Not taking AP Physics-hamrful for physics major?

jbrussell93
Thu, 16 Jan 2014 12:00:30 +0000

I think I can help with this question… I am a junior physics major and my high school didn’t offer any AP courses, though I did take 1 semester of algebra based physics.

It actually ended up being quite beneficial when I started in university. I started from the bottom and worked my way up through the physics courses which allowed me to have a solid foundation in physics. Several of my other friends had AP credit for the intro classes and are now struggling through the upper level classes because they have large gaps in their knowledge. In upper level classes, the focus is less on physical intuition and more on advanced mathematical tools/formalisms which makes it difficult if you’re trying to learn both simultaneously. I don’t think AP classes in high school can really compare to the difficulty in university.