AP classes

12elsnez

5-Year Member
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Mar 7, 2011
Messages
6
Hello. Any help with the following question would be greatly appreciated. The high school I attend only offers two AP courses with an actual teacher, AP psychology and AP spanish. The rest of the AP courses are online courses. I am taking AP calculus online my senior year, and I am currently trying to decide whether to take AP physics online, or the regular physics class with an actual classroom teacher. I have a 4.0 GPA on an unweighted scale, and the AP classes are also unweighted. I am better in math and that is why I am pretty set on taking the AP calculus course. I have received all A's in my previous science classes, but I don't feel as confident in science as math.

My true question is whether you think I should take the AP physics course online, or the regular physics course with a classroom teacher?

If I did decide to take the regular physics course with an actual classroom teacher, instead of the AP physics online, would this decision hurt my chances at getting into USNA?

Thanks, any help is greatly appreciated.
 
if I were you I wouldn't want to take an online course...definitely go for the regular physics class with an actual teacher.
 
One issue with the online course is that you won't have your AP Exam scores prior to your application. Were you able to have those scores and you scored (for example) 5's on all on-line AP courses, it is pretty indisputable that you know your stuff, regardless of where/how you studied it. But without the AP EXAM score, "online" could be a definite negative when your scholastics are being reviewed. IMO only!
 
Alright dude i can tell you right off the bat AP physics is hard, emphasis on the hard. And if you have no background in physics, well good luck even treading water my friend. My advice, take the regular physics with the teacher. There are some concepts in physics that you need to have a person teach to you. Trust me i'm in AP physics now and it is rough. You're better off with the teacher.
 
I have to agree with quick. I have a 4.125 on my weighted 4.0 scale (A's in AP classes are worth 5.0, B's = 4.0 etc.) and as far as I know you can't receive any AP credit at the Academy. I took AP Physics my junior year and regular physics my sophomore year and had trouble grasping some concepts even with an experienced teacher (he is considered one of the best physics teachers in the area). Without any background knowledge on physics you will probably struggle to make an A which is all the Academy will see because again, you can't get AP credit. On a further note I have two friends who are currently taking AP Calc online (one is also a USNA candidate!) and they are struggling to keep up with the course load as you must move very quickly. Bottom line, I wouldn't do it, but if you can focus mostly on those classes and you are a VERY dedicated student then go for it. Never let anyone tell you you CAN'T do something challenge yourself to prove them wrong. But I can promise you that course-load will not be easy!
 
First of all: you can validate classes at USNA based on taking an AP class and getting above a certain score on the Exam. See HERE. I'm sure many Mids took their AP classes online or at the Jr. college or were self taught. I doubt the Academy cares as long as you can demonstrate that you know the material.

Re: AP Psych. A 4 or 5 on the AP exam counts for upper level Humanities-Social Science credit; freeing up yet another slot in the curriculum. Spanish has similar.

So don't let the choice be between with teacher or without teacher. Make the choice be what you enjoy more and to which you will devote the time and attention. That said, the NA is looking for those that excel in math and science - so doing great in AP physics would certainly show that you are one of those.
 
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In case this helps, I took regular physics last year along with AP Calc, and it seemed to be a lot more math than science. In fact, some of the things I did in Calc were just advanced versions of what I did in physics later in the year.
 
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