Will I be disadvantaged given my level of experience with Physics?

Colleges and Universities A-Z Massachusetts Institute of Technology
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<p>Hey, quick question. I've taken PreAp Physics, but my teacher was awful and we barely covered anything throughout the year (to be fair, at my school you take physics junior year, and some people haven't taken precal by then, so my physics teacher had to baby us through a lot of the mathematics). Fortunately, I'm taking Calculus Based Physics at my local CC this year, and its going very well. However, my schedule won't allow me to take the second semester, so I'm only going to have an in-depth knowledge of mechanics; not thermodynamics, optics, and the like. I realize that just about everyone who goes to MIT (and really any other school with a good engineering program) has experience with physics, but do you think that if I get in to MIT (or another rigorous school), would the first year of physics kill me? hah.</p>

<p>Anyone who goes/has gone to MIT who can tell me about the rigor of the freshman physics courses, please do :-) Thanks!</p>

<p>-Michael</p>

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<p>Not everyone who goes to MIT will have taken a physics course that’s rigorous, and regardless, you can always self-study it. While you probably won’t reach MIT level rigor, that’s kinda why they have 8.01.
IF you feel you really need to learn it, just learn it from their class.
[MIT</a> OpenCourseWare | Physics | 8.01 Physics I: Classical Mechanics, Fall 1999 | Home](<a href=“http://ocw.mit.edu/courses/physics/8-01-physics-i-classical-mechanics-fall-1999/]MIT”>http://ocw.mit.edu/courses/physics/8-01-physics-i-classical-mechanics-fall-1999/)</p>

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<p>My high school only offered AP Mechanics. I know nothing about optics, E&M, thermo, etc. I got in EA. :)</p>

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<p>I didn’t take physics in high school past the introductory physical science course – nothing calculus-based, for sure, and nothing on mechanics or E&M. </p>

<p>I passed both semesters of the MIT GIRs, but it was pretty difficult for me, and I am grateful for pass/no record, because I got a C- in physics first semester.</p>

<p>It’s not impossible to survive MIT without having taken a solid physics course as a high school student, but it certainly helps to do so.</p>

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<p>MIT’s physics lectures are awesome (having seen them online). Having had a teacher that liked to assign their questions on tests… and he sucked horribly at lectures… eugh.</p>

<p>If I tried them again I’d probably be fine now. Hurray for good lecturers :D</p>