However, since AP physics 1 and 2 correspond to physics for biology majors, which is often taken by pre-meds, getting credit can be a dilemma for pre-meds. Some medical schools do not accept AP credit in place of pre-med course requirements, although they may accept higher level courses (but there are typically no higher level courses after physics for biology majors). But repeating AP physics 1 and 2 credit with physics for biology majors in college means looking like a grade-grubber to medical schools reading the application.
It’s very common for colleges to cap AP credit to two of the physics exams. Here’s another example from the UCs:
http://www.admission.ucla.edu/Prospect/APCreditLS.htm
The local high school here, will not allow you to take an AP exam unless the school offers the course or you took the class with them. They made that rule after my oldest took the AP exam (5) as a self study.
DD’s school had the honors science course as the prereqs for the corresponding APs. In her school it was 9th grade H bio, 10th H chem, 11th H physics and then an AP science in 12th. For Physics the only option was C - 1 semester of mechanics, 1 semester of E&M, only offered to seniors. Only a handful of students had more than one AP science as a result.
Now that’s something I would highly contest. True, it’s extra administration / proctor costs for the school but it inhibits the smart and ambitious kids. I’m going to guess that at my kid’s former HS, at least 10% of the students self study for something, with the most popular being AP MacroEcon and AP MicroEcon - because the class is not offered as an AP.
@ProfessorPlum168 You picked your battles with the school since it was taken out on your kids grades. The laws they broke was unbelievable. I had enough on one teacher that they would have lost their federal funding. AP costs would have been shared with three other public and three private high schools. They wanted cookie cutter kids.
Skimming through this. Did the original poster delete the post?
I wanted to let the poster know that if their student is pre-med, that the MCAT tests them on algebra-based physics. For that reason, my d decided not to take AP Physics in high school because it is calc based. From what I understand, AP Physics is one of the hardest AP courses. Why encourage your child to put themselves through this course unless they intend to pursue a college major such as engineering?
Also of note. Is that my d got a full-ride scholarship at Big Ten university with only 10 APs + 1 dual-credit course. So, the poster is definitely not on the right track regarding their college admissions strategy. Most important is high GPA, high ACT/ SAT test scores, and demonstration of the ability of succeeding in college coursework by showing mastery of concepts taught in AP courses taken (through grades in course + AP score). Taking many AP courses is not necessary to demonstrate the ability to succeed in college. Mastery of a few AP courses will accomplish this.
My d took honors physics in high school (with As) and got As in college algebra-based physics. She has friends who skipped the first calc-based physics class in college because of their AP credit and who did poorly in their college physics class and had to repeat the course.