<p>I’m wondering the same exact thing @Rob. If my school doesn’t approve of me taking Calc BC online, then I will be forced to take AB…</p>
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<p>Yeah, my school doesn’t even offer BC. I mean, I could self-study BC, but self-studying BC and Physics C seems like a LOT of work, even if I am pretty good at math.</p>
<p>Same here, I really don’t want to waste my time on AB so I am really pushing my school to offer BC through NCVPS. I’m hoping to come to a consensus with them shortly, but their indifference to the situation is making it practically impossible. </p>
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<p>So, people recommend studying from some MIT video course, and I know sem I corresponds to 8.01, but which of the undergraduate courses should I look at here: [Free</a> Online Course Materials | Physics | MIT OpenCourseWare](<a href=“http://ocw.mit.edu/courses/physics/]Free”>Search | MIT OpenCourseWare | Free Online Course Materials)</p>
<p>8.01SC?</p>
<p>I was wondering the same thing. Does anyone know? </p>
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<p>Mechanics: Use 8.01, Fall 1999 for video lectures and 8.01SC for complete notes. Both have assignments and exams with solutions.</p>
<p>E&M: Use 8.02 and 8.02SC. Warning, the content here is more rigorous with Calculus than you’ll find in the E&M exam.</p>
<p>SC means OCW Scholar, courses made specifically made for self-studiers like us.</p>
<p>So all you have to do is study the complete course from the MIT OpenCourseWare videos, go over a review book, and you’re good to go for the AP exam? Is there any information that is present on the AP exam that won’t be covered in the MIT video course?</p>
<p>@nate42: I’ve been doing a little bit of searching and it seems that Mechanics can be done with Calc AB as a co-req, but it’s recommended that you take BC as a co-req for E&M. Again, not entirely sure, so please someone correct me if I’m wrong.</p>
<p>I think the MIT courses cover everything in Mechanics and of course a bunch of other stuff. Then again the MIT courses are more difficult so you would really need to take some official College Board exams and the FRQs to be well prepared. And yes you can take AP Calculus along with Physics C but you really need to know vectors which is not covered in AP Calculus (BC tests vectors but are very easy questions).</p>
<p>I self studied the e&m exam, and got a 4. I’m pretty good at math and physics, but I did procrastinate on my studying. I think I could have gotten a 5 but I hadn’t seen the kind of problem that made up one of the FRQ’s 
To learn the material I used some online sources, a crappy textbook, and a princeton review book.</p>
<p>I’m thinking of selfing Phys C this year because I couldn’t convince enough kids to sign up and form a class for it at my school. I took Phys B last year and got a 5, and I’ll be taking Calc BC next year, and was wondering what/how much I’ll need to study for either the EM or M exam. Also, since my school doesn’t offer it, how would I take the Phys C exam? Could I take it at another high school? Thanks</p>
<p>You can probably still take an exam in your school, just ask your counselor about it when you get back to school. For Mechanics AB is fine, but for E&M normally in college multivariable calculus would be needed but I think you should use PR / Barrons b/c I don’t know much about that.</p>
<p>can someone tell me the difference between physics b and c and which one is harder?</p>
<p>Physics C is calculus based. They mostly cover the sames topics with a few differences. Apparently Physics C is harder (I’ve only done B, so this is just what I’ve heard). </p>
<p>It seems like everyone on this thread has already finished the syllabus haha. I haven’t even started (unless you count taking Physics B).</p>
<p>The fact that C is much more in depth is much harder than the fact that it’s based on calculus.</p>
<p>Well first note that AP Physics C is divided into two parts with two separate exams: Mechanics and Electricity & Magnetism. AP Physics B actually covers more topics than AP Physics C, however, C goes much more in-depth than B. For example, AP Physics B covers Fluid Mechanics, Thermaldynamics, Waves & Optics, and Atomic & Nuclear Physics - however, Physics B really just skims over these.</p>
<p>I self-studied Physics C this past year with no physics background whatsoever (I simultaneously took Calc BC at my high school and never ever took a physics course in my life). I got a 5 on both Mech and E&M. However, I put a lot of time into studying for the tests (10 hours each week) and spread out the studying over the full school year, so anyone considering self-studying SHOULD NOT procrastinate. AP Physics C isn’t a subject you can just master in a month or two.</p>
<p>I used Randall Knight’s Physics for Scientists and Engineers (Vol. 1 and 4 chapters 1-14 and 26-34) as my textbook and Princeton Review for clarification/review before the AP test. I also watched videos and did problems on these sites:
[NROC</a> Advanced Placement Physics CI](<a href=“http://www.montereyinstitute.org/courses/AP%20Physics%20C%20I/nroc%20prototype%20files/coursestartc.html]NROC”>http://www.montereyinstitute.org/courses/AP%20Physics%20C%20I/nroc%20prototype%20files/coursestartc.html)
[NROC</a> Advanced Placement Physics CII](<a href=“http://www.montereyinstitute.org/courses/AP%20Physics%20C%20II/nroc%20prototype%20files/coursestartc.html]NROC”>http://www.montereyinstitute.org/courses/AP%20Physics%20C%20II/nroc%20prototype%20files/coursestartc.html)
Also, taking numerous free response questions from collegeboard and multiple choice is ESSENTIAL to getting 5’s on the two tests. There are tons of free response and mc on this site and on the college board website: [Index</a> of /physics/apreleasedexams](<a href=“http://dump.harishlall.com/physics/apreleasedexams/]Index”>http://dump.harishlall.com/physics/apreleasedexams/)</p>
<p>For anyone planning to self-study Physics C for next year, my advice to you is to study hard, not procrastinate, and most importantly do practice multiple choice and free response. Anyone who self-studies diligently and takes numerous practice tests (by this I mean 10-15 frqs and all mc available) will be guaranteed a 5 on both tests.</p>
<p>Best of luck to those taking Physics C next year! I hope all of you self-studying end up with 5s on the AP tests!</p>
<p>^ thanks for the advice!</p>
<p>So I’m taking Mechanics at my school and I’m self studying E&M. Since it is moving closer to the school year I was hoping to ask for some help planning it.</p>
<p>AP Review Book: I know Princeton has good ones (I used it for Physics B) but I’ve also heard AP Advantage (<a href=“http://■■■■■■/c2wZB[/url]”>http://■■■■■■/c2wZB</a>) is good for the Physics C’s. Does anyone know if it makes a difference?</p>
<p>Online Resources: I (and others in this thread) was planning on using MIT OCW 8.02 and 8.02 SC ([Free</a> Online Course Materials | Courses | MIT OpenCourseWare](<a href=“Search | MIT OpenCourseWare | Free Online Course Materials”>Search | MIT OpenCourseWare | Free Online Course Materials)) for a supplement to my school Mechanics textbook which hopefully has E&M in it. How are you guys going to distinguish the things we need to know for the AP exam from the complex MIT stuff? I know we can use the sample syllabus (<a href=“http://■■■■■■/1YoRw[/url]”>http://■■■■■■/1YoRw</a>) to generally pick topics but does anyone have any other idea(s)?</p>
<p>AP Exam Prep: As mathwizard posted above, it looks like we are good on MC and FRQs, so I guess by the end we just need to be able to complete those.</p>
<p>But anyways, I’m looking forward to the challenge this year, and hopefully you guys are too.</p>
<p>Which textbook should I use for self-study? Fundamentals of Physics or University Physics? I already have both, I just don’t know which one I should use as my primary.</p>
<p>^I’m using Fundamentals of Physics, though both books are sufficient; the fundamentals one is quite nice, it’s “readable” but requires some outside instruction imo </p>
<p>I’m just starting to self-study (procrastination) and I was quite stumped by how heavily calculus based the text was, so I had to start learning calculus from scratch (easily doable w/ Khan Academy and a textbook even without precalculus) hopefully I can finish integrals before summer’s over and get a good chunk of mechanics out of the way</p>
<p>Anyone know if either of the Physics C curricula have changed in the past 2/3 years? On Collegeboard, it gives a course description “effective fall 2012”, so it might have changed. Then again, I’ve heard AP Bio has changed but I haven’t heard of AP Physics C changing.</p>
<p>Also: why is the price for the 2012 PR book so high? [Amazon.com:</a> ap physics c](<a href=“http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss_1?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=ap+physics+c]Amazon.com:”>http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss_1?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=ap+physics+c)</p>
<p>I already have the REA book from some Borders clearout sale. Thinking about PR or Barron’s, but I’m looking for a book specifically geared toward C (I’m also taking B next year, but it shouldn’t be a problem) Any suggestions?</p>
<p>Thanks.</p>