<p>AP classes vary widely by teacher, but in general the AP exams are much easier than the exams in college.
I am a physics major and I would definitely say that you should know calculus before starting physics, it makes it much more intuitive. The physics sequence in college is generally intro mechanics/electromagnetism, thermal physics and waves, maybe a general modern physics class, a year of electromagnetism and quantum mechanics and statistical mechanics. Then you could potentially go on to topics like general relativity (important for astrophysics but really advanced mathematically, you usually don’t really go into this until grad school). As for math, you need to know single variable, multivariable, and vector calculus, odes, pdes, linear algebra, and some complex analysis. Later on you will need to know more like abstract algebra. I personally learned a lot of the math in my physics courses although I am also doing a math minor.
I would say its a lot more important to have a good background then just jumping into things, that is how you build intuition which is essential in physics.</p>