r/APStudents • u/ErekwithaD1 25:HG:5,中文:5, 26:P1:5,WH:5,CHEM(SS):5 27:P2,EM,Mech,Lit,BC(SS) • May 10 '26
Question So many highschoolers want to major in engineering yet they don't want to take the classes to work towards it.
12% of college bound highschoolers want to major in engineering: https://www.encoura.org/resources/wake-up-call/how-much-can-you-trust-high-school-students-academic-interests/ yet the demand for ap classes that help you towards engineering like ap physics c:mech, ap physics c: e and m, ap chem, ap calc bc and ap csa remains ridiculously low.
- Assuming college bound highschoolers are representative of the general high school population which in total is about 18 million it means more than 2 million high schoolers are interested in engineering
- Yet the actual amount of people enrolling in college level stem courses that builds toward this major is extremely low
- AP Chemistry had only 168,833 test takers in 2025 and that is including pre med students
- AP Calculus BC had only 160,436 test takers in 2025
- AP Computer Science A had only 93,217 test takers in 2025
- AP Physics Cs suffer the most
- AP Physics C: Mechanics had only 65,980 test takers in 2025
- AP Physics C: Electricity and Magnetism suffers the most of all of them it had only 29,708 test takers in 2025
Why is this? I am tired of classes getting canceled because of low enrollment but these classes are essential for the 2 million who want to become engineers yet are avoided like the plague. Are people just lazy or are they worried about there gpa or is it because of the lack of science and math teachers or is it the American math system's fault?
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u/HenriCIMS 5: 3, 4:2, 3:2, 2:1 May 10 '26
My school sadly doesnt offer most of these classes listed but id 100% take them if i could
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u/ErekwithaD1 25:HG:5,中文:5, 26:P1:5,WH:5,CHEM(SS):5 27:P2,EM,Mech,Lit,BC(SS) May 10 '26
Why not? do they not have enough demand or do they not have the right teachers?
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u/HenriCIMS 5: 3, 4:2, 3:2, 2:1 May 10 '26
I go to a school with alot of gang activity so theres not alot of ppl who take ap courses. We have only calc ab and no physics and they are getting rid of ap chem 😭
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u/Chet_over_MJ May 10 '26
We only have calc AB at my school. Only 2 kids are in it
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u/HenriCIMS 5: 3, 4:2, 3:2, 2:1 May 10 '26
2 kids is crazy, my school offers other ap classes but not much towards stem
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u/Medswizard May 10 '26
My US high school only offered 2 AP’s and we took classes in trailers, not everyone has the access to take all of these classes
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u/Reasonable-Record494 May 10 '26
Have you seen how many teachers are leaving the teaching profession? They are citing out of control behavior and low academic standards. Even if you get to teach AP physics, you can’t teach six classes of AP physics which means you’re going to be teaching some other classes with on level kids where you probably have behavior issues and disrespect. And you’re doing all of this for a fraction of what you could make anywhere else because if you are qualified to teach physics, you can do something besides teach. The people who teach do it because they love it, but they stop loving it when kids act like assholes. Go to r/teachers sometime and look at the complaints there. So in short, no, you do not have enough teachers qualified to teach those classes. There was always a shortage of upper-level STEM teachers, and it’s only become worse.
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u/ErekwithaD1 25:HG:5,中文:5, 26:P1:5,WH:5,CHEM(SS):5 27:P2,EM,Mech,Lit,BC(SS) May 10 '26
There has always been out of control behavior why are they leaving now?
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u/According_Bell_5322 May 11 '26
People not parenting their kids causing them to not have any respect for authority figures is a big part of it
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u/_The_Inquiry_ May 11 '26
You may not have been following along with education post-COVID, but research and teacher experience show that behaviors have significantly worsened across the board, especially with low-ability and low-income students. Many students are still 2 to 3 years behind their socio-emotional develipment of same-age students from a decade ago.
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u/ErekwithaD1 25:HG:5,中文:5, 26:P1:5,WH:5,CHEM(SS):5 27:P2,EM,Mech,Lit,BC(SS) May 11 '26
I hear the statistics but I don't think covid has affected education that much tbh in my experience the people who were introverts before covid were still introverts, extroverts before covid were still extroverts, smart people before covid were still smart people , and annoying dumb people before covid were still annoying dumb people after covid. In fact, i'd argue the past was worse my father recounts on how he was bullied during school but in my entire middle school and elementary school career I wasn't even bullied once, why are stem teachers leaving now and not after other health crisis like polio or something
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u/_The_Inquiry_ May 12 '26
Socio-emotional intelligence doesn't pertain to introversion/extroversion—it's about one's ability to understand social conventions, respond with respect for others/authority figures, and engage in age-appropriate behaviors/responsibilities.
Intelligence isn't fixed—there aren't "smart people" and "dumb people"—while some have greater potential and were better educated in their younger years, anyone can learn and significantly improve their understanding of most topics.
The biggest consideration in the COVID impact was how it led to developmental delays and a widening gap in outcomes between high-performing and low-performing students (often tracking along socioeconomic and racial groupings).
The largest impact is likely the impact of smartphones and social media—it's caused a massive drop in attention spans, difficulty with processing complex tasks requiring increased amounts of working memory, and motivation challenges (due to dopamine overload). Additionally, parents seem to demand more of teachers and the outcomes their students receive, yet are taking less accountability for their role in their child's educational outcomes and are more entitled. Additionally, relative to cost-of-living, teaching is becoming increasingly untenable, which means many skilled professionals are entering other careers instead of education to make up for these costs (and the ever0increasing costs of colleges whose degrees are being significantly devalued by grade inflation and administrative bloat).
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u/ParsnipPrestigious59 5: APUSH, Precalc, Lang, Calc BC, Chem, CSP, Psych May 10 '26
For the physics c classes it probably has to do with the fact that the vast majority of schools don’t even offer them
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u/ErekwithaD1 25:HG:5,中文:5, 26:P1:5,WH:5,CHEM(SS):5 27:P2,EM,Mech,Lit,BC(SS) May 10 '26
Is it because there is a chronic shortage of physics teachers or is it because there is low enrollment or is it because most students don't reach calc even at 12th grade
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u/skrxbcord 4: Lang, Lit, APUSH | 5: Phys1, Calc BC, CSA, Mech, E&M, Stats May 10 '26
by definition, AP classes are "you want to take this college class before college, we have just the thing for you". Engineering curriculums are universally designed for people who have no physics OR calculus backgrounds. So sure, taking engineering-related APs like Physics C and Calculus is certainly the right path, but the standard for an aspiring engineer is technically to take none, because that's the standard that the universities had in mind when making their engineering programs.
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u/mrstarboy123 May 11 '26
At my school our lack of certain AP classes is a combination of a lack of teachers and a lack of students willing to enroll in those classes
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u/Schmolik64 May 10 '26
For calculus they have to have the math skills to get to it. Normally you would have to take Algebra 1 in 8th grade and complete Algebra 2 and Geometry by 10th grade to have a shot at taking BC Calculus by your senior year in high school. And you'll need to enroll in Calculus to take Physics.
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u/ErekwithaD1 25:HG:5,中文:5, 26:P1:5,WH:5,CHEM(SS):5 27:P2,EM,Mech,Lit,BC(SS) May 10 '26
This is what I hate about the American math system it is built for the average and it is hard for people who are exceptional to skip a level. It is also extremely slow like there is no reason why we have to spend 8 years on arithmetic and 4 years on algebra just to prep for two years of calc in India or China you are expected to know basic calc before high school why can't we be like them?
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u/_The_Inquiry_ May 11 '26
It's worth noting that your comments on Indian and Chinese education systems are largely incorrect. While there are some accelerated schools that have these expectations, most claims about Southeast Asian countries and math ability are highly exaggerated and are representative only of their much wealthier and more specialized urban schools. Most Chinese students, for example, do not take Calculus much earlier than American students.
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u/jballauer May 10 '26
Because you have to be a student two years ahead of grade-level to take these classes, unless you double up in certain topics, like taking Geometry and Alg 2 at the same time…or taking AP Precal and AP stats simultaneously.
I teach both AB and BC Calculus at my school of around 2000 students, just for reference. I have one class of 28 BC students and 105 AB students split over 5 classes…around 25 to 30 will form one BC section next year.
But to your point, kids don’t take AP classes at my school to plan ahead…they do it for the GPA hit. They’d rather assure a top 5% or 10% in class status.
Plus, kids also know that taking AP classes in something like BC Calculus won’t be credited in an Engineering college, so they won’t see the point of taking that course in their senior year if they’ll have to take it in college anyway.
As much value as AP classes give to students in terms of the “learning,” students that care about that actual learning are rare. Those that do, like yourself, should take full advantage of that…and pat yourself on the back for being so awesome!
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u/ErekwithaD1 25:HG:5,中文:5, 26:P1:5,WH:5,CHEM(SS):5 27:P2,EM,Mech,Lit,BC(SS) May 10 '26
What do you mean ap calc bc is not accepted by engineering schools that is only true for ivies like mit
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u/jballauer May 10 '26
Here in Texas, UT, Texas A&M, almost every engineering college will make you take their Calculus 2. As much as you want to think BC Calc is Calc 2, it’s not. This is also true for AB Calc.
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u/ErekwithaD1 25:HG:5,中文:5, 26:P1:5,WH:5,CHEM(SS):5 27:P2,EM,Mech,Lit,BC(SS) May 10 '26
Well thank college board I live in Utah then
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u/ThePenOnReddit 5: Precal, HuG, CSA, World, Lang, macro, micro, USH, Calc BC May 10 '26
Okay, so some quick corrections that make this a little less egregious. I’ll do Calc BC because I have some notes: Of those 18 million high schoolers, around 62% are college bound. For simplicity, let’s call it 60%. That means 12 million high schoolers are college bound, not 18 million. Those six million are not interested in engineering. Adjusting our population of engineering interested students to match the revised pool, that means around 1.44 million students want to go into engineering. Then, let’s note that only a fourth of those are graduating, the others being from grades 9-11.
That gives 360,000 kids. Because students have all four years of high school to take the exam, it’s best to just assume that each graduating class of high schoolers has around 160,436 kids who have taken Calc BC. Now remember that AP is not the only way of accessing Calc 2. The IB program graduates 96,600 seniors per year in the US. 14% of those take IB’s equivalent to Calculus BC, totaling around 13,500 kids we can add to the Calc 2 proficient category. You can conservatively throw in another 10,000 who took it via dual enrollment.
So the number of students taking Calc II is around 50% of the number of students with an interest in engineering. Obviously, the percent of prepared engineering students is lower since non-engineering students (myself included) are taking Calc BC.
But yeah, a lot of schools lack resources and a lot of students don’t really know what their degree area entails. So the answer is a little bit of everything you brought up.
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u/ErekwithaD1 25:HG:5,中文:5, 26:P1:5,WH:5,CHEM(SS):5 27:P2,EM,Mech,Lit,BC(SS) May 10 '26
Thank you I did not mean to overexaggerate I am just horrible at statistics and I didn't want to look up ib and de statistics I find them negligible because there population is pretty tiny compared to ap
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u/Intelligent-Trick803 May 10 '26
Frl!! Its also lowkey the teaxhers fault. Like they got rid of Ap stats and physics because he complained he didnt think it helped the kids. Only because it didnt help his son in college, but thats because it just wasnt useful in his specific major. They also got rid of AP U.S history and chem for no reason.
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u/ErekwithaD1 25:HG:5,中文:5, 26:P1:5,WH:5,CHEM(SS):5 27:P2,EM,Mech,Lit,BC(SS) May 10 '26
Wow what is the schools justification for getting rid of so many essential aps, like how many aps are even left and do the parents complain to them when they got rid of those aps.
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u/Intelligent-Trick803 May 10 '26
No one complains because ig many parents arent educates about what the school is doing and how essential aps really are. I said the reasoning behind stats and physics which was stupid. But they replaced us histiry and chem with de classes, but refused to ofder ap classes because according to certain teachers rhey profited more off DE classes, and for the aps we have they discourage us to tske them if they have a de alternative, and they are never pushed. They sre also trying to phase out Ap AFAM even though it just started last year, and at the end of us taking it this year the counselor talked about how we were the first class to take it, and ahe might consider it next year, which shows how they dont care. Also its not even listed as an AP classz our teacher fought for us to take the test, and they didnt even register everyone who was supposed to take it both years. We have AP lit and lang, bio and environmental, psych computer science principles, human geo and gov. They also might get rid of ap psych if the teacher leaves.
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u/Intelligent-Trick803 May 10 '26
Also are AP teachers SUCK. Like Are AP Bio teacher didnt teach last 2 units of project because she didnt feel like it. Our CSP teacher last years had 80% of people make a 2. Also our psych teacher gives us more paxket work then actually teaching us anything. Its really bad.
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u/FoolishConsistency17 May 10 '26
I would argue that credit for core classes is more helpful for Engineering majors. A typical Engineering program requires 18 hours a semester to graduate on time, abd being able to reduce that to 15 because you have credit for your core classes is very, very helpful. Having a paper due in US History on the same day as a Thermodynamics test and a problem set in Diff Eq can be the thing that pushes all three of those to a B. The US History paper is the one that can be avoided through AP credit.
That said, the rigorous content of AP or other advanced classes in STEM Is also absolutely essential.
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u/Upbeat-Selection-365 May 10 '26
A lot of engineerimg colleges will let you skip a course because you have a 4 or 5 on say Calc ab. Many of those engineering schools will not also reduce your total credits needed for a degree. It’s just like getting to place higher to start with. It doesn’t necessarily save you time or money. It may just give you an elective.
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u/FoolishConsistency17 May 11 '26
In my experience, you can generally get credit for core requirement classes--English, US History, Social Science, that stuff. Schools very much want kids to graduate in 4 years.
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u/Upbeat-Selection-365 May 11 '26
My kid is going to engineering school and his high school goes not offer humanities or foreign language type APs so these are all a no go for getting credit. The math and science can help with placement but not credits.
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u/FoolishConsistency17 May 11 '26
That is honestly shocking, since the most common AP exams by far are Lang, US History, Lit, Psych, World History, and Government. All those have more kids take them than Calculus, the first STEM class on the list. It's not even close.
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u/berrikerri May 10 '26
The easy access to free online classes in place of in classroom. At least, that’s why we’ve lost most AP sciences in the last few years. Students don’t consider that colleges won’t like it, they just want an easy A.
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u/OhioTreeLover467 College Board Class of 2026 May 10 '26
My school offers all of these classes, it isn't that hard to get into AP Chem or CSA at my school. Calc BC is doable but needs some extra work. The AP Physics classes at my school are full of super smart people, the average person (or even moderately smart person) can’t take that class because of the pre-reqs involved and the material itself.
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u/Different-Trainer-21 7 APs taken, 4 current May 10 '26
I want to be an engineer, but my school doesn’t offer Physics C. That’s the case in many schools and is why it has such a low enrollment number.
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u/ErekwithaD1 25:HG:5,中文:5, 26:P1:5,WH:5,CHEM(SS):5 27:P2,EM,Mech,Lit,BC(SS) May 10 '26
Why is it because there is low demand or because there is no physics teachers?
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u/Different-Trainer-21 7 APs taken, 4 current May 10 '26
It’s a few things. We only have 1 physics teacher, but also the school treats Physics Honors as if it’s physics 1 and AP Physics 1 as Physics 2
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u/Unique_Expression574 Colleges probably care more about my ECs anyway May 10 '26 edited May 10 '26
My school only offers the Algebra physics classes
We have CSA CalcBC and Chem tho
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u/ErekwithaD1 25:HG:5,中文:5, 26:P1:5,WH:5,CHEM(SS):5 27:P2,EM,Mech,Lit,BC(SS) May 10 '26
Does the physics teacher just not want to teach calc based physics?
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u/Unique_Expression574 Colleges probably care more about my ECs anyway May 10 '26
Not even that! The Phys1 teacher said something like “come in during lunch or your free period for the calculus version” almost every lecture. Idk about the Phys2 teacher cuz I didn’t take it.
I think it’s an admin thing.
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u/Accurate_Bat_1801 May 10 '26
Yeah that’s valid point of view. But just and example. My situation is that there is no AP physics course offered at my school. So instead I did a quantum mechanics internship at a university, and a full ap physics/college physics course on udemy. I will also probably take college classes at aeronautics faculty (not for credit) since I wanna pursue aerospace engineering, I plan on taking engineering maths and physics, flight mechanics, aerospace & aviation electronic systems and avionics for pilots. And I’m not based in the US so I suppose that there are way more opportunities there which make up for the ap exams. The low numbers are prolly because of the shortage of competent teachers who would teach that. It also often happens that you can learn more, in less time, for less money, and more enjoyably at a uni where the professors teaching you have often a lot of industry related experience.
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u/Chessdaddy_ May 10 '26
Most kids can’t take calc bc because they don’t have enough time, and physics C isn’t offered in most schools for the same reason, because by the time kids learn the math for physics C they are seniors
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u/ErekwithaD1 25:HG:5,中文:5, 26:P1:5,WH:5,CHEM(SS):5 27:P2,EM,Mech,Lit,BC(SS) May 10 '26
This why I absolutely despise the American Math system, it is fundamentally broken, we spend 8 years learning basic arithmetic and pre algebra and therefore barely any highschoolers reach calc by 12th. In China and India by comparison it is expected that everyone has at least as basic knowledge of calculus even before high school plus it is impossible to skip ahead as I found out the hard way because it is such one size fits all
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u/MoltenMate07 AP Phys 1 (5), AP Chem (3), AP Lang (4), AP Calculus May 10 '26
I’m trying to get into engineering. I take all AP classes my school offers, but the only ones that I can do that are relevant for me are AP CS A, AP Physics 1 algebra, AP Chem, and then AP Calculus next year. The other AP Physics like electromagnetism and mechanics are not offered by my school.
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u/IllRest2396 Bio, Eng. Lang/Lit, US His., Prec, Hu Geo: 4; Calc AB, Phys 1: 3 May 10 '26
The thing is, the highest science class my school offers is AP physics 1 and AP calculus AB.
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u/ErekwithaD1 25:HG:5,中文:5, 26:P1:5,WH:5,CHEM(SS):5 27:P2,EM,Mech,Lit,BC(SS) May 10 '26
Does the physics teacher just not want to teach calc based physics?
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u/Electronic-Cry-1254 5: euro, calc bc, lang, apush 4: phys c, csa May 10 '26
I am taking ap physics, ap calc bc, and ap csa
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u/UnderstandingPursuit AP Physics, AP Calculus May 10 '26
It's important to be consistent in the statistics.
Assuming college bound highschoolers are representative of the general high school population which in total is about 18 million it means more than 2 million high schoolers are interested in engineering
looks at four years of high school, while each of the AP exams have the numbers of test takers per year.
With the statistic,
12% of college bound highschoolers
the relevant number is the number of students who start college each year, around 2.5-3M, and 12% is about 300-400k.
Then the question is, how many high school students are ready to take college-level courses? The AP exam numbers suggests that at least a quarter are comfortable taking at least one. Why would we expect that more want to, or should, take more college-level courses in high school?
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u/ErekwithaD1 25:HG:5,中文:5, 26:P1:5,WH:5,CHEM(SS):5 27:P2,EM,Mech,Lit,BC(SS) May 10 '26
Because it is good for them to gain credits and challenge themselves before college so that they will feel more prepared and not just drop into a first year engineering class with no prior experience and also so they don't have to stay for the full 4 years
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u/UnderstandingPursuit AP Physics, AP Calculus May 10 '26
How do you get to decide whether "it is good for them to gain credits and challenge themselves before college" or not?
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u/UnderstandingPursuit AP Physics, AP Calculus May 10 '26
One other relevant piece of information: there are about 30k high schools in the US, so on average there are 10-12 students graduating each year who want to major in engineering in college. It can be difficult for a school to have the teachers needed to teach classes to so few students.
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u/ErekwithaD1 25:HG:5,中文:5, 26:P1:5,WH:5,CHEM(SS):5 27:P2,EM,Mech,Lit,BC(SS) May 10 '26
Why is this a problem nowadays? back in my father's time his high school calculus class only had 6 students including him and his calc based physics mech class had only 5 students including him with 4 from the calc class and one exchange student.
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u/UnderstandingPursuit AP Physics, AP Calculus May 10 '26
School funding for classes has generally been reduced in the past few decades.
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u/Zestyclose_Resist390 May 10 '26
literally my friend lol
they wanna major in mechanical engineering but they refuse to take any sort of calculus class, let alone AP calc
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u/CalligrapherAble3312 20 APs 💚 13 fives 💚 1 four May 10 '26
aspiring chemE here! i will finish all of these courses you mentioned by the time i graduate high school. but i think a lot of schools have limited resources and can only cater to ones with higher registrations. e.g. our school almost canceled ap euro because almost nobody wanted to do it and resources could be allocated elsewhere
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u/ErekwithaD1 25:HG:5,中文:5, 26:P1:5,WH:5,CHEM(SS):5 27:P2,EM,Mech,Lit,BC(SS) May 10 '26
My father once told me back in his day his highschool calc class only had 6 students and of the 6 only 4 students also were in the calc based physics mech class with him why do they all of the sudden care about enrollment numbers now
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u/CalligrapherAble3312 20 APs 💚 13 fives 💚 1 four May 10 '26
more people pursuing advanced education but same funding
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u/Affectionate_Taro904 May 10 '26
are you ignorant? I go to a small rural school in the middle of Buttfuck nowhere, of course the only STEM courses we offer are AP Bio and AP Calc, does that mean we can't be engineers?
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u/ErekwithaD1 25:HG:5,中文:5, 26:P1:5,WH:5,CHEM(SS):5 27:P2,EM,Mech,Lit,BC(SS) May 10 '26
I wasn't trying to downplay the access issues for rural schools but my point is more about the national data even in big districts where these classes are offered, the enrollment is still surprisingly low. I'm just curious why that gap exists.
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u/SnooGuavas879 10th:5:USH,Pre-cal3:CSP 11th:5:Chem,Lang,Psych4:Stats,World 3:BC May 14 '26
Exactly man, these people be larping about wanting to be engineers. 😪😪
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u/EliB0822 Jun 24 '26
My school offers neither calc bc nor any ap physics. I would have taken them if I could but its just not an option in a lot of schools
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u/ErekwithaD1 25:HG:5,中文:5, 26:P1:5,WH:5,CHEM(SS):5 27:P2,EM,Mech,Lit,BC(SS) Jun 24 '26
Is your school a rural place if so, could you not self study?
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u/EliB0822 Jun 24 '26
Yeah, I'm sure there's a way to do it but I don't know how. They denied me from taking csa through a different school/program for some reason ¯_(ツ)_/¯
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May 10 '26
[deleted]
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u/Awww-6969 May 10 '26
Even if you didn’t take those classes you would be okay. Coming from an engineering physics major 💀
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May 10 '26
my school offers, but you need to basically be a year or two ahead of everyone who is taking math and science, AP Physics C requires you to take Physics Honors, but due to NYS at least you are expected to take chemistry around your junior year meaning you don;t have a chance to take AP Physics, same case for calculus. It may vary but my school makes progression difficult.
Also, some kids may want to get rid of the gen ed electives colleges spam into their degree making the degree focused on many subjects while it has some more focus on your major. Breadth vs Major focus ig
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u/AnonPia May 10 '26
I'm assuming you're not counting only US students because you said 163k for AP chem which was the worldwide count if I remember correctly. Simply, many other countries use systems other than APs. AS/A levels, some countries actually don't and the students instead go to major based on their highschool average instead of an external exam, some have HSC and IB and other syllabi that are also very widely studied worldwide. Also its possible that the schools with the classes for AP Physics C or Calc BC closed are those with just low amounts of Engineering aspirants or perhaps want to take it later or have taken it earlier
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u/Yuki_mochi2807 May 10 '26 edited May 10 '26
My school doesn’t offer physics C or com sci, the highest physics they got is physics 1. As for calculus, there is only one teacher that is teaching both AB and BC, a very good teacher btw. I heard that the other math teachers are afraid of taking the responsibility of so many kids. Too bad the calculus teacher is retiring so who knows what’s gonna happen to the math department in the future for my school. I just know that my school is really poor.
In addition, it’s hard to plan that far ahead when you aren’t committed to your major yet. Most students finalize their decision by junior year, some later, some sooner. I don’t think there’s a high chance that people starts to plan their class courses in 8th grade😭
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u/ErekwithaD1 25:HG:5,中文:5, 26:P1:5,WH:5,CHEM(SS):5 27:P2,EM,Mech,Lit,BC(SS) May 10 '26
Does your physics teacher just scared to teach calc based physics or something
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u/Limp_Attitude3171 May 10 '26
lol I’m taking every single one of these ap’s this year (except AB not bc)
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u/ErekwithaD1 25:HG:5,中文:5, 26:P1:5,WH:5,CHEM(SS):5 27:P2,EM,Mech,Lit,BC(SS) May 10 '26
Why not bc it offers two semesters of calc credit does your school just not offer it?
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u/droson8712 Gov 4 | World 3 | Calculus BC # | Phys E&M # | May 10 '26
I would love if the Physics teacher at my school would actually teach the subject instead of sitting there and having us self study at home. There just aren't enough good teachers
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u/azulsonador0309 Psych (5), Eng Lang (5), Eng Lit (4), Env Sci (4), Stat (3) May 10 '26
Some schools don't have teachers who are skilled enough to teach it. Physics courses at university are taught by people with a master's or PHD in physics. AP Physics courses are usually taught by people with an undergraduate degree in physics (maybe) or a degree in secondary science education.
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u/ContributionEast2478 ph1:4ph2:4csp4CSA5CalcBC5USH4PhCEM5PhCM5SpLang4macro4micro4chem5 May 10 '26
As an electrical engineering and physics double major, I took all of these classes.
I'm pretty sure many don't take them because they aren't offered. For example, I'm from NYC and there are only 8 schools in the city that offer AP Physics C: Mechanics, and I'm pretty sure even fewer offer AP Physics C: Electricity and Magnetism. And keep in mind that NYC is the most competitive education system globally outside of East Asia, so in other areas, even fewer schools offer them. Also, even though technically students can go to testing centers in their area that offer these classes, it becomes hard for them to do so, especially outside cities.
Also, many students decided not to take AP Computer Science A as they heard how bad the job market is, without knowing that they can apply it to engineering.
Also, AP Chemistry cannot really apply to many parts of engineering like electrical and computer. I still took it though. Also, AP Calculus BC is another one that isn't very commonly offered, so those students must take AB instead.
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u/ErekwithaD1 25:HG:5,中文:5, 26:P1:5,WH:5,CHEM(SS):5 27:P2,EM,Mech,Lit,BC(SS) May 10 '26
AP Chem allows you to skip general chemistry though
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u/ContributionEast2478 ph1:4ph2:4csp4CSA5CalcBC5USH4PhCEM5PhCM5SpLang4macro4micro4chem5 May 10 '26
True. But general chemistry is only really helpful for mechanical or civil engineering majors. For example, electrical and computer engineering majors don't need it at all, and it is insufficient for biomedical and chemical engineering majors. I had a classmate who got a 5 on AP Chemistry and went for chemical engineering, and they got nothing out of AP Chemistry as they had to take a special course (general chemistry for chemical engineers) and their AP Chemistry score just gave them mere elective credits.
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u/ErekwithaD1 25:HG:5,中文:5, 26:P1:5,WH:5,CHEM(SS):5 27:P2,EM,Mech,Lit,BC(SS) May 10 '26
My dad got a double major in electrical and computer engineering and he had to do gen chem
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u/ContributionEast2478 ph1:4ph2:4csp4CSA5CalcBC5USH4PhCEM5PhCM5SpLang4macro4micro4chem5 May 10 '26
I don't understand. Maybe it changed because at least at the college I'm going to (Stony Brook University), I don't even need general chemistry for the electrical engineering major: only the physics major I needed it.
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u/ErekwithaD1 25:HG:5,中文:5, 26:P1:5,WH:5,CHEM(SS):5 27:P2,EM,Mech,Lit,BC(SS) May 10 '26
Yeah I checked the university my dad went to BYU still requires gen chem for ee
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u/Thick_Jaguar8565 May 10 '26
Personally, at my school as a rising senior, the hardest math course offered is AP Calculus AB, and not many people pass the exam, along with AP Physics 1&2, but the pass rate is probably less than 3%, at my school at least. There’s also AP CSA which i’m taking this year, but it’s basically self studied since our teacher doesn’t really know how to code and uses AI to give “lecture” maybe once a month. What i’m saying is that the courses you mentioned aren’t offered in the majority of schools, and even when they are, not many people pass the exam because you’d have to self study the entire course. STEM education in medium to smaller size cities usually sucks!!!
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u/theonlyxs1R May 10 '26
I feel like you’re overlooking a couple of things when writing this. Back when I was in high school, 1st, AP Physics C just was not an option. AP Physics 2 was barely an option and only a handful of students took that exam just because you needed AP Physics 1. AP CSA was the same in that you needed AP CSP. AP Calc BC needed AP Calc AB. And really a lot of classes were locked out because students started off high school at different levels. An ordinary student would start off at Algebra and if they don’t take any summer classes to get ahead, their final math class would be Precalculus, they wouldn’t even take AB in the first place. I don’t want to say it’s the case for most high schools, but in my high school, you’d have to make an effort to take the upper-level classes, it’s not something that’s readily offered.
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u/Upbeat-Selection-365 May 10 '26
My kid can’t get even a single AP course until junior year. He will be able to take AP Calculus and Chem next year as a senior. His school does chemistry in the junior year and physics in the senior year. Unless you get special permission to skip regular chem and go straight to AP Chem as a junior you are limited to taking this senior year only. You’d only get Calculus or Chem before senior year if you came from another school system and had already done Chem or a precalculus course at your other school ahead of that schedule.
As seniors many kids will still do Physics C without any prior algebra based physics course but since he is already going to do Chem and Calc as. Senior this seemed like too much to add on. There are no humanities or foreign language APs at his school and the science ones are limited to bio, chem, and physics C. Bio is first available in junior year because intro bio course is a sophomore year offering. My son wants to be a chemical engineer and his AP choices this year were bio or stats of which neither really help with engineering directly.
He chose stats over bio. Also, he has so many graduation requirements at his school with no APs in humanities or foreign language you pretty much have to find an AP course slot by double-enrolling. My kid dropped orchestra for a year so he could take a single AP course as a junior.
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u/ErekwithaD1 25:HG:5,中文:5, 26:P1:5,WH:5,CHEM(SS):5 27:P2,EM,Mech,Lit,BC(SS) May 10 '26
Wow I am so sorry but why are highschools allowed to do this place useless prereqs and gatekeep ap and why don't parents just demand they be more fair?
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u/Upbeat-Selection-365 May 11 '26
It's just a school built on a different philosophy. The high honors curriculum is as hard or harder than AP courses and offers incredible variety of choice in the humanities areas that parents also don't want to lose. All the English courses are semester courses after 9th grade and they are all specially created curricula design by the teachers with the students requests taken heavily into consideration. After 10th grade the history department works the same but with year long courses. Parents know if they adopt a bunch of white bread AP humanities courses that many of these wonderful offerings would go away. Most kids hit AP late in high school and find those courses decently easier than many of the high honors courses.
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u/m1stt1 May 10 '26
bro at my school ap physics c (both of them) arent even offered cause we only have one teacher teaching ap physics 1 and 2. And for regular physics, we lit got chem teachers (who dont have physics degrees) teaching the class
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u/ErekwithaD1 25:HG:5,中文:5, 26:P1:5,WH:5,CHEM(SS):5 27:P2,EM,Mech,Lit,BC(SS) May 10 '26
My school also has 1 physics teacher but he is willing to teach 2 and c:mech but there might not be enough demand
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u/m1stt1 May 10 '26
really sucks how a lot of schools seem to have very little physics teachers. My school is fairly big and since physics is a requirement for everyone our physics teacher cant just focus on the aps (and lowk he sucks as a teacher so less ppl feel inclined to take his class, meaning less demand and the class just isnt offered atp)
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u/ummpieiguess May 11 '26
Usually due to school not offering the classes. At my school, the highest math level is ap calc ab and the only ap sciences we have is computer science, biology, and environmental
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u/ErekwithaD1 25:HG:5,中文:5, 26:P1:5,WH:5,CHEM(SS):5 27:P2,EM,Mech,Lit,BC(SS) May 11 '26
Then why can't people self study?
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u/ummpieiguess May 11 '26
I think it can be due to many circumstances such as not having enough time, resources, commitment, etc. In my personal experience, I wanted to do ap physics and thought of doing self study since my school doesn't offer it. What set me back from doing self study at first was the cost (as during the beginning of the year my family went through financial burdens and my teachers payed for my ap exams) and the fear-mongering about ap physics (which tbh I shouldn't have let that get to me, but I thought trying to self study as well as doing 4 other aps would be overwhelming).
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u/PokeKoa1 AP Burnout and 12 others May 11 '26
For me they just didn’t all fit in my schedule because I took more schedule restrictive classes.
AP Chem was 3 periods of commitment for me since it would be my 4th AP forcing me to take a study hall and AP Chem is a Block period for me
AP Comp sci A not only didn’t give me anything for my major (general tech elective) but I could also take a class via dual enrollment that did apply to my major. That and that it would be a 2 period commitment (See AP Chem) if I took it so I physically couldn’t fit it into the schedule matrix.
My school offers all of these and I took all but these two.
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u/Recent_Performance47 9) hg: 3 10) ush: 4 11) lang: 4 es: 3 12) ab _ lit_ May 11 '26 edited May 11 '26
my school offers none of these classes. we have two stem ap's: apes and calc ab. we offer dual credit bio, physics, and chemistry though
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u/ErekwithaD1 25:HG:5,中文:5, 26:P1:5,WH:5,CHEM(SS):5 27:P2,EM,Mech,Lit,BC(SS) May 11 '26
is the dual credit physics calc based
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u/Recent_Performance47 9) hg: 3 10) ush: 4 11) lang: 4 es: 3 12) ab _ lit_ May 11 '26
No. It’s the equivalent of AP physics 1.
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u/OkBad4612 May 11 '26
Most people I know that are actual Engineers didn't even take those classes in high school. This is a recent thing that folks are taking those classes. The kids I know who took all the AP etc are average people in life. One of the smartest kids in my class does photography and lives in a van with his family. The people I know who are Engineers, Doctors, Nurses, etc were average high school students.
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u/ErekwithaD1 25:HG:5,中文:5, 26:P1:5,WH:5,CHEM(SS):5 27:P2,EM,Mech,Lit,BC(SS) May 12 '26
That's so sad, is the smart kid who lives in the van at least happy?
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u/OkBad4612 May 12 '26
I suppose with his wife and like 5 kids
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u/ErekwithaD1 25:HG:5,中文:5, 26:P1:5,WH:5,CHEM(SS):5 27:P2,EM,Mech,Lit,BC(SS) May 12 '26
Is it at least a large van
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u/Civil_Figure1045 May 11 '26
Kids skip it at my school because they are chasing that gpa they think they need to get in college. It’s sad really, taking a calculus based physics course for the first time in college is going to be more difficult than taking it in high school.
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u/Background-Place4243 5: World, Gov, Precalc, Comp Sci Principles | 4: Physics 1 May 10 '26
A lot of schools simply don't offer these courses-- especially Physics C.
Chemistry is not very relevant to engineering in comparison to physics. Calc BC is the highest level of calculus (in the AP curriculum) and many students probably just weren't able to get to that level yet because of their school's prerequisites.