<p>What are the advantages and disadvantages to taking the honors Physics 7 series at Berkeley instead of the regular physics 7 as an incoming freshmen this fall?</p>
<p>Physics H7A is hard and is intended for physics majors. It is more in depth. I know a physics major that even avoids H7A and H7B.</p>
<p>Granted if you're taking Physics with Boggs, the different is neglible ;).</p>
<p>Even 7a is intended for physics majors. It's a more intensive class, generally a bit smaller, with more material covered. It's more appropriate for some people. The grading I heard is a tad more lenient (but the work harder). It's more difficult and might overwhelm some, but hey, so might 7a.</p>
<p>The advantage is that you will learn more and go into the material more in depth. Unlike AP/honors courses in high school, college honors courses will not boost your GPA if you do well.</p>
<p>When my friend took H7A, 50% was an A.</p>
<p>Then again, Bogg's 7A class normally has 50% as an A.</p>
<p>It's not that low. On Bogg's Fall '05 final a 63% was an "A." The rest of the exams had reasonable distributions.</p>
<p>If his last final were an open book test, I'd bet that the top quartile could have broken 80%. He tested a lot of material from "optional sections," which many students assume to be trivial and neglect. For example, the torsion pendulum. Coriolis effect. Gravitational fields. Most physics profs. really do skip over those sections, but apparently Boggs doesn't. So whoever has him should seriously study every section in the book -- this is a big hint to earning a higher grade in that class.</p>
<p>Having taken H7B and H7C, I would say they are much harder than the regular versions. Having said that, they are not harder to get good grades in. This is because of the more lenient grading others have noted. They should prepare you better for upper division physics, though, since from what I've seen those courses are more on par with the H-series rather than the regular series (though admittedly I haven't taken any upper-div physics yet).</p>
<p>I was in Boggs Fall 05, that was a fun final. Raised my grade up quite a bit.</p>
<p>Also, incoming freshmen who want to take Physics H7A must score a 5 on the Physics C exam.</p>
<p>eiffel: I haven't seen that requirement. Last year, under the description, it only stated a placement exam which wasn't given either. Needless to say, my friend took this class as a freshman without anything special being done.</p>
<p>I read that on L&S booklet. Perhaps it's a recommendation.</p>
<p>I would say that if you have a good background in mathematics and you can handle physics at a more theoretical, mathematical basis, then the H series would be better for you.</p>