<p>Hey guys I am taking a regular physics class through my high school since they don't offer AP and I was wondering if there was any way to self study and actually pass the exam. Has anyone out there done this or is it essiental to have the AP class and a natural aptitude towards the subject.</p>
<p>Depends on which test you're taking - B, C:M, or C:E&M.</p>
<p>I honestly do not know what the difference is between all of those. I am guessing whichever would be the lowest level since we are not using that good of a book.</p>
<p>B would be the most do-able, but its still hard. it really depends on what you're gonna cover in the class. ask the teacher for a syllabus and compare it to the online syllabus for AP Physics B.</p>
<p>well it depends on how much math you've had. if you're in calc bc or higher the c tests would be easier but if you don't have calc experience, you should stick to b</p>
<p>physics B = algebra-based, covers a wide range of stuff
physics C: Mechanics = calculus-based, just mechanics, more in depth
physics C: E&M = calculus-based, just electicity & magnetism, more in depth</p>
<p>If you haven't had calculus, definitely do physics B. A fairly high aptitude would probably be required to successfully teach yourself.</p>
<p>If you do physics C, the Barrons book was very helpful to me.</p>
<p>No Calc for me so i guess that it would be Physics B than. How high of a success rate does this test have? Isn't it higher than quite a few of the other AP tests? Thanks for your advice.</p>
<p>i plan to self-study for Physics C with a few friends...we all took BC Calc last year, so we think we can do it...i'm not sure though. We're using some college 1st year physics textbooks to go by.</p>
<p>Studying for C is definately a challenge.</p>
<p>One of my friends, who had a 99 in BC calc, tried to self-study for the E/M test, but he ended up getting a 3. This is a kid who has really high aptitute in the subject too (100 in honors physics).</p>
<p>It's possible though; just be ready to work.</p>
<p>B on the other hand is somewhat more plausable. I'd suggest you go that route, though I've never really taken a look at the syllabus.</p>
<p>At any rate, good luck to you!</p>
<p>hmmm... I self-studied physics C basically in the 30 minutes between the bio and physics tests, and got 5s on both mech and E&M (although, under those circumstances, taking the test was a serious challenge). As a result, I don't think that self-studying for any physics exam is too bad, but I might have gotten really lucky. It's probably mainly a matter of math experience - having done multivariable calc makes a lot of the E&M things much simpler. Lots of math isn't a requirement, but if you don't have calculus then Physics C isn't really an option.</p>
<p>I consider Physics B a little harder, simply because there's so much more material. It doesn't require as much thinking, but it's easy to space out about a few things (lol, trust me, very easy to forget stuff).</p>
<p>I'm taking multivariable calc right now and my friend's father is a physics professor...</p>
<p>physics c is really easy if you have a good math background, but without calculus you should definitely go for physics b.</p>
<p>vinco - if you don't give up like most self-studiers do, i think you should be able to do just fine. good luck!</p>