<p>So, I feel like I learned a lot of gen chem in high school. I got a 730 on the SAT chem test, and I really liked chem. I am signed up for the 1st semester of gen chem in a 2 semester sequence. I looked at ratemyprofessors.com, and it looked like the professor for this course was pretty good and not too hard. The professor also had a lot of ratings. </p>
<p>However, i've been thinking about taking honors gen chem where it will be 2 semesters compacted into 1. But, the problem is the professor looks like he is just too dang hard. He scored a 1.8 on easiness, but he does only have 6 ratings on the ratemyprofessor. btw, the ratings were for other non-honors courses and not this one. Someone also said on ratemyprofessor that class averages were usually 55% on exams, and you needed 65% to pass. One reason i would want to take the hard one is that I can start orgo my 2nd semester. (I'm going to be a chem minor)</p>
<p>I want an A in whichever gen chem class I take because I'm going to have to maintain a 3.6 to remain in my honors college. </p>
<p>my other classes are calc 2, intro to computer science, and the rest are seminars. I heard calc 2 at my school was also killer ...</p>
<p>So, do you think I should go with the easy gen chem or the hard one? Do you think i could maintain the A?</p>
<p>Your gpa will follow you throughout your career, no one will care if you started O Chem a semester early or not (nor will they care if you graduated earlier than your peers). The gpa just matters more, so focus on that.</p>
<p>The honors course with two semesters compacted into one is probably appropriate for those who scored an easy 5 on the AP Chemistry test, or have had some general chemistry course(s) in community college while still in high school. Of course it will be harder, though be aware that harder material, greater amount of work, and harder grading can vary independently (e.g. it may have harder material and greater amount of work, but the grading might be generous if you complete the work showing understanding of the material).</p>
<p>Taking the honors course will effectively give you space for another elective, but is probably not a good idea if your only chemistry background is regular high school chemistry. Does the chemistry department have any specific recommendations about who should or should not take the honors course?</p>
<p>If you don’t need to take honors chem for your honors program I would avoid it. Only reason I would see to take honors chem over regular chem would be if there was research experience possible with it. And even then, unless you a chem major that is not that big of a perk</p>
<p>@ucbalumnus yes they do. only those in the honors college, have scored 70% or higher on 1st semester chem placement test, or scored a 4 or 5 on AP chem are eligible to take it. I am in the honors college. I also took chem 2 (second year of chemistry) in high school. At my school we did not have AP chem, but I did score a 730 on the SAT chemistry subject test.</p>
<p>However, i’m more worried about the teacher. The teacher, I’ve heard, is pretty dang hard, and I’m not sure how feasible an A in his class would be.</p>
<p>@youknowme123 I’m leaning towards not taking it just because of the prof.</p>
<p>How did you do on that chemistry placement test? If you scored 100% and thought it was easy, you might be a good candidate for the honors course. On the other hand, if you scored 70% thinking you were lucky to score that high, the honors course may not be a good idea.</p>
<p>By “hard”, does the instructor give hard stuff to learn (which is what an honors course should have), or is he a hard grader?</p>