I'm thinking about taking Physics Honors next year but I've heard that it is a VERY difficult class and I've never been a very good science student... I've always been interested but I'm horrible as far as academia goes. Have any of you taken this class, I want to know if I can handle it since I'm going for American History AP, Computer Science III Honors.

It will involve two things: lots of math, and lots of lab. How are you in those areas? Math: Can you do algebra in your head? Do you understand calculus intuitively and can you do it with pencil and paper? Lab: Are you good with your hands, can you assemble things right the first time, take accurate measurements, not get frustrated when things don't work the way they're supposed to?

Most importantly, do you like doing the stuff I just mentioned? If you get decent grades in calculus but you'd rather be doing something else, you won't like your physics classes. If you don't ever build little projects at home because you prefer passive activities or at least stuff you can do with just a computer, you won't like your physics lab.

If you're not sure, then I'd say take a chance and go for it. A person can never be too versatile. Even if you just get a passing grade the experience will do wonders for you.

I had the same experience although with the subjects reversed. I passed on English Seminar (that's what they called it back in the Stone Age) because I was too busy having fun in Math Seminar. Then when my math achievements got me into a really top-end college, I discovered that I had never really learned how to study literature and it got me into tons of trouble.

I can still differentiate functions in my head, which is really a useless skill since I never actually became a mathematician or a scientist because I flunked out of that great university.

But I still can't read all the way through "One Hundred Years of Solitude", "Light in August," "Huckleberry Finn", or a lot of other great literature that I really wish I could understand.

Try your best to be well-rounded.

don't take it. Shit class. Boring shit. Not good in math, never will


thats why im not taking Physics AP next year, taking Cisco Networking :D

im VERY good at math but i will be taking precalc next year. i know nothing about calculus at this point.. ill be studying up during the summer. i also hope to improve my POOR study habits.. :)

I also want to be well rounded but all my mom cares about is the letter grade, therein lies my dilemma.

im VERY good at math but i will be taking precalc next year. i know nothing about calculus at this point.Sorry, it's been a long time since I was in high school and I don't remember the order of the curriculum very clearly. If you haven't had calculus yet, then you can be sure that your AP physics class won't require it, so don't worry about that.I also hope to improve my POOR study habits.That is very important. As I mentioned earlier, I never did that and it screwed me in college. When you're really good in a couple of subjects everybody thinks you're a brain so you don't realize that it's just a gift rather than the result of hard work. Concentrate on your weakest subjects. If you can "learn how to learn" in those areas, you'll be well prepared. In college you'll have required courses that are outside your field of expertise and they can be very difficult.I also want to be well rounded but all my mom cares about is the letter grade, therein lies my dilemma.Yeah, I had a mom like that. I love music and had at least a modest talent for it. I took "choir" every year. But one year I got a bad case of the flu and I missed two weeks, which happened to be when we put on the show we'd been practicing for all year. As a result the music teacher gave me a C. I thought that was fair, he could probably have given me a D and gotten away with it. But my parents were ready to kill him. They made me drop my music classes and concentrate even harder on science and math. I lost my momentum. I went on to learn guitar and played rock and roll and stuff like that, but since I wasn't lucky enough to be the next Elvis, without formal music training I just could never get anywhere.

That one decision by my mom and dad changed my whole life, and not for the better.

It's a lot easier to get into a university today than it was 45 years ago. Unless your grades are really terrible you shouldn't have any trouble. If you parents think you just have to go to Harvard (or the equivalent if you're in another country), they're full of drenn. You don't want to go to a mediocre school, but you also don't have to go to the very best to get a good education. A good school and a good attitude is what it takes.

I stand by my original advice. Try to be well rounded and versatile. The world is going to change a lot in the next few years. You want to be prepared for whatever it throws at you. A lot of people are saying that nanotech is going to be where all the action is. That is pure physics. Plus some chemistry and math, of course. :)

i have decided to take it. Only God knows how I'm going to survive with 7 other honors and AP classes..