advanced placement in physics

Students who receive a score of 4 or 5 on the Physics B exam receive 1 unit of advanced placement credit and will not be permitted to enroll in Physics 113 or 114. Students may, at their discretion, opt out of the AP credit and instead enroll in 113/114 if they prefer. Normally, students, considering further studies in physics with 1 unit of AP credit will enroll in Physics 115/116. Students who receive a score of 4 or 5 on the Physics C Mechanics may receive 0.5 unit of advanced placement credit and upon doing so will not be permitted to enroll in Physics 113 but may take Physics 116 and then enroll in Physics 114 in the spring. Students who, in addition to having received a 4 or 5 on the Physics C Mechanics, also received a 4 or 5 on the Physics C E & M exam, may receive a total of 1 unit of advanced placement credit and upon doing so will not be permitted to enroll in Physics 113 or 114. Normally, such a student would be placed in Physics 115/116. Please consult the chair of physics and astronomy for clarification of these and other matters. No student shall receive AP credit for BOTH the B and C exams.

Special note for premedical students: The department recommends that students seeking admission to medical school enroll in physics 113/114 at Vassar or an equivalent calculus-based physics course at another institution. Note that in order to do this you cannot receive AP B credit on your transcript. If you want to retain your AP B credit you must discuss other options with the Chair of Physics and Astronomy and the Director of Fellowships and Pre-professional Advising.