<p>I'm a junior at a magnet high school in Nevada. I plan to go into Civil Engineering no matter what school I choose to attend. I do know that most of the engineering majors are similar when it comes to science coursework. But my Question is, Which AP Science should I take my Senior Year?</p>
<p>AP Chemistry? Since the first semester of college, I would most likely get a general chemistry class.</p>
<p>OR</p>
<p>AP Physics? My school only offers B but I do know after that^ chemistry class, it's physics from there on out.</p>
<p>Any advice would be great, Thanks!</p>
<p>If you are in Nevada and going to UNLV, AP Calculus is the best.</p>
<p>AP Chemistry will let you dodge CHEM 103, i think.</p>
<p>Whether you take AP Physics, you’ll still have to take PHYSICS 180.</p>
<p>Just throwing this out there, but Civil Engineers have difficult times finding jobs. Can I recommend Mechanical? Mechanical Engineering and Civil Engineering take the same classes the first half, and then Mechanical Engineering branches off to learn about things that move and Civil Engineering branches off to learn about concrete.</p>
<p>Go for AP chem. that can get you out of coursework more likely than AP physics unless you take the AP Physics C test. Just about every engineering requires chem, civil being one for sure.</p>
<p>Physics B will be useless for credit for an engineering major, although if you have not had any physics course in high school, it is best to have one as a prerequisite for physics courses in university.</p>
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<p>Of course, this is due to the construction industry bearing the brunt of the real-estate-crash-driven downturn. The job market may not necessarily be the same with respect to economic and industry cycles when the OP graduates from university.</p>
<p>Engineering majors tend to have better than average job prospects, but if you get unlucky to graduate into an industry downturn for your field, your personal job prospects may be much worse than average.</p>
<p>@Peterhax, I’m definetly taking AP Calculus AB next year so don’t need to worry haha. Hmm… It would be great not having to do any Chemistry freshman year. But will Physics B give me at least the basics for engineering physics? And thanks but I have no interest in robotics or hydraulics, I want to build skyscrapers, airpory and bridges. Thanks!</p>
<p>@Aerokid, thanks! I did read that only physics C is useful in engineering but my school only offers B =\ guess i should take what I got.</p>
<p>@ucbalumunus, thanks for responding to alot of my posts xD It does suck that AP Physics B won’t really get me any credit but at least its physics, the basis of civil engineering. I’m currently in Physics Honors (high school level) so i’m good for prerequisites. It’s only about where to go next. AP Chem might get me out of science at the beginning but for engineering, its usually 1 semester of chem, 3-5 semesters of physics =\ So Physics (whatever B or C) is better in the long run</p>
<p>Also, I have no worry in the job outlook for civil engineers, its never been listed as a negative growth profession, the opposite actually. It’s supposed to grow big time in the next decade actually with the economy playing very little into that.</p>
<p>Also, i have two electives next year which means I can take both AP Physics B and AP Chemistry… Add that with AP Calculus AB. Is that an overload?</p>
<p>Whether that is an overload depends on the rest of your schedule and what schedule loading you have previously experienced in comparison.</p>
<p>Note that calculus AB is about a half speed one semester college calculus course, as is chemistry (assuming that both are full year courses at your high school). Physics B is is supposed to be like a full year but less rigorous non-calculus-based college physics course; some high schools use it as their honors high school physics course.</p>
<p>As far as job outlook goes, civil engineering demand depends on construction of buildings, bridges, roads, and similar infrastructure. These are not immune to economic and industry-specific cycles.</p>
1 Like
<p>Well, if you could do both, that would be the best. Honors Physics, at least at my high school, didn’t cover nearly as much material that you will definitely see in college. AP Physics covered most of what you will see in the calculus based physics courses though… At least for Mechanics and part of E & M. Now, I don’t know how rigorous either AP Chem or AP Physics are at your school, though. At my high school, AP Physics was extremely time consuming (2 hours of homework per night) and AP Chemistry was similar, with over 40 labs we had to do write ups for throughout the school year plus lots of homework. </p>
<p>These two classes individually can be a lot to swallow if you are busy with things outside of school, so you should get an opinion about how rigorous they are from people who have taken them, if you know anyone.</p>
<p>However, if you could take both, that would be ideal. Physics in college will not be much more complicated than what you learn in AP, you will just use calculus in college to do it (which actually makes the physics concepts make even more sense by the way). </p>
<p>Also, AP Chem will actually get you out of some coursework in college, which is always a plus. Also, I took Calculus BC and that was an easy class, so I think Calculus AB should be quite manageable on its own. What you need to worry about is how rigorous the AP science classes together might be. If those two aren’t bad together, then taking AP Chem, AP Physics and AP Calc AB should be manageable!</p>
<p>Thanks Guys!</p>
<p>My Magnet School runs on a 4 x 4 Schedule with a maximum of 8 classes. My Schedule set up for senior year is as follows:</p>
<p>English
U.S. Goverment
Math (Optional)
Science (Optional)
Program Class
Program Class
Elective
Elective</p>
<p>No way I’m going to be lazy or catch senioritis so here’s my preliminary plan:</p>
<p>English Honors
U.S. Government Honors (downgrade from APUSH)
AP Calculus AB
AP Physics B
Hospitality
Hospitality Lab
Sociology
Photography</p>
<p>Note:
-Sociology follows up on my Psychology class this year which I love
-Photography is for my art credit (Well I Have Graphic Design 1 already, but just to be safe)</p>
<p>Sociology and Photography are my first two choices. Graphic Design 2 will be an alternate option. But here’s where AP Chem comes into play. Maybe give up Sociology for AP Chem? I’m not so sure.</p>
<p>To make things more complicated, I’m leaning towards downgrading my APUSH class to Honors Gov so i could handle my AP’s but I might keep THAT AP so colleges don’t see any slack, So at worst a total of 4 AP’s.</p>
<p>Should I work hard and possibly stress senior year? Or have some fun?</p>
<p>Sorry, its gotten off topic xD</p>
<p>I don’t know where you are thinking of applying but only 2 AP’s classes seems kind of light if you are trying to get into a top engineering program. If you think the chem is too much I’d stay with the other AP. Check out the number of AP’s the accepted kids have at the schools you are going to apply to. If your school has a number of AP’s and you haven’t taken enough you may put yourself at a disadvantage.</p>
<p>@michigan, thanks! So do you mean stick with AP Physics? Elaborate a little if you may.</p>
<p>My school has a total of about 9-10 APs. At the least I would take 3 of them (APUSH, AP Calc, AP Physics). </p>
<p>My chance entry goes into detail (if you want to take a look: <a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/what-my-chances/1445953-chance-me-new-here-junior-high-school-2.html#post15351904[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/what-my-chances/1445953-chance-me-new-here-junior-high-school-2.html#post15351904</a> ) but to go straight to the point, I’m not applying for any heavily selective schools as far as I know. No Ivys, No Stanford and my best prospective school is UC Irvine IMO. Other nine include SDSU, Both Cal Polys, Other Cal States, UI Chicago, UT Austin and UW Seattle. So while I won’t allow myself to get lazy, I don’t really feel any stress to take all of the APs to impress any of my schools.</p>
<p>If you are applying to UNLV and UNR, then don’t worry too much -take what you want. If you are going for CA schools or higher ranked privates, you might want to keep APUSH.</p>
<p>I would suggest taking AP Chem. It will most likely result in college credit, and the difference between your HS AP class and the college class won’t matter at all. Taking a 2nd physics class that doesn’t count to prepare for college Physics I does not seem like a good use of your available class slot. Also, those spare credits may come in handy if you ever find yourself struggling.</p>
<p>EDIT: Cross-posted, now I see your targets - stick with APUSH. take AP Chem.</p>
<p>@magnetron, I’m in APUSH now. Do you mean take AP Government next year? And AP Physics doesn’t sound like a good idea?</p>
<p>OP - I didn’t explain very well. Assumming you can handle it. I would suggest AP Calc,AP Chem and Ap Govt. The schools that you want to apply to could change quite a bit before next year so I would take 3 AP’s next year so that you will be competitive with the other applicants.</p>
<p>@michigangeorgia, thanks for the solid advice! So I guess the concensus is take AP Calc (why wouldn’t I), take AP Chemistry instead of AP Physics and if I can handle it, keep my social studies AP for AP Government. I’ll look more into my prospective schools and I’m going to look at the coursework for the different civil engineering schools.</p>
<p>You really don’t need any physics background for college classes. I would take Chem because it’s the least relevant to your field, so you don’t need a college level understanding. Physics in college will be useful for Civil though.</p>
<p>OP - I’ve got a question for you. My DS is a senior at his school they take 2 AP’s in one time slot. Meaning fall semester it’s AP Macro and Spring Semester it’s AP Govt. Last year he took APUSH which took the whole year. Is AP Govt for the whole school year? The reason I’m asking is if it is for the whole year it shouldn’t be that difficult of a class otherwise our school would make it a whole year instead just one semester.</p>
<p>At colleges which give subject credit for AP government tests, the AP test is usually allowed to substitute for a one semester course. So if the high school offers such an AP course as a year long course, it is an “AP lite” and normally less rigorous than the actual college course. But if the high school offers it as a semester-long course, it is closer in pace to an actual college course. (That said, many colleges do not give subject credit for AP government tests, since their own introductory political science courses may be different enough from or more rigorous than the AP syllabus.)</p>
<p>@Nanotech, so because Chemistry isn’t as important in Civil, I should get it over with? and work and worry about physics once I get into it?</p>
<p>@MichiganGeorgia, at my school all of the AP’s are two semesters or a full year. I don’t really know if the half-semester AP’s are rushed/crammed together or if they are any easier… good question!</p>
<p>@ucbalumnus, so now am i hearing that AP Government might not count for credit either? o__o (well i did hear from a freshman from UNR that only 1 of the 8 AP’s she took will count towards any credit for her)</p>
<p>UNR does list AP US government as equivalent to its Political Science 101 course:
[University</a> General Course Catalog 2011-2012](<a href=“http://www.cis.unr.edu/ecatalog/Default.aspx?article_list_id=25572]University”>http://www.cis.unr.edu/ecatalog/Default.aspx?article_list_id=25572)</p>
<p>CSU Sacramento gives credits for AP US government, but no course equivalency:
[Transfer</a> Admission - Sacramento State Catalog](<a href=“http://catalog.csus.edu/current/first%20100%20pages/transferadmission.html#AP]Transfer”>http://catalog.csus.edu/current/first%20100%20pages/transferadmission.html#AP)</p>
<p>You can check other colleges’ web sites for what each AP test is worth.</p>