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l-1j-cho
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How big is the gap between Honours level university physics and IB physics HL ?(or honours math and HL math or further math)
bcrowell said:It might help if you tell us the texts used for both the high school course and the university course. For example, a tough honors course at the university freshman level might use Kleppner and Kolenkow for mechanics and Purcell for E&M.
As Vanadium 50 points out, it's really going to depend a lot on the quality of the high school course. There has been a huge phenomenon within the last 30 years of the watering down of AP courses, so that in many cases you'll have 30 students in an AP class, and maybe one or two will pass the AP exam. I don't know to what extent this is also true of IB.
Yeah, I agree about Canada and people's approach when having AP classes under their belt. A friend that did his AP's in the US (so sample size = 1) got transfer credit for Calculus, but not for Linear Algebra. So we took the latter together, and while he knew some concepts I didn't, he eventually struggled much more than I did, and was ultimately happy to just finish the course. I can only speculate, but I'm pretty sure part of the reason was that he was too sure of himself due to AP's, and he thought this prepared him better than was actually true. He namely had the same view of Calculus I, which he was glad to get credit for, as he thought he knew all of that stuff already, as well. I don't know what they learned in AP Calculus, but whatever it was, our Calculus professor seemed to think it's not a good thing that students get transfer credit for that and can forego taking Calculus I in university. My friend disagreed with this quite strongly, but I have an equally strong and negative opinion about people getting credit for doing high school courses. To me it seems quite clear these offer a false sense of security, but the substance is lacking.thegreenlaser said:I don't know about the US, but in Canada the impression I get is that AP-type courses do little more than give high school students a false sense that they're way ahead of everyone else, when, in reality, a week or two of university classes could easily catch everyone else up. At my school, the kids who took AP classes in high school struggled just as much in first year engineering as everyone else.
Honours University Physics courses are typically more advanced and rigorous than HL (Higher Level) courses. They may require a higher level of understanding and mathematical ability, and may cover more complex topics in greater detail.
The benefits of taking Honours University Physics include a deeper understanding of fundamental concepts, better preparation for graduate studies in physics or related fields, and the potential for advanced research opportunities.
Prerequisites may vary depending on the university and specific course, but generally students are expected to have a strong foundation in math and physics, including calculus, mechanics, and electromagnetism.
Honours University Physics courses may have smaller class sizes, more challenging assignments and exams, and may cover additional topics. They may also have a research component or require a thesis project.
It is possible to switch from HL to Honours University Physics, but it may depend on the university's policies and the student's academic standing. It is recommended to discuss this with an academic advisor or the physics department at the university.