Could someone please tell me the difference between Honors Gen Chem I Lab and regular Gen Chem I lab? Presumably, the honors class is a little more advanced (moves a little faster and/or goes a little more in depth) than the regular one, but is there really a huge difference? I am on the pre-med track, and I’m sure it would benefit me to take the honors lab, but would taking the regular lab really be a hindrance?
Here’s my context:
I’m an incoming freshman in the UAB Honors College, and I’m taking Gen Chem I this semester, along with its recitation and lab. When I registered for classes at orientation, the Gen Chem I honors class and honors labs were already filled up, so I signed up for a regular Gen Chem I Lab on Friday afternoons. A few weeks after orientation, a friend told me that there was an opening for an Honors Gen Chem I Lab on Monday nights, so I went ahead and registered for it, but I didn’t drop out of the regular lab that I was already registered for because I was (and still am) conflicted over which to take: although I’d prefer to take the honors course over the regular one, I was really hoping for no evening classes – plus, this one’s on a Monday, which is arguably one of the most difficult days of the week to get through.
Here’s how I see it:
Regular Gen Chem I Lab
- pros: afternoon, no night classes all week
- con: not honors
Honors Gen Chem I Lab - pros: honors lab, frees up my Friday afternoons
- con: Monday nights
By the way, both labs are taught by the same professor (who also happens to teach my actual Gen Chem I class), so instructor quality isn’t really a factor in question here.
I realize this seems like a very nit-picky question (I’m sure some responses will tell me to just suck it up and take the evening honors lab), but this has actually been bugging me for quite some time. I’m not really sure what I’m looking for in an answer, but I’d really appreciate if someone could tell me the differences between the two labs. Does the difference between honors and regular courses really show up in labs as much as (I’d assume) it does in normal courses? Also, would it be harder to take the honors lab since I’m not taking the honors class, or is that irrelevant? I just want to figure out if it’s worth taking the honors lab if I really don’t want to take a Monday night class. If they’re not too different in quality, then I’d rather just stick with the regular lab on Friday afternoons.
Thanks so much in advance!