Taking University Physics in college without ever taking a single Physics course in my life time.

I’ve been wondering if this is a bad or good idea for me since I’ve registered for University Physics class for this Summer semester(which the class will start very soon) after passing Calc 1 and I’m pretty nervous because I’ve never taken a single Physics class in high school nor my lifetime.

I’ve heard that the University Physics course is not only tough but it becomes even two times tougher for those who’ve never had any experience with Physics classes.

Is taking University Physics in college without ever taking a single Physics class in my lifetime gonna be the worst mistake I’ve ever made?

Do you need to take physics? What level is it at? Even intro physics has a wide variation in difficulty levels for different courses.

My D - a STEM major - never took a physics course in her life until this year as a sophomore. She just finished her second and final semester of it. She also took multi variable calculus this year (P/NP) as it supposedly helps with that second semester of physics. Yes, it’s been difficult - she went to a study group and maybe even an on-campus tutor on occasion. She likes the subject matter but recognized that it was going to be tough because, like you, she’d had no exposure to it. Got a B last semester - probably something similar this semester.

It’s not a mistake to take it if you need it for your major. What would be a mistake is to go into it without a serious plan for success - keeping up on the assignments, figuring out where resources are for help and plugging into them BEFORE the first big test (office hours, study groups, tutoring, etc.) and buckling down for tests.

The only prerequisite course I need in order take University Physics at my college is Calculus 1/MAT220, which, I just recently barely passed. The prerequisite requirements doesn’t say that I need to take A-level Physics or anything but I have been recommended by a few Advisors to take Physics classes below University Physics level just so I could get the idea of the basics of Physics before moving into higher level Physics courses.

all science course in college assume no backgrounds in past. Just like any foreign languages courses. You will be scared by classmate that had previous exposure but after couple weeks, you should be able to know you indeed are capable. As long as you took Algebra 3 Honor/preCal and some Calculus as you stated, you have exposure to word problems in velocity, trajectory, vector etc. These are Physics problems. You should be fine. Usually there are algebra base and calculus base Physics courses in college. Pick whatever you feel comfortable.

@Undercrackers Is it a good idea to try to self-teach myself the basics of Physics to best prepare myself for University Physics this Summer semester? The class doesn’t start til the 29th of May in my schedule.

Not necessarily. Some list the high school science as a recommended prerequisite.

Having had a high school physics course may be helpful when taking physics in college, but may not be strictly necessary. But physics in college will likely be more difficult if you have not seen any physics even at the high school level.

Also, having only “barely passed” the calculus prerequisite for physics in college will likely mean that it will be more difficult than if you know the calculus inside and out.

I had a really poor high school physics class (AP Physics wasn’t offered), and I won’t lie - college physics was tough. Even though I was an engineering major and had a strong calculus background, I struggled. So if you have any difficulty at all, get a tutor!! That was the best thing I did. Good luck!

first of all, i don’t know which college we are talking. XX Community college or YY State college are different from flagship State University.
Mu experience is a flagship top 20 public Univ in US. I don’t use Physics as example because it may not be fair. I was good at Math and I know concept better than cramping material in Physics. I was in foreign language class. Half of class took 2 to 3 years of the languages in HS, but I got an A even I have no exposure of the foreign language in HS. I had friend with comp sci major never do programming in HS before and she became a top graduate. Don’t give excuse to yourself. Do just say you can take challenge in college app but can’t learn freshman course with confident.

@lemonlulu It’s community college but I’m following a Community College-to-ASU transfer path program that my community college has for students, that tells you all the required and transferable courses needed for whatever major you are trying to aim for at ASU and also for the transfer progress.

But anyways, I’ll definitely take your suggestion and stick with it while I’ll let my professor know about my lack of Physics exposure and try to get as much assistance as I need from the professor and tutors to give my best efforts in the course.

How was Calc for you? If you passed Calc pretty easily and the concepts made sense, you’ll probably have to work a bit harder than kids who took it in high school but will do okay if you put the time in. If Calculus was a struggle for you, though, I think I’d recommend starting with a conceptual physics class first before taking the calc-based physics class.

My first thought was that you won’t really be at a significant disadvantage without previous physics coursework. Then you mentioned that you barely passed calculus - now I’m worried for you. The physics concepts themselves in an introductory corse wouldn’t normally be a problem, but you may struggle with the underlying math that could result in a stressful combination. You really need a solid foundation to have a realistic probability of success. I’m not saying you can’t overcome the obstacles confronting you, but it’s likely to require a lot of time and discipline on your part.

Here is an example from a community college, where high school physics is recommended (though not required) before taking physics in college:

https://www.mesacc.edu/departments/physical-science/physics/course-descriptions

@RandyErika Well, to be honest and not to come up with excuses for myself or anything, one of the reasons why I didn’t get high of a grade for Calc 1 as I should is because in all the exams of my Calc 1 professor often have some word problems that barely makes any sense either because of the professors wordings/choice of words for the problems or because he’ll throw in one problem involving a method that he never taught in class yet expects his class to figure it out on their own, which often brought my grade down. It isn’t just me that had this problem but it’s also many of my other former Calc 1 classmates that had this issue as well.

As for everything else in calculus 1, I had very little to no problems with derivatives(power rule, product rule, chain rule, etc.), limits, average rate of change, Riemann Sum and integrals. It’s only Optimization, Mean Value Theorem, and remembering 100% of all my past Geometry and Algebra formulas(Didn’t have too much trouble remembering Algebra, just forgot a few formulas that I rarely ever used) that took a toll on my academic performance of Calc 1.

Whatever upcoming obstacles I’ll face in University Physics class, the first thing I’ll do is immediately let my professor know on the first day of class, all of my disadvantages I’ll have so he give me some blueprints or plans on how to survive and succeed the course, hoping that they will work out for me because I’m already almost finished with my Associate’s with this and my CSC120 course this Summer semester being my last two courses needed before transferring to a University.

“in all the exams of my Calc 1 professor often have some word problems that barely makes any sense either because of the professors wordings/choice of words for the problems or because he’ll throw in one problem involving a method that he never taught in class yet expects his class to figure it out on their own”

In my own personal experience, the above describes physics class 100%.

Yes, word problems where you must figure out how to apply math that you know are what physics problems will be like.

@allyphoe Thanks for the heads up on that so I can hopefully do the best I can to brush up on my word problem skills/ability and let my PHY121 professor know about this along with the rest of my other weaknesses that I need to tackle down.

CC could be less competitive. And your classmate who might have had 1 year of college prep Physics, are not necessary good at physics. I know foreign students had no physics at all in their HS but still did well in state Univ level Physics. It depends on your workload, how focus you can be. And there are tons of tutorial in YouTube. Or watch the Khan academy video helps.

@ucbalumnus , the course description is more cover their @$$, they can say I told you so. Like expiration of vitamin, drug company just dosn’t want to be sued. And I won’t get sick by eating 6 month expired vitamins. Of course no one would sue college for the syllabus. we are talking about first year college course. Do you ever see remedial course of Physics 099 in college? Lot of HS doesn’t require Physics as science requirement, some allow Biology or Chemistry. So those students should not take Physics at all in college? I don’t know all individuals, I know a large portion may not be able to do it. I am sure there are good amount of students can make it, at least a B even has no exposure in Physics. Not everyone takes piano class in college has played piano before.

Remedial physics would be algebra-based and aimed at students not intending to major in the sciences. OP is taking calculus-based physics, which is unlikely to be the lowest level offered.

AZ community colleges offer these 100-level physics courses as the first in a sequence:

Introduction to Physics (PHY101) 4 Credits
A survey of physics emphasizing applications of physics to modern life. Note: Students may receive credit for only one of the following: PHY101 or PHY101AA. Prerequisites: A grade of C or better in MAT090, or MAT091, or MAT092, or equivalent, or satisfactory score on Math placement exam

General Physics I (PHY111) 4 Credits
Includes motion, energy, and properties of matter. Note: PHY111 is recommended for preprofessional and suggested for certain other majors. Students may receive credit for only one of the following: PHY111 or PHY111AA. Prerequisites: MAT182 or MAT187 or MAT220 or MAT221 or eligibility for MAT220 as indicated by appropriate placement test score or one year high school Trigonometry with a grade of “C” or better or permission of Department or Division.

University Physics I (PHY115) 5 Credits
General physics course using calculus to develop the principles of mechanics and thermodynamics. Recommended for majors in the sciences and mathematics. Required for Engineering majors. Prerequisites: A grade of C or better in MAT220 or MAT221 or permission of Department or Division. Corequisites: MAT230 or MAT231. One year High School physics or PHY111 and PHY112 is strongly recommended.

University Physics I: Mechanics (PHY121) 4 Credits
Kinematics, Newton’s laws, work, energy, momentum, conservation laws, dynamics of particles, solids, fluids, mechanical waves, and sound. Prerequisites: A grade of C or better in MAT220 or MAT221 or permission of Department or Division. One year of High School physics or PHY111 and PHY112 suggested but not required.