<p>I am currently a sophomore and I'm taking Honors Chemistry. I have an A- average, but I am definitely not a math person. It is because of this reason that next year I will be enrolled in regular Pre-Calculus, as opposed to the honors class which the majority of the honors science students take. With this being said, should I continue the honors route and do Honors Physics next year, or just do regular Physics? I will be taking AP Lang and AP Gov/Econ junior year as well- Will this be enough to get into a slightly above average school (40%- 45% acceptance rate) if i end up doing regular Physics, or will having Honors Physics on my transcript be necessary in the college admission process?</p>
<p>It really won’t hurt at all as long as you get an A in regular Physics. I mean, it’s better to get an A in the Honors class, but there really isn’t too much of a difference.</p>
<p>I don’t think a normal HS Physics course is math heavy (like calculus) besides some conversions (from like g to kg) and trig functions. For the most part, you just use a calculator for it. I think you need to think alot more such as deriving certain equations.</p>
<p>I would take H physics just because it will be more interesting than regular. On-level high school classes are so beyond remedial and dull and simplistic that idk why someone would willingly take them.</p>
<p>I would take Honors. I’m in Honors Physics right now, and I agree with Minnesotaguy. It’s more interesting than regular physics.</p>
<p>Thanks for the replies everyone. My current Chem teacher said that it really isn’t worth it to take honors or AP Physics if we aren’t planning on doing a math or science major in college. So i’m kind of leaning towards regular at this point where I can ensure a higher grade…</p>
<p>I took regular Physics as a Junior (my school doesn’t offer honors Physics or Chemistry -__-, but most people take Chem as a Junior and Physics as a Senior) and I hated it. Easiest and most boring class I’ve ever taken. I’d go ahead and take honors Physics because the subject can be extremely interesting when taught correctly and that’s more likely to happen with a higher level class.</p>
<p>Thanks WedgeDawg, that is a valid point.</p>
<p>At my school, honors is harder than regular, but both are tough. I never had a problem getting in A in any class until physics honors. The math isn’t tough but there are so many different scenarios for each topic that it feels hard to prepare or apply the rules mathematically. Physics is way more math heavy than chem. Ask kids at your school who have taken honors to get a real gauge of the physics program at your school.</p>
<p>At my school, regular is soooo easy and honors is SOOOOO hard. Screwed myself over by taking honors. =[</p>
<p>Regular is easy, the teacher practically gives the answers on the tests. Honors on the other hand is hard, really hard.</p>
<p>^^ Is it private? In my experience, honors is only slightly more difficult than regular, it’s just the students in the class are the more intelligent (as long as there’s no AP version of the class) people in the school.</p>
<p>Thanks all :)</p>
<p>If I were you, I’d go with honors. It isn’t nearly as math-heavy as you think it’s just knowing the formula you need to use and changing around the variables depending on what you’re looking for. It’s all basic algebra and trig.
That being said, I’m a mathy person myself. But some of the kids in my class struggle with regular precal and manage to get 90s and such. (I have 100 :)</p>
<p>Very helpful… is your physics department difficult, though? At mine the honors and AP physics classes have the highest dropping rate of all classes.</p>
<p>ohhh, yea then your school is a little different than mine. no one has dropped out of honors at all this year and there were quite a bit to drop out of ap but I can’t really give you an estimate as to how many people did.
but, why dont you do what the other kids at your school did and try the honors class for a few weeks, see how you’re doing, if you like it or not and all that stuff, and then drop if you don’t feel you’re where you need to be? idk, that just seems logical to me, does it look bad on your transcript to drop a class? that’d be the only reason why i wouldn’t try it and drop</p>
<p>Yeah the guidance counselors mentioned how junior year it doesn’t look good to drop a class. I also would most likely have to get my schedule rearranged and everything if i ended up dropping to find an opening. Thanks for the feedback</p>
<p>It really depends on your school. At mine, regular physics was apparently ridiculously easy. Honors physics was more like a normal class where you have to study to keep up, but it’s not too difficult. Although I ended up getting the teacher who was TERRIBLE at teaching. Luckily I had two friends who were really good at science, so they helped me out. Talk to other students who have already taken it, or are in it now, and see what they say!</p>
<p>Thanks, cristiline. I’ve signed up for honors.</p>
<p>In my experience most HS Physics courses don’t involve any calculus.</p>