<p>Hey everyone, I want to get involved in math/engineering research this year and was wondering if taking Honors Multivariable Calculus could potentially give me an edge when looking for research opportunities. In terms of gaining mathematical maturity and proving my ambition/eagerness/intelligence, I'm under the impression that taking honors math would be a good move. I wouldn't normally hesitate to take a more advanced course, but this particular course would cause a scheduling conflict that would make the beginning of the semester rather hectic. So basically, is it worth reworking my schedule to fit in the honors class or should I just take regular multivariable calculus? </p>
<p>Thanks in advance for any advice.</p>
<p>It all depends on what the “Honors” designation means at your school. Is there a benefit to taking a lot of honors courses? Is it required for some kind of special program? </p>
<p>In college, honors math courses are for those with a strong interest and ability in math. Expect those courses to go deeper into the theory and include more proofs than regular math courses.</p>
<p>Well technically it could count towards earning an honors degree (e.g. cum laude, magna cum laude, etc…), but in my case I doubt I’ll actually be pursuing an honors degree for various reasons. The benefit of taking an honors course in my case would be to delve deeper in to a subject with the goal of possibly being able to take advantage of my better understanding when performing research. Also if I had honors math classes on my transcript as compared to another student who didn’t, it seems I may have an advantage when applying to academic research programs, ceteris paribus.</p>
<p>Latin honors are awarded on class ranking or gpa. Honors coursework as part of a larger honors program can lead to a graduation distinction such as “with honors” or “with university” or “departmental honors” depending on who runs the program. This is possibly where the confusion may be since some schools do “with honors” as the ranking/gpa recognition instead of Latin honors and then may have another name for their honors program such as “such and such scholar.” </p>
<p>In any case, graduating with solid grades and being involved in an honors program that offers research experience is beneficial to admissions into PhD programs because they want to see indicators that you will be a good researcher. Note that you do not have to be in a formal program to get involved with research as an undergraduate.</p>
<p>However, a few points that may help you:
- The main benefits of taking a freshman/sophomore honors class such as calc III, are generally smaller class sizes so you can get more professor dialogue as well as be surrounded by students with academic interests more closely aligned with your own. </p>
<ol>
<li><p>While you may pick up a more fundamental understanding of the material than someone going through the regular section, this is not a guarantee just because there is an H next to the course number (multiple variables include student effort/ability and teaching quality)</p></li>
<li><p>Doing research as an undergrad in and of itself is what counts the most for proving to a grad school your value as a researcher, especially if you get published. While taking honors coursework often goes hand in hand with those pursuing an academic future, it has more to do with legitimate curiosity/self challenge followed by pride/perceived prestige after that. As far as advantages in your research pursuits, having a solid understanding of the math, science, and engineering are indeed paramount to success in any endeavor, and this will be reflected, usually, by your grades and choice of coursework (I.e. taking an error analysis class in lieu of basket weaving). </p></li>
<li><p>Certeris paribus, all other things equal. If you’ve read this far, you probably are starting to get a gut feeling admission into a prestigious (I’m assuming) grad school isn’t going to come down to your honors calc class alone. You’ll need to find something more unique to set yourself apart from your peers.</p></li>
</ol>
<p>Thank you da6onet! I’m actually considering the implications of honors calc 3 (and honors differential equations, but won’t have completed this in time) when applying to REU programs next summer. So the honors class might hold more weight in that situation than when applying to Phd programs haha.</p>
<p>Also mathematics courses have kind of become my favorite college courses over the course of my freshman year, so I would be excited to take a more challenging class for it’s own sake. So I guess I’ve somewhat solved my own dilemma here.</p>
<p>Personally, i don’t think that an honors course will give you any edge in getting a research position. For that you need to have the willingness to go and ask faculty to get involved and for REUs you need to take enough courses in your field and have good enough letters of recommendation to make you a potentially productive participant. Finally for graduate school, your research experience and letters of recommendation are the most important thing.</p>
<p>Bottom line, if you are not in an honors program where it is required to take a certain number of courses labeled “H” (as @da6onet points out), it is a personal choice whether you want to take the course or not.</p>