AP Chem, AP Physics C:M junior year

[ish512]

Hey all, I am a sophomore thinking about my classes for next year. As far my classes go I am taking:

AP Statistics
Java I HN
Spanish III HN
Chemistry HN
AP World History
Precalculus HN
Symphonic Orchestra 2
American Lit & Comp HN

I want to take AP Physics C in high school but due to weird prerequisite requirements and the like at my school I can only really take it concurrently with Calc BC, which I am taking junior year. My planned schedule is:

AP English Language
AP US History
AP Calculus BC
AP Calculus Lab
AP Chemistry
AP Chemistry Lab
AP Physics C:M (E&M not offered)
Symphonic Orchestra 3 HN

with AP Spanish and AP Computer Science being my alternate classes just in case I do not get Physics C due to scheduling conflicts.

Have any of you guys taken AP Chem with AP Physics C in the same year before? Since they are both supposed to be really hard AP classes how did it go for you guys? Thanks for your help!

 

[mrnike992]

I never took the AP Chem test, but I was in a Chem II class where people were taking the AP Chem test. I've heard that was a ridiculously hard test, luckily one that I did not take. AP Physics C: Mechanics is much easier than you'd think. I was quite nervous for that one, and did fine with little prep at all. Given the nature of the rest of your schedule, I should think you'd be able to handle it, if you're willing to do the work that accompanies such heavy course load.

 

[Dishsoap]

I took the AP Chem test but not the AP physics. It required quite a bit of prep, and a lot of effort to prepare for.

 

[RMalayappan]

Your junior schedule is almost identical to my junior schedule from last year, although my school doesn't offer Physics C. AP Chem isn't actually that bad. I had a terrible teacher and I still managed to 5 the exam with the only prep outside of the classroom being the weekend before the exam. I would suggest getting a review book(preferably not Princeton Review, since we had to get that one for some exercises in the class and it was full of errors) and going through it as the class progresses. Look at Free Response questions throughout the year. Sites like chemtutor and chemwiki are really helpful. It shouldn't be too hard if you have a competent teacher.

I can't say much about Physics C, but the Free Response questions look like they are similar to those on college physics problem sets. I learned all of my mechanics from Open Yale online, and that might be a helpful supplemental resource for you during the year(both problem sets and lectures).

Good luck with your classes! And what exactly is a calculus lab? I've never heard of a math lab period before.

 

[ish512]

Hey, thanks for the replies just far. Right now I am deciding between AP Computer Science, AP Spanish and Physics C, so if I could get any tips about that that would be cool, too. I want to major in either CS, Math, or EP (quite possibly a double major or CS Major/Physics Minor or vice versa), and since 3 years of Spanish seem to be more than enough for most engineering schools (Georgia Tech is where I want to go most as I live in the South and is close to home) I'm virtually just debating between APCS and AP Physics C.

And @RMalayappan, as for what a calculus "lab" is, my school runs on an A-B schedule with 4 blocks a day. Any class with a lab component is basically one that is double-blocked and meets on both A- and B- days. As a result, my schedule would show 8 classes; though in reality I would only be taking 6 that year, as Chem and Calc BC are double-blocked.