calc. based- yes, even with Bing) based physics course pales in comparison to those at peer institutions (as far as I’ve seen. Peers’ physics is on par w/some engineering schools like Georgia Tech, while Emory is too busy playing around trying to preserve the grades and ego of the pre-meds/freshmen taking the courses. In reality, all they have to do is beef up the content and exam level and curve to please students. If 75+% of Tech students can receive a C or higher in a tough physics course, Emory students can as well as we have the higher math SAT scores). It simply isn’t as mathematically (151 for example involves minimal employment of calculus on exams. Homework is a different story though) demanding as those counterparts. I looked at Dukes pre-med rendering and Emory should be ashamed of itself (seriously, this was a summer level class that was infinitely harder than any semester level algebra based prof. at Emory. It’s really embarrassing if you think about it). Luckily, we rule in some cases, and are at least on par w/many of these peers in chem and bio though, however the others can at least say they are at a decent level across all science depts, whereas Emory is really good in some and terrible in others (we’re pretty sketch in math, physics, and CS and stronger in chem. and very strong in biological and cognitive sciences). They also tend to skip over tougher concepts that others will cover. </p>
<p>With that said, upperlevel physics classes are generally huge jumps from 151/152 (it shouldn’t be that way, but it is) and I seriously doubt they are helpful pre-reqs. It seems that having upperlevel math (these are at least taught well) classes is perhaps far more helpful than 151/152 (multivariable w/physics applications is a great one). After having 151/152, I don’t have to wonder why many don’t go on to become physics majors (despite upperlevels being actually kind of solid, though not great). However, this problem could also be lessened if there were more 151/152 and less 141/142 sections. Maybe only 1-2 w/the same limited enrollment, thus requiring like 2/3s of pre-meds to take calc. based or wait until much later to take 141/142. It’ll also probably shift better profs. to 151/152 where they may be better equipped to teach as it is the level they are used to. This also allows those who actually want to challenge themselves to avail themselves to more choices in profs. as they are really the ones who deserve it. When trying to challenge yourself by taking a harder intro. course than others, you shouldn’t be stuck w/a single choice while those who aren’t have many. Not only this, but calc. based should be the norm at a school where many science oriented students have BC credit and perhaps most have AB credit. Calc. based should not be viewed as an advanced course. Not many peer institutions treat it this way. Most students must or are very strongly encouraged to take it and some only offer this level for those majoring in sciences. By doing otherwise, Emory is essentially admitting or pretending that most Emory students are incapable of handling science courses that are more mathematically rigorous than gen. chem and thus admitting that we are less capable as a whole than those at peers and this simply isn’t true. We may whine and complain if the rigor goes up, but if pushed (Biol and Chem courses are perfect examples), we’ll perform and learn at the same level as those students.</p>
<p>Aside from this, majoring in IS and physics can be hard as IS has the language requirements and the like, and physics classes will require a large amount of math courses. However, in another sense, the two reinforce in context of GERs as physics will get STEM requirements out of the way, and IS will naturally clear many humanities/social science based GERs. It probably won’t be particularly easy academically, but in terms of graduation requirements, it is. This actually may be one perk of a double major w/a science and non-science. Lots of people do it. I would actuallysay more than a decent amount.</p>