<p>However much we read the info on Cornell websites, it is still unclear how these AP credits and placements work :( For example, (from the Courses of Study site) if you get a 5 on AP Physics B, you can get 8 credits for it?? To get 8 credits at Cornell you have to take 2 Physics courses(Phys 1101 and 1102). Does this mean that a course taken during high school (and a score of 5) is equivalent to these 2 Physics courses at Cornell, plus a saving of 2 semesters worth of time studying Physics? Are these students well prepared to take the next level course (beyond the two they skip)?</p>
<p>Also, are all courses offered in all semesters,or only in some particular order? e.g is an introductory course offered only in the fall semester, or can it be taken in the spring semester? Is this info available someplace?</p>
<p>Finally, is there a order sequence (pre-reqs needed) for each subject? e.g. of Physics, 1101->1102->xxxx->yyyy etc?</p>
<p>Too many questions... Thanks for any inputs.</p>
<p>you are correct about AP physics B counting for all of 1101 and 1102.
do you need to take any higher-level physics? for most majors at Cornell you would not, but if it happens to fall within your area of interest, you probably will want to check with a specific advisor in your area of study to find out what the expectations are. also, I’m sure that preparedness for more advanced physics varies by student, even if they all got 5s on AP physics B.
some intro courses, for example Chem 2070 (general chemistry), are only offered in the fall. others, like Econ 1110 and 1120 (intro to micro and macroecon, respectively), are both offered both semesters. you can look around the courses of study to find out more about that, since they list when courses are offered:
[Courses</a> of Study 2010-2011](<a href=“http://courses.cuinfo.cornell.edu/]Courses”>http://courses.cuinfo.cornell.edu/)
although that’s technically for last year, it should be good enough for the purpose of checking the availability of intro courses. its main limitation is not showing the course offering that are only open every other year (or more infrequently) but that’s usually just a problem for upper-level classes in some fields.
some courses have pre-reqs and others don’t, and that info should also be listed at the link I sent you to.</p>