That is a common misconception, explorer16.
Using your Physics example and a nearby Big 10 Program as a comparison. Our Physics 1 is “Mechanics” and Physics 2 is “Electricity and Magnetism”. The required sequence at the Big 10 Program for first year students is the two course sequence: “Modern Mechanics” as well as “Electric And Magnetic Interactions”. So two-thirds of the year of study in Physics equals an entire year at a Big 10 Program. So why the third course in Physics the first year at Rose-Hulman? We require the full course in “Optics” as well the first year.
While the terms are shorter at Rose-Hulman, our students are attending a given class at least four times per week as opposed to the two or three times at a semester-based institution. So we are covering the same material in our 10 week (plus a week of finals) quarter that elsewhere is covered in a 15 week (plus a week of finals) semester. That is actually the biggest adjustment first year students need to make–the sheer pace of the learning that is required.
And as a result, transfer credit should be very straightforward when the student provides the syllabi for any courses taken in addition to sending the raw transcript showing the outcomes in those courses.