<p>I'm a biological engineer and a graduation requirement is to take a year of calc-based physics. I got a 4 on both my AP Physics C: Mechanics and E&M portions but felt that I got extremely lucky and barely passed marginally on both exams. Would it be wise if I retake these courses in college next year, or should I just accept the 8 credits?</p>
<p>If you feel you should retake the classes and don’t mind spending the money for them, taking them again really shouldn’t hurt you in anyway, just reinforce what you already know.</p>
<p>If I were you, I would not retake them. Just take the credits. You know enough physics for bio engineering.</p>
<p>Depends on the school; not all accept AP Physics C (or may only accept Mechanics). You may want to check the school’s Bioengineering and Physics departments for recommendations (or see if old final exams for the physics courses that you might skip are available).</p>
<p>That you took AP Physics C implies that you have also had calculus (either AP or community college or something like that). Check the Math department at your school for its recommendation if you are using AP credit.</p>
<p>AP Physics is not a great representation of your knowledge of physics, and if I were you I would either retake all of it or skip Mechanics and take E&M.</p>
<p>my school does accept 4’s, but like i said, i was concerned if i had enough mastery and as aggieengineer pointed out, ap classes don’t necessarily represent all the knowledge you need. i still have time to decide and contemplating if i should just self-study a little to reinforce what i know and accept the credit or if its just worth it to retake all.</p>
<p>I normally recommend people retake AP courses in college. My main reason is that if you do know everything you will get an easy A giving you more time to adjust to college life and a nice pad on your gpa. Still, if you want to skip it I don’t see how knowing physics any better at a college level will help you as a biological engineer.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>The downside is that you end up wasting schedule space (that you could otherwise have taken free electives now or later with), and the grading curve may not be so easy if many others in the class are also retaking AP credit.</p>
<p>However, whether to retake them does depend on the school, what one’s score is, and whether it is a core requirement for the major or subsequent courses. Generally, a score of 5 would lean more to moving ahead, or retaking in an honors course, while a score of 3 would lean more to retaking a regular course, if any subsequent courses depend on it.</p>
<p>What school?</p>