<p>I recently received an invitation to apply to the Freshman Science Honors Program. Out of interest, I researched the program both on the USC website and on past threads. However, I came across a few concerns that worry me, the biggest being students in the program coming out of the honors classes with lower grades than those students who took the regular counterparts. Since I do plan on applying to medical school, I wish to maintain a high GPA above pretty much everything else.</p>
<p>For those of you who are more familiar with the program, could you tell me whether applying for and being in the program is a good idea if I plan on going Pre-Med? Is it worth taking harder classes and consequently learning more in biology and chemistry at the risk of earning a B or lower? I will add, on that note, that I would happily seize the opportunity to enhance my studies in the sciences if there were not any high risks associated with doing so.</p>
<p>Thanks in advance for any input you guys can provide me with!</p>
<p>As far as I can tell, there’s a whole lot more work for honors as opposed to non-honors courses. Also, the grades are curved easier. As in, the average for a non-honors course might be a C and the honors might be a c+, b-, or even B. However, the kids in the honors courses are a lot <em>smarter</em>… at least when it comes to bio/chem. I myself, am doing non-honors next year. I cant do honors because I am not science major, but I am confident I can walk out of the non-honors course with a good grade and probably as much knowledge as those in the honors course.</p>
<p>Thanks for the input. However, I don’t think it’s enough to really influence my decision toward being in the program or not, unfortunately.</p>
<p>Can anyone else perhaps share their experience with the program as a Pre-Med student?</p>
<p>My son is in FSH and may be pre med. He thinks it is worth it. He thinks Honors chemistry is not more work than regular and very worth it(he is chemistry major however–so there is bias). He stated honors bio is much more work than regular but curve is better. He also made observation that all the science intro classes are more competitive because med schools no longer take AP scores so many students are in these classes who received 4s and 5s on Ap Bio/Chem. Good luck and congrats on invite.</p>
<p>Some thoughts for Ronaldofan94: First: apply. If you get in you can always decide to NOT participate and do the general classes. You can even make this decision up to the second week of classes next fall. As for the grade distribution, you could call the program director and ask for more facts on this. I believe that number is 213-740-5295. You could also ask if a current student could contact you. Hope this helps!</p>