I am a prospective Princeton BSE student for the class of 2022. I was wondering about how to prepare for the Princeton Physics test to get into the Adv. Mechanics and Electromagnetism courses for freshman year. I have a 5 on Phys. Mech. AP but my E and M is only a 3. Thankfully–I have a free summer, and I have some exposure with E and M, so I was hoping to study for the placement test. I am looking to major in ELE probably, or maybe CS. I was wondering what to study and how to prepared for the Physics exam (but apparently very few folks pass this.) On a sidenote, I was also wondering how test out of intro CS–and what to do this summer to prepare (am 99.99% sure I got a 5 on APCS.)
@CocoaKing according to students it is a very very very hard test. If you got 3, I’d really question why you’d want to risk starting off your college career by taking an advance course you might do poorly in. Why not take the fundamentals, do well, and get a better GPA and tackle the material with confidence? ELE is tough major at Princeton. One of the hardest, but a close knit group.
You can ask students at realtalk princeton (a tumblr blog run by students), just google it. In the search bar enter “Test out physics” and you can find some more info.
Think twice, I’d recommended that you enjoy your summer, and relax, you’ll be challenged soon enough.
@CocoaKing I’m in the same exact situation (BSE; Mech 5, EM 3). I also wanted to try and place out of physics, so that I can have more time to sample different courses and the ‘liberal arts’ vibe.
I’ve talked to current BSE students, and a couple say that unless you want to qualify for advanced standing, placing out of every freshman requirement is unnecessary. You’ll have plenty of time to try different and interesting courses, without having to sacrifice your GPA and risk having a shaky foundation. I found that advice surprisingly assuring.
If PHY 103/104 don’t sound appealing, try out the EGR151/series. They supposedly fulfil the same requirements, I believe, and I’ve heard EGR is much more inquisitive.
Can’t wait to meet our Class, and in the meanwhile check out some of the freshman seminars!
I would advise some caution with placing out of science courses because of AP courses. Princeton teaches at an extremely in depth level and @Carmelo is correct about risking a shaky foundation. My son took a first year math that his AP could have allowed him to place out of, and still found the course very challenging. That said, I do know someone who did Princeton successfully in three years because of having a very high number of AP courses in high school (3 years is not at all common at Princeton, however). Personally I would not want to miss out on a single year of all that Princeton has to offer, but each student has different priorities.
Just wondering–do you need the two AP Phys C exams w/5’s to place into PHY 105 (Adv. Mechanics) in the fall, or do you need that to place into PHY 203. I am not at all interested or prepared for 203, but I am wondering what 105 is like.