AP Physics C: is it both Mechanics and Electricity & Magnetism?

[Anonymous]

You take any AP test without taking the class. Just look at most local privates. Get a tutor and stop whining. This is the same district where most kids can’t even read!!!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My kid’s counselor is telling her that AP Physics C will be just Mechanics. I thought it was one semester of Mech and one of E&M?

It depends on the school and how they choose to run it. This also depends on other factors such as general level of Calculus readiness in the student population and science sequencing in the school. Some schools run single period Mech only, some double period Mech & E&M, and some single period Mech & E&M.

Which schools run single-period Mechanics & E&M?

RM has single period Mech & E&M as a first time physics course. 2 sections of it. Kids are either concurrent AP Calc BC or MVC.
(Fix quote)

This is a terrible idea and the number prove it:

RM has a 60% pass rate for E&M, vs 72% national average.

https://www.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/siteassets/schools/high-schools/r-w/rmhs/ib/may-2024-ap-exam-scores---copy-of-sheet1.pdf

https://apstudents.collegeboard.org/about-ap-scores/score-distributions

RM also has a lot of kids taking IB Physics 1 that self study E&M and take the test as juniors before they’ve covered the material in IB Physics. The AP kids who take the E&M class have a higher pass rate than the IB kids who are self studying.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My kid’s counselor is telling her that AP Physics C will be just Mechanics. I thought it was one semester of Mech and one of E&M?

It depends on the school and how they choose to run it. This also depends on other factors such as general level of Calculus readiness in the student population and science sequencing in the school. Some schools run single period Mech only, some double period Mech & E&M, and some single period Mech & E&M.

Which schools run single-period Mechanics & E&M?

RM has single period Mech & E&M as a first time physics course. 2 sections of it. Kids are either concurrent AP Calc BC or MVC.
(Fix quote)

This is a terrible idea and the number prove it:

RM has a 60% pass rate for E&M, vs 72% national average.

https://www.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/siteassets/schools/high-schools/r-w/rmhs/ib/may-2024-ap-exam-scores---copy-of-sheet1.pdf

https://apstudents.collegeboard.org/about-ap-scores/score-distributions

RM also has a lot of kids taking IB Physics 1 that self study E&M and take the test as juniors before they’ve covered the material in IB Physics. The AP kids who take the E&M class have a higher pass rate than the IB kids who are self studying.

How do you know this?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My kid’s counselor is telling her that AP Physics C will be just Mechanics. I thought it was one semester of Mech and one of E&M?

It depends on the school and how they choose to run it. This also depends on other factors such as general level of Calculus readiness in the student population and science sequencing in the school. Some schools run single period Mech only, some double period Mech & E&M, and some single period Mech & E&M.

Which schools run single-period Mechanics & E&M?

RM has single period Mech & E&M as a first time physics course. 2 sections of it. Kids are either concurrent AP Calc BC or MVC.
(Fix quote)

This is a terrible idea and the number prove it:

RM has a 60% pass rate for E&M, vs 72% national average.

https://www.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/siteassets/schools/high-schools/r-w/rmhs/ib/may-2024-ap-exam-scores---copy-of-sheet1.pdf

https://apstudents.collegeboard.org/about-ap-scores/score-distributions

But RM has a 81% pass rate for mech, vs 72% national average

MCPS average is 77% for both exams, and RMIB is a magnet school that attracts top students away from other schools.

W schools have similar or higher averages on both exams, despite losing many of their top students to RMIB and Blair.

https://ww2.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/data/LAR-charts/AP-Exam-by-Subject.html

[Anonymous]

OP here.

My kid is at BCC, and has already done Honors Physics. They had requested AP Calc BC and AP Physics C for this upcoming year. The course description of AP Physics C on ParentVue clearly says that equal emphasis will be placed on M and E&M. The ID numbers are the ones that correspond to the M and E&M semesters.

And yet the counselor told me on Thursday that the whole year would be Mechanics.

??? And of course they did not clarify today, when I sent them the description of their own course.

They're so confusing and disorganized.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP here.

My kid is at BCC, and has already done Honors Physics. They had requested AP Calc BC and AP Physics C for this upcoming year. The course description of AP Physics C on ParentVue clearly says that equal emphasis will be placed on M and E&M. The ID numbers are the ones that correspond to the M and E&M semesters.

And yet the counselor told me on Thursday that the whole year would be Mechanics.

??? And of course they did not clarify today, when I sent them the description of their own course.

They're so confusing and disorganized.

It was full year, single period Mechanics last year at BCC. Excellent and very challenging class.

[Anonymous]

A few years ago during the pandemic, the AP Physics C class at BCC was 1 period all year - mechanics first semester, EM the other. DC took both exams and got 5s. Despite taking Calc AB concurrently.

I think Mechanics only for an entire year would be slow for many students.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP here.

My kid is at BCC, and has already done Honors Physics. They had requested AP Calc BC and AP Physics C for this upcoming year. The course description of AP Physics C on ParentVue clearly says that equal emphasis will be placed on M and E&M. The ID numbers are the ones that correspond to the M and E&M semesters.

And yet the counselor told me on Thursday that the whole year would be Mechanics.

??? And of course they did not clarify today, when I sent them the description of their own course.

They're so confusing and disorganized.

That is bad even for MCPS counseling, which is already bad. Keep us updated on what they say back and what is actually covered please.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP here.

My kid is at BCC, and has already done Honors Physics. They had requested AP Calc BC and AP Physics C for this upcoming year. The course description of AP Physics C on ParentVue clearly says that equal emphasis will be placed on M and E&M. The ID numbers are the ones that correspond to the M and E&M semesters.

And yet the counselor told me on Thursday that the whole year would be Mechanics.

??? And of course they did not clarify today, when I sent them the description of their own course.

They're so confusing and disorganized.

You need to ask the teacher directly.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:A few years ago during the pandemic, the AP Physics C class at BCC was 1 period all year - mechanics first semester, EM the other. DC took both exams and got 5s. Despite taking Calc AB concurrently.

I think Mechanics only for an entire year would be slow for many students.

Did DC take honors (or AP 1) physics first?

Is your DC someone who used that extra pandemic time for studying, or for playing video games? Different kids had very different experiences.


The Physics C exams also are "hackable" by students who understand math well, because you can use mathematical reasoning as a substitute for knowing physics. My kid got a 5 on E&M despite having a full year of C Mechanics and a little self study in E&M.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:A few years ago during the pandemic, the AP Physics C class at BCC was 1 period all year - mechanics first semester, EM the other. DC took both exams and got 5s. Despite taking Calc AB concurrently.

I think Mechanics only for an entire year would be slow for many students.

Did DC take honors (or AP 1) physics first?

Is your DC someone who used that extra pandemic time for studying, or for playing video games? Different kids had very different experiences.


The Physics C exams also are "hackable" by students who understand math well, because you can use mathematical reasoning as a substitute for knowing physics. My kid got a 5 on E&M despite having a full year of C Mechanics and a little self study in E&M.

B-CC requires Honors Physics before AP Physics C, so certainly these are kids who should be able to handle both topics in a year. -NP