<p>What are the benefits/disadvantages of taking honors college courses. I'm thinking of switching out of my regular organic chemistry course to the honors ochem class because one of my peers recommended it to me. In the regular ochem class, there are around 300 people but in the honors there, are are just around 50. The honors class though has a lot more material covered but the class's curve is a bit nicer. </p>
<p>I'm already taking 20 units next quarter, but I like a challenge. What should I do? I'm a chem. engineering major FYI.</p>
<p>Depends on the course and the student. I would recommend that you ask around at your school, perhaps even students who have taken the course before. Sometimes, it’s nice to be a smaller class, but whether or not that’s worth it depends on you. If you want to do it, just do it. The only drawback is that there’s more material, but if you’re up for the challenge, then why not?</p>
<p>The professor gave me an add code for the class. Should I take the honors class first, see if it’s too hard, and then switch back to regular; or vice versa.</p>
<p>^ It depends on what you are applying for. If it’s within your field, and you decide to have a “relevant courses” section on your resume, then yes. But I don’t include it, my employers/internships have never asked for specific classes – they clearly see my major and overall GPA on my resume and that is enough for them. IMO, whatever keeps your GPA up the highest should be your best bet. </p>
<p>I remember another thread saying that employers also don’t request transcripts until later in the hiring process (if they even do)… So they do check, eventually, or maybe not at all. Again, highest GPA should be your goal. If the honors has a risk of dropping your GPA because it is challenging, I wouldn’t take it.</p>
<p>I think some people might be confusing honors courses with honors programs - taking an honors class by itself shouldn’t really increase employment chances at all. In addition, unlike in high school, a college honors course does not carry an automatic GPA boost. Also, taking 20 units in one quarter of mostly engineering classes sounds really harsh - do you really want to make your workload worse?</p>
<p>If this is the question, it’s often easier to go from an honors class to regular than to go from regular to honors. But you might want to check with the classes, since sometimes the material might be divided slightly differently within the two sequences.</p>
<p>I took honors versions of freshman physics and chemistry. If you really want to understand the material, they are absolutely wonderful. They are also much smaller (in my case between 20-30 students) which make them much more engaging and also makes it easier to ask questions. They also are a great preparation for upper level courses in the major. However, if you want to take an honors course because you think it will make it easier to get an A, you probably shouldn’t do it. Although they are often not curved or curved less harshly than the regular version, the workload is much higher and material covered is at a much deeper level. Additionally, the people taking honors courses are usually very interested and skilled in the subject and would have been at the top of the regular class.</p>