Click here to go to the NEW College Discussion Forum

I'm going to be a junior next year and I'll be in BC Calc and AP physics using calculus. Which AP exam for physics should I take, B or C? Is there any reason why I should take both, and which one is more impressive? Thanks.

By Chasgoose (Chasgoose) on Thursday, July 03, 2003 - 01:39 am: Edit

AP Physics C is the one with calculus so take that one. It would be fairly hard to take both B and C because generally they are administered at the same time.

By Eurostar (Eurostar) on Thursday, July 03, 2003 - 03:37 am: Edit

You can take both in a single year if you pay the fee for doing one during the alternate testing date. Also, most colleges will only give you credit for either B or C, and C, I personally think, is easier (especially if you know Calc). C is more impressive, I'd say.

By Delirious (Delirious) on Thursday, July 03, 2003 - 03:29 pm: Edit

OK, and since the Physics C exam is actually divided up into Mechanics and Electricity & Magnetism, does that mean that taking the entire Physics C exam will count as TWO (2) AP exams taken?

By Clangpants1 (Clangpants1) on Thursday, July 03, 2003 - 05:47 pm: Edit

The two components of the AP physics are each worth 1/2 AP course, so together they count as one exam for credit purposes

By Sac (Sac) on Thursday, July 03, 2003 - 08:32 pm: Edit

I believe Physics C is just mechanics. Physics B is electricity and magnetism. Neither is considered more impressive than the other. Neither counts as a full-year AP. But you can look on the College Board web site and get an exact description of what each of the exams covers.

By Nemo (Nemo) on Thursday, July 03, 2003 - 09:07 pm: Edit

There's C mechanics and C electricity/magnetism. I think the former focuses more on Newtonian principles and differential calculus, whereas the latter concentrates on integral calculus more. Each is worth half an "AP credit," if one takes AP credits to be what the College Board means when it says "X AP exams or the equivalent." Physics B is non-calculus physics and is very broad in scope. In addition, something the College Board calls Physics A is approximately equivalent to high school introductory physics. Of course, Physics A doesn't have an exam of its own. [Yet, they say.] Back to Physics B, full credit and three hour exam. Each Physics C component is 90 minutes as an individual exam. Take both Physics C components on the same day, and as already mentioned, one pays the cost of one exam. And that's the end of that chapter. More here: http://apcentral.collegeboard.com/repository/ap03_cd_physics_04_05_4325.pdf .