<p>I am wondering whether taking honors classes will lower my gpa as a pre-med student. Its not that I wont try harder compared to regular classes but I'm worried my grades would be lower than if I had taken regular classes, particularly in the sciences. I like the smaller classroom size and honors emphasis but want to make sure my grade doesn't suffer. I've been told that taking honors sciences classes (particularly biology) isn't a good decision for freshman year because of how in-depth the material is. I have taken Honors and AP Biology sophomore/junior years in high school so I feel ready but advice and anxiety are telling me to keep away from such honors classes. This also applies to other Honors classes that I could take, such as in Chem, Eng, Hist, Calc, etc. Thanks</p>
<p>The general thought seems to be that you should take honors classes in things where you have great interest. Honors chemistry was kind of a disaster this year–about 70 kids took it in the fall and about 20 moved to the second semester class. There are other posts about it if you look around. My daughter’s roommate is pre-med and she takes exactly zero honors classes although she is eligible. Pitt is not like a lot of other colleges where honors students take all honors classes. My daugther loves her honors physics lecture, but she was told by a physics major to take regular calculus; the calculus is great for math majors, but includes many things that are not so useful in physics.</p>
<p>Beware of honors course that you are not interested in or prepared to work very hard in. The science and math courses are very intense. Many students drop out of premed because of the difficulty. However, if you are prepared for the challenge of working hard and studying seriously, then you will succeed! good luck!</p>
<p>i heard that upitt had a great pre-med program. how is it compared to vandy’s</p>
<p>Hmm ok well I’m definitely interested in taking Honors Bio. And after hearing about Honors Chem, I’ll have to reconsider my options. Thanks MD Mom for the info on Calculus - regular seems the best approach for a pre-med student. I do understand that Honors courses can be taken by a student if he/she wants to so thats why I want to find a good balance between regular and honors and I’m sure I’ll work hard to get the grades I need so thats not my main issue right now. Choosing the best classes is.</p>
<p>Jshakes, you will find the right mix. My daughter is in her second semester of calculus (non honors) and is very happy and challenged. She was a top high school student and kind of fell into the trap of thinking that she had to take the most difficult classes possible because of her abilities. She is settling in a bit and I finally convinced her to take something fun in the fall.</p>
<p>Ok I understand. Yeah I’m definitely trying to find the mix. Not to brag but I think of myself as a top high school student right now and taking hard classes is a requirement I put on myself to feel like I’m challenging myself compared to others. So MD Mom you feel its best to not take a lot of difficult courses freshman yr by using high school as an indicator of ability but to challege myself and have fun too? Haha sounds like the ideal combination to me but I’ll definitely try to by mixing some Honors and regular classes. MD Mom, which honors/regular courses is your daughter taking and how does she find the balance between them? Is she challenged yet not too overwhelmed?</p>
<p>I posted this question in a related thread, too. Are the honors classes taught by the same professors as the regular ones? Should one expect the same quality of teaching, if not necessarily the same depth? Which ones prepare you better for the MCAT?</p>
<p>Jshakes, my daughter took honors chemistry and physics in the fall in addition to Japanese and Russian lit (her fun class). She did shift her honors chem to Pass/No Credit, which helped lighten the fall load. She continued to her second semester in honors physics, which is taught by Dr. Stewart (honors college dean). She is also taking the second level in both calculus and Japanese and a martial arts P.E. class. She did well in the fall and I think this semester is okay so far. She is more social than she ever was in high school, so I am hoping for the best–I do like it that she is socializing and enjoying herself. </p>
<p>She did not live in honors housing this year, which she realized quickly was a mistake. She tried to move mid-year, but nothing opened up. She will be in honors housing next year. </p>
<p>TomisMom–If I understand the way the honors classes work, any professor can submit an idea for an honors class. The proposal is reviewed and a class is offered (or not). The honors classes can be viewed through the Pitt site. You do not need a password or anything; just go to the site and search around. Keep in mind that at a major university, professors teach two or three classes and then are responsible for research, so a professor could teach both honors and non-honors classes. It would be my guess that teaching to the MCAT is not the top priority in an honors level freshman class.</p>
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<p>This is true.</p>
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Sorry, I didn’t mean to imply that professors, in either regular or honors classes, should teach to the MCAT. But I thought that the more rigorous the classes are, the better they prepare you for the MCAT by virtue of encouraging critical reasoning, problem solving, etc. In retrospect, I shouldn’t have asked whether the <em>same</em> professors teach regular and honors classes, but rather if students should expect the same caliber teaching in regular classes vs. honors classes.</p>
<p>I think the science classes are pretty thorough. Last year, when we were looking at Pitt, Doc Stewart made the comment to us that the “honors courses separate the curious from the simply smart.” I think that the idea was that the courses delve in to areas the regular classes don’t, but I also think Pitt honors differs from many other programs because a student who is really interested in a subject can appeal to get into a class even if they are not pre-qualifed. For physics, students who take the first semester of the class have to get permission to move to the second level class.</p>
<p>I know exactly nothing about the honors biology classes, but I have been surprised that no students have said anything about it; they are probably studying honors biology. </p>
<p>My daughter is in her first year, but she has been quite pleased with her instructors (not honors chemistry) and believe me I would hear about it.</p>
<p>^Thanks, this is the kind of information I was looking for–although I didn’t make myself clear the first time around :)</p>