Advanced Standing Exams

Advanced Standing Exams in Physics

The Department of Physics offers Advanced Standing Examinations (CASE) for students once or twice per year, prior to the beginning of the fall and/or spring semester. CASE exams are offered for PHYS 1112 and 2213.  The Spring 2025 CASE exam will be held on Friday, January 17 at 12:00 pm in room 203 Rockefeller Hall. Please plan to arrive by 11:45 am with picture ID to check-in. The deadline to sign-up is January 14 at 10:00 am EST.  Make-up exams will not be given.  One hour will be allotted for the exam. Students with SDS accommodations should notify physicsdus@cornell.edu by email and indicate it in the Additional Information section of the sign-up sheet as well as provide the necessary documentation.

You will register via this link:  http://bit.ly/2rVeKHq.  Contact physicsdus@cornell.edu with questions.  Students will receive notification about whether they passed the CASE exam.

Eligible students passing the CASE examination will receive course credits equal in number to the Cornell course covered, but no letter grade.  If students do not pass the CASE exam, it does not show up on their transcript. Syllabi can be found below for:  1112 and 2213.  We do not offer practice materials for the CASE.  The CASE is a closed-book, closed-notes exam.  Formula sheets will not be provided or allowed.  A non-graphing, non-programmable calculator is permitted.  Students with SDS accommodations should notify the physicsdus@cornell.edu by email and indicate it in the Additional Information section of the sign-up sheet as well as provide the necessary documentation.

During their pre-enroll window, we recommend students enroll in the class for which they plan to take the CASE Exam in the event the student doesn't pass the exam.  Pre-enrolling will guarantee the student a spot in the class versus trying to get in during add/drop. If the student passes the CASE Exam, they will just drop the course.

Eligibility for CASE examinations

• Students must NEVER have previously attempted the equivalent class at Cornell. This includes classes that they registered for, but later dropped (unless the drop occurred within 1 week of the start of the semester - please bring documentation to show this).

• To be eligible to earn course credit by passing the CASE, a student must NOT have previously taken the corresponding AP, (or IB, or GCE A) test.  Students who took the AP test and scored a 4 or lower, cannot use the CASE as a retake of the AP test.  Students who took the AP test and scored a 5 are automatically eligible for AP credit, but may still elect to take the CASE for informational purposes.  Information about Advanced Placement / IB credit in physics can be found here: http://courses.cornell.edu/content.php?catoid=31&navoid=7931).

• Students may NOT retake the CASE exam if they did not pass the exam before. The Physics department records all CASE exam takers, and students only have one chance to take each CASE exam.

• Students who took college-level courses for which they are not receiving transfer credit (for instance, at foreign universities or community colleges) are permitted to take the CASE exam.

• Students who took an AP (or IB) level class in high school, but never took the corresponding AP or IB examination are permitted to take the CASE exam.

• Students can only take one CASE exam per offering.

The available examinations are:
1. Physics 1112 (3 credits); Engineering mechanics; calculus-based; allow 60 minutes

PHYS 1112 Physics I: Mechanics
Primarily for students of engineering and for prospective physics majors.
Course Prerequisite: co-registration in second semester calculus, or substantial previous contact with introductory calculus, combined with co-registration in first semester calculus.
Mechanics of particles: kinematics, dynamics, conservation laws, central force fields, periodic motion. Mechanics of many-particle systems: center of mass, rotational mechanics of a rigid body, static equilibrium. At the level of University Physics vol. 1, by Young and Freedman.

2. Physics 2213 (4 credits): Engineering Electromagnetism; calculus-based; allow 60 minutes.

PHYS 2213 Physics II: Electromagnetism
Primarily for students of engineering and for prospective physics majors.
Course Prerequisites: Physics 1112 and co-registration in the continuation of the mathematics sequence.
Exam topics include: Electrostatics, behavior of matter in electric fields, DC circuits, magnetic fields, Faraday’s law, Maxwell’s equations, electromagnetic oscillations. At the level of University Physics v. 1 and 2, by Young and Freedman.

We repeat that students who have earned AP credit DO NOT NEED to take an Advanced Standing Examination. Different AP tests/scores are required for credit equivalent to Phys.  1112 and 2213 at Cornell. The requirements are posted under the section entitled Advanced Placement.