Is doing AP Physics C Mech/EM without AP Physics 1 a good idea?

Pre-College Topics High School Life
21

Regardless of what the CB says, the HS sets the rules. If they set a physics prereq, feedback from CC users won’t change that.

To answer the OP’s question, no, you don’t need AP Physics 1, but you should have a prior physics course of some type. If C were just the mechanics portion, I would say it’s possible to take it as a first course, since it does duplicate a lot of material from APP1.

However, when C is Mech + E&M, you are now taking one of the few AP courses that matches college courses in terms of pace. Given that everyone else in the class will have had a prior physics course, you will likely be behind the learning curve from the beginning. And don’t expect the teacher to slow the pace to accommodate you if you fall behind.

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22

Beyond preparing you to take any particular AP exam, your HS Physics courses are designed to teach you the subject. And if your HS has a designated sequence, they are likely doing that in a way such that each course builds on the prior courses, and indeed assumes you have taken their version of prior courses.

I would therefore not skip ahead in their sequence unless they actually provide that as a standard option. Like at some high schools, there is a track that leads to AP Physics C that doesn’t go through AP Physics 1, so that’s fine. But if that is not a standard track, I would not push to do it yourself.

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