Advanced Placement

[jai6638]

i was thinking of doing AP physics or AP java ( one of them ) next year and was wondering:

1) how hard is it???

2) how many hours of homework would u normally get everyday and is there a lot of studying,etc to do ??

3) DOes it help in University???? if i did AP physics in hs, how would it help me if i were to do my compenggineering besides the fact that it would look good on my application??


thanks

 

[mwtgg]

You still have to do well on the AP Test in May. But umm... it all depends on the teacher if they want to pile on a ton of work.

 

Some people it helps, others it hurts. Some of my friends in HS took insane amounts of AP credits. It helped the guy who went to washington University, but hurt the guy that went to madison. The Wash U one still retained some of that knowledge, so when he entered his classes (upper division) he knew what they were building on. The one at Madison got smacked really hard because he didn't remember it all and just wanted the credits. He failed his Bio and Chem courses because they were too advanced for what he knew. Had he not tried to impress others with his knowledge, he wouldn't be fighting his GPA.

I guess the moral of the story is if you are going to take AP classes, make it worth your time.

 

[BigJ]

AP Physics C is probably THE hardest AP test there is.

AP Java is a harder AP, but not bad at all. I actually thought AP Java was more difficult then AP Calc AB, US History, and Government.

 

[Titan]

Only bother with hard AP classes if you like the subjects, and think you can do well in them.

If you just want AP credits, take the easy ones, like Psych, History, language, etc. They work good for filling elective slots in skool.

 

[MikeMike]

they wont always transffer to colleges.

but i did get a 4 on my ap physics b test after getting consistent D's in the class

hmwk depends on the teacher.

MIKE

 

[WhiteKnight]

I got a 5 on AP Physics B and while I didn't get any credit for it in college (they only took Phys C), I did breeze through Physics I and II which were known toughies at my school.

 

[jai6638]

1) From what ive read above, it seems college recognize AP physics C and not B???? is that true? if so , how would i qualify for AP physics C as opposed to B?? by getting good grades ?

2) What do u think would be a pre-requisite for AP java???? basic knowledge of java??? or do they teach you java but at a more rapid pace?


thanks much...

 

[MikeyIs4Dcats]

AP Java????? WTF!


I took AP History and AP English. I was able to skip Expos 1 and take an A in college bacause I got a 4. Then since I had an A in Expos 1, I didn't have to take Expos 2. So yeah, it helped.

 

[MrChad]

Originally posted by: jai6638
1) From what ive read above, it seems college recognize AP physics C and not B???? is that true? if so , how would i qualify for AP physics C as opposed to B?? by getting good grades ?

2) What do u think would be a pre-requisite for AP java???? basic knowledge of java??? or do they teach you java but at a more rapid pace?


thanks much...

Both questions really depend on your high school and what they offer. My high school's AP Physics curriculum was geared towards the C test. Yours may teach to just the B test, or offer you a choice of either one.

Transfer of AP credits really varies from college to college. Some colleges accept both B and C credits, some only accept C, and others won't accept any AP credits. If you have some particular colleges or universities that you're interested in, call them up or visit their website to determine what AP credits they will transfer.

I only scored a 4 on the Physics C Mechanics test and a 3 on the Physics C Electricity/Magnetism test, but I still placed out of a lab science course at University of Maryland.

 

[erub]

I had AP Credits for US Gov, US History, AB Calc, Chemistry, C++ and Art History

I didnt take the Calc or Chem credit (actually i took 1 sem of chem credit), but I took the rest.. it made cal and chem much easier the second time around..but for me these classes would have been easy classes, compared to taking engineering classes..so my GPA probably suffered since they don't count as GPA points, just transferred credit..but otherwise you would have to take insane amounts of hours to graduate on time..so i guess its all relative

 

[DrPizza]

Originally posted by: mwtgg
You still have to do well on the AP Test in May. But umm... it all depends on the teacher if they want to pile on a ton of work.

It depends a LOT on the teacher. I personally give only about 1 homework assignment a week, if that, for regular physics. I don't teach an AP physics class, but would probably be giving 2 or 3 homework assignments a week to them, and short assignments at that.

But, I know a lot of teachers who would rather do drill and kill to make you learn something, rather than (or in addition to) making sure you understand the concepts involved.

Also consider: physics looks awesome on your transcripts. And, no, it doesn't matter how you do on the AP exam inasmuch as getting accepted into a college goes -- you should already be accepted by the college of your choice long before the AP results come back. All it will affect is whether you get credit or not.

 

[esun]

1) Depends on the teacher. The test itself should be easy to pass (not easy to get a 5 on, but easy to pass).

2) There's lots of studying about 1 day before the exam. Otherwise, it depends on the class, again.

3) YES! You should be taking all AP classes offered by your school if you think you have any chance at passing the AP test. First of all, it looks good on college applications. Second of all, once you're in college they can help you place out of classes and give you free units for working hard now.

 

[Drakkon]

do neither...have fun senior year of HS...who cares what aP classes you take cause most universities will jsut laugh them off anyways seems like (i took AP calcA and Comp SciB got 3's on both tests and got NO credits)
unless u need the GPA boost (and your AP classes do that) I'd say just be with the normal kids and hook up with the cute dumb hotties senior year

 

[MrChad]

Just wanted to add that you should take as many AP classes as you're comfortable with. I took 8 in high school (Calc AB, Calc BC, Comp Sci A (back when it was Pascal), English Lit., Latin (twice), Physics C, US History) and I ended up with 25 college credits. That's almost an entire year's work of college, and the cost of the AP tests are well below two semesters' tuition.

 

[apepooooop]

When i took the stuff I think alot of schools focused on Physics:mechanics and skipped the Physics:E&M test. My HS school covered everything I i tested out of two lower division physics classes(with labs, that was half a semster courseload, very helpfull). ( Computer Engineering at University of Texas) . The Physics AP class was alot of work but we also covered the AP calc BC in the same class so it was really helpfull learning all the equations and applying things.
As far as AP java, I took the AP pascal test(i think, it was like 7 years ago).

 

[rgwalt]

I wouldn't try to AP out of classes pertaining to my major (like Java in your case), but I would seriously consider taking the course anyway. You'll have a leg up when you hit the course in the university.

I ended up APing out of Calc and Chem, and I retook both courses (BS in chemical engineering), and I took the "honors" versions. I totally owned those courses, and they were great GPA padding.

R

 

[trilks]

I took a few AP classes in high school, and it worked out great; got a semester's worth of credits, and didn't have to take a single english class in college. Pretty sweet... I guess it will depend on your college, and if they allow credit for the classes.

 

[amoeba]

I took AP physics C, Calc BC, computer science AB (back when it was C++ and not JAVA), lang comp, lit comp, US history, Economics, US Government, German

physics C is without a doubt the hardest AP test you wil take. German was the one that kicked my ass though. But I always said I reached my language limit.

Before you decide to take AP courses/ tests, have a general idea of which college you will attend. It would suck if you spent all that time on AP and all the money on tests if your college ended up not accepting the credits.

I took pretty much all AP my last 2 years of high school and I still had plenty of free time. Its dependent on your instructor.

I would say that HW doesn't exceed 2 hours a night even when you are taking 5+ AP classes.

 

[amoeba]

Also, I had really good instructors and I think I learned more from my AP courses than I would have at college.

I think some of my AP courses were also tougher than the equivalent courses at college.

 

[Kyteland]

Originally posted by: MikeyIs4Dcats
AP Java????? WTF!

Drinking coffee just ain't what it used to be. Some kids want a head start so they offer it in high school as an advanced placement class.

 

[TuxDave]

Unless you're good at physics, AP Physics C is gonna pwn you. What it WILL do if you do well is get you out of a couple semesters of physics in college as a Comp Eng. Some people would rather retake physics in college to boost their gpa. Some people would rather get it over with to lighten their workloads or to take more interesting classes.

 

[AFB]

Originally posted by: Kyteland

Originally posted by: MikeyIs4Dcats
AP Java????? WTF!

Drinking coffee just ain't what it used to be. Some kids want a head start so they offer it in high school as an advanced placement class.

LMAO.

It's AP Computer Science.

 

[eLiu]

i'd say AP/advanced standing credits are very helpful. I took AP US Hist, Eng Lit, Eng Lang, EnviroSci (required to graduate ), physics C, BC...and would've taken AP Compsci but I'd already gotten into college by then and knew I would get 0 for it.

Anyhow...hist/eng amounted to some general elective credit...worthless. But AP Physics C got me out of mechanics & equipped me to take the advanced standing exam and pass out of electricity and magnetism. Then BC, along w/other math classes I took got me out of 4 math classes.

but yeah...the biggest benefit I found is that I'm out of a lot of the huggeeeee required-for-graduation classes. The only requirements I have left to fulfill are chemistry/bio (and of course humanities...yuck)

 

[amoeba]

Originally posted by: TuxDave
Unless you're good at physics, AP Physics C is gonna pwn you. What it WILL do if you do well is get you out of a couple semesters of physics in college as a Comp Eng. Some people would rather retake physics in college to boost their gpa. Some people would rather get it over with to lighten their workloads or to take more interesting classes.

At the right college, AP tests also give you quite the GPA boost if you do well enough on the tests.