AP Physics C is widely perceived to be one of the most challenging AP classes for students. But while its difficulty is no doubt notorious, there may be another reason why this course appears daunting to many. Unlike every other AP course, AP Physics C is separated into two 90-minute exams: Mechanics and Electricity & Magnetism. But why?

Why should there be two separate tests for one single class? And why is AP Physics C the only AP course to be split in this way? It may be surprising to learn that AP Physics C did have one exam for both Mechanics and Electricity & Magnetism before 1973. And reflecting upon the flaws within the current system of dual exams, I believe that there is no strong reason to keep the system as it is now. It would be better, not only for the students but also for the College Board, to reconsider the current system and recombine AP Physics C exams.

According to the official student score distributions released by the College Board in 2021, a total of 69,274 people took the AP Physics C exams. This ranks AP Physics C as only the 22nd most popular course out of 39 AP courses. Even when compared to other AP science courses, AP Physics C still falls far behind the popularity of AP Biology and AP Chemistry—the former having 230,527 students and the latter having 135,997 students—taking the exams during 2021. These statistics only further the puzzling question: why does AP Physics C, despite not being a popular AP class, choose to use an unconventional system of having two separate tests?

Of course, part of the apparent low popularity of this AP course can be explained by examining its demanding prerequisites and its challenging content in general. Unlike AP Biology or Chemistry, AP Physics C requires the student to have a strong grasp of mathematics, with calculus in particular. Its difficulty is further supported by the fact that here at Arcadia High School (AHS), the typical recommended mathematics pathway involves students taking a calculus course in their junior or senior year. So the difficulty of AP Physics C would be a combination of being a high-level class for the average student and because it also requires a late-level mathematics course.

One could then argue that the decision to split the AP Physics C exam was based on the consideration that dividing the course’s content into two parts may improve the student’s ability to learn the content. And indeed, this hypothesis can be reflected in the surprising fact that, despite AP Physics C’s difficulty, students have a noticeably higher chance of earning a three or more on the exams. The aforementioned student scores distribution report also noted that in 2021, 59.2% of students passed the AP Biology exam, compared to 73.5% of students who passed the Mechanics exam and 69.5% of students who passed the Electricity and Magnetism exam. 

However, if this strategy of splitting a challenging AP course into two parts has such a noticeable improvement on the percentage of students who pass the exams, what reason would the College Board have to not implement a similar system of two tests for all the AP science courses? Some may argue that the concepts studied in each portion of AP Physics C are so vastly different that they need to be split into two separate tests. Kinematics, after all, is very different from electromagnetism. But this logic could also be applied to the other AP science courses. AP Biology studies organisms from the micro to the macro and the environments surrounding organisms. It could be easily divided into two courses, with one section focusing more on macrobiology and ecology and the other covering the microbiological aspects of organisms such as the structure of cells and their functions. Though these concepts ultimately relate to the study of biology, their difference is as great as kinematics and electromagnetism.

Similarly, AP Chemistry in its current state could be split into two sections, with one covering the basics of chemistry such as elements and their reactions, and the other focusing on concepts that relate less directly to chemistry such as thermodynamics and electrochemistry. The difference between knowing the periodic table and studying Gibbs free energy is again as night and day as kinematics and electromagnetism. But the two aforementioned classes did not split into multiple parts to accommodate vastly different concepts. Therefore, the only explanation for the discrepancy in structure for AP Physics is that splitting an AP course into multiple parts with separate tests does not significantly improve the student’s ability to understand the content better. At least, not to the significance that is needed for the College Board to implement such a system across more of their exams.

There is also a more fundamental problem with the system of separate tests. A more significant flaw with the current system of testing is the cost that comes with having two separate AP tests. The Mechanics exam and the Electricity and Magnetism exam both cost the normal AP test price of $115. You would need to pay double the amount of money to test your knowledge of the contents of only one single course. Why should the students, who are already taking this rigorous and demanding course, have a greater financial burden placed on them as well? It’s both prohibitive and unfair. And the fact is, continuing this system of separate tests will only mean the students who sought out this challenging course and who wanted to further explore the topic of physics are now being punished for their proactiveness through this extra financial burden.

Please, the College Board, merge the AP Physics C exams back into one.

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