<p>Whether you end up in honors or not, Tech’s work load for the Sciences, Engineering, CS, and Math will be very time consuming (much more so than 4 AP classes), unless you are taking a low number of hours. With that said, honors will not make your work/life balance more difficult to manage(some exceptions explained below) and with proper time management there is plenty of time to do well in the recommended course load needed to graduate in four years, partake in extra curriculars, and have some free time. Poor time management will result in sleep deprivation, the seeming lack of enough time to get things done, stress, and likely poorer academic performance if you are taking the recommended course load for most majors. In short, If you are good with time management you will be fine. Otherwise, start working on that now and be prepared for a ‘wakeup’ semester when you get to Tech. If you are breezing through high school with little effort and lots of free time that is not taken up by EC’s, I would recommend taking 12-14 hours your first semester and no more than one lab science to allow you time to adjust to Tech without injuring your GPA.</p>
<p>Honors Calculus, particularly Honors Calculus II, is definitely harder than regular Calc II, which is not a cakewalk itself. I would avoid the Honors Calc II class unless you really love Math (it is very theory/proof based) and students who would have made an A in regular Calc II often end up with B’s, but if you like to know the why in math and not just how to solve a problem this class is for you. The Honors Calc II professors are usually very good, albeit challenging. Bottom line for time: You will work harder in this class for an equivalent or lower grade than you would in regular Calc II, but you will learn more.</p>
<p>Honors Chemistry and Biology have much more intensive labs and you will be expected to write a greater number of full lab reports than the regular classes. In the case of Chemistry, you will also have to write lab proposals rather than just following ready made labs from a lab manual. Tests will be mostly short answer/short essay and written calculations rather than multiple choice, but this also means you get partial credit. Tests in chemistry are generally graded very fairly/generously but in biology you need to really know your stuff and be able to explain the concepts. Professors for honors sciences are almost always exceptional. If you like lab/writing and researching reports, honors is likely a better fit. If you despise lab reports or lab in general, I would suggest the regular course. There is no grade disadvantage in honors sciences, and in some cases it may be easier to get a A in the honors sections, but you will put in your time for the lab component of the course. I am not familiar with honors Physics, but I have not heard it is any harder than regular physics in either the lecture or lab components. </p>
<p>Most other honors courses are no harder and sometimes require less work than their regular counterparts, but are more focused on delving into the material which may or may not appeal to you. Naturally, workload varies by professor. Honors English is more discussion based and generally does not have tests, which are replaced with papers and projects. Honors CS is the same as regular CS with the exception that it requires a final project and has extra credit opportunities which give you more control over your grade outside of tests, but also requires slightly more time.</p>
<p>Special topics courses are not meant to be hard and are often very interesting and require less work than most other Tech courses. They are not slacker classes though.</p>
<p>In general, the benefits of smaller classes, generally better students, generally better professors, a less crazy freshman dorm (quieter and fewer drinking/sex issues), and a more in depth and interesting coverage of the material is worth being in the program. You also have opportunities to attend events, meet/network with professors (good for research opportunities), and attend events/discussions with campus figures (president, director of athletics, etc…) through the program, and living with your classmates freshman year makes group studying and project work convenient and easier to plan. There is also an honors challenge fund that gives money to honors student ideas/project plans (provided they are good that is).</p>
<p>If your are academically curious you will enjoy honors courses. If you are the kid who is always asking why do I need to know this, it may not be the program for you (although, somewhat ironically, you will have a better understanding of the applicability of what you are learning in honors courses)</p>
<p>It should be noted that the honors program doesn’t really make your degree more valuable or greatly enhance the opportunities available to you, but for some students it is a good fit and worthwhile. I think it is also important to note that if you are coming in with a lot of social science and humanities credits through AP/IB/transfer credit, completing the special topics requirements (3 required courses) to get the honors designation on your transcript may require you to take more hours than you otherwise would need to get your degree or take up free elective slots that could have been more easily used for a minor or certificate if you didn’t have to use them to fulfill the honors requirements. This is a minor issue though, and the special topics courses provide for a more rounded academic experience.</p>
<p>So, short answer to your question: Don’t avoid honors because you are worried about having to work so hard you won’t have free time, because this isn’t true. But you should evaluate why you are interested in honors and see if those reasons match up with the intent of the program and are valid reasons to join.</p>