<p>What should you do if your school does not offer AP physics? I looked at the local community college, but it is 7 hours a week on a really weird time schedule. Any suggestions would be appreciated.</p>
<p>Check out EPGY: <a href="http://epgy.stanford.edu/%5B/url%5D">http://epgy.stanford.edu/</a>. The courses are well-designed and do an excellent job of preparing the student to take AP exams.</p>
<p>Wow, I wish I had known about those before.</p>
<p>I took the two multivariable calculus courses there. I personally liked them a lot--very complete, rather proof-heavy, and not too hard to follow.</p>
<p>How long do you think I would have to spend each day doing the AP Physics B course? Would it be possible to do after school?</p>
<p>For Physics B, 10-12 hours per week should suffice. As for many EPGY courses, homework is self-graded and you don't have to turn it in. However, I highly advise that you do it all. EPGY tests are usually more difficult than the AP exams. If you don't do the homework problems, you will have difficulty with the tests.</p>
<p>The EPGY advice is great, since at Caltech we count it both as a strong academic class <em>and</em> an "extracurricular-type" indication of strong academic interest. But just in case you can't do it for some reason, you won't be penalized for taking the highest level of physics at your school, as long as you make it clear in a note that it was the highest level. This is true even if the highest level is <em>regular</em> physics. </p>
<p>Nevertheless, the EPGY course would certainly be a strong plus.</p>
<p>Should I take the EPGY course in place of, or in addition to, the physic class at school?</p>
<p>School is probably better, still. More incentive to keep up with the work, and the immediacy of a classroom experience is hard to match.</p>
<p>Do you think it could be a good idea to take it in addition to school?</p>
<p>If you have the time and energy, yes. But you may also consider instead taking something at EPGY that is parallel and a little more advanced to broaden your knowledge as opposed to only reinforcing it.</p>
<p>Do you have any suggestions on what to take?</p>
<p>Anything that interests you and that you are prepared for in University Level Physics/Math. Light and Heat, Modern Physics seem like good supplementary choices. Anything you're prepared for in math, too.</p>
<p>EPGY's university level courses require both AP physics C courses as prerequisites. If you are unsure of which physics to take, you may want to contact EPGY and ask to speak with or e-mail Gary Oas, who is the physics department head and quite helpful.</p>
<p>My son found the physics C courses to be not much more difficult than the physics B courses. The C courses merely cover selected material in greater depth. The B course has a very interesting section on relativity. (Neither light nor relativity are covered at all by the C courses.) However, physics B AP credit is not accepted by many colleges.</p>
<p>Oh, good call, EllenF. Sorry about not noticing the prereqs. Honestly, it would be a little on the overkill side to take the EPGY courses in addition to a similar school course, but Physics B/C might be a nice supplement to a school course nonetheless, if you have a lot of time and want to do very well (as in vault far above the minimal 5 level) on the AP. </p>
<p>Any of the nifty math courses are still recommended, if you've had the calc prereqs. I listened to many of the samples and they really are quite excellent lectures.</p>
<p>I agree with Ben that taking AP physics both in high school and at EPGY would be redundant. However, some high school AP courses are sub-par. EPGY's courses are excellent. EPGY physics students routinely score 5s on the APs. If most of the physics students in your high school do not score a 5, you may want to consider taking the EPGY course instead of your high school course. Furthermore, some high schools require students to take an honors physics course before permitting them to enroll in AP physics. EPGY does not, which could save you from taking two physics courses. The disadvantages to taking the EPGY courses are: 1) cost, and 2) you have to be self-motivated.</p>
<p>However, there is a third option. Contact your school and see if they will enroll in the EPGY program. Schools receive a substantial discount from the normal tuition fees. I doubt schools which offer AP physics would do this, but schools which do not offer AP physics may. You'd want to contact them soon, since admin at EPGY can be slow.</p>
<p>On a related note, Ben - do you know how Caltech views less formal coursework/self-study (ie, no objective grades) in lieu of formal classes? </p>
<p>I live in the Boston area, close enough to informally audit MIT classes if I talk to professors first (I'll be at RSI this summer, too, and might be able to start working out arrangements while there). However, MIT has pretty strict policies against formally allowing high school students in their classes. I'd be able to get assignments in class or off the OpenCourseWare site and complete the same work other students did, but wouldn't be allowed to get stuff graded. I think I'd end up learning a lot, though.</p>
<p>Taking classes at Wellesley College is also an option, and there I can actually enroll instead of sneaking in. But after self-studying Linear Algebra through the OpenCourseWare site first semester and then taking Multivariate at Wellesley second semester I realized that to cover a Caltech/MIT curriculum I'd need to do considerable self-study outside of Wellesley's curriculum anyway.</p>
<p>I'm also interested in some of the problem-solving classes the Art of Problem Solving website offers, but have been told that these don't count as coursework and it would look as if I'm "dropping out" of math courses my senior year.</p>
<p>Argh! Now I sound like I'm doing everything in high school simply to get into college/please admissions offices. I guess I'm concerned that I'll follow my instincts - take the most interesting-sounding classes (at MIT and AoPS) and do a bit more contest preparation - and then find out that I /should/ have been more worried. Any thoughts?</p>
<p>Hmm. I think we're more receptive than most places to less formal coursework, but we'll still be a bit leery of dropping courses taken on grades to audit courses where there's no <em>evidence</em> that you've learned something.I'd say if you can swing it auditing MIT courses is great <em>in addition</em> to whatever else you'd be doing otherwise on grades, and if you can show good olympiad/whatever results to demonstrate that you achieved something (through auditing or AoPS) then it would help significantly and the courses would be evidence of your dedication.</p>
<p>:)
Ben</p>
<p>Thanks Ben ^^ Since I won't have much in the way of olympiad results when I apply, I'll work on finding a way to take courses on grades... who knows, maybe I'll find some professor who'd let me recieve "unofficial" grades and then write an explanation of the situation. </p>
<p>danke schoen,
Kim</p>
<p>That would be very good, Kim. Good luck to you.</p>