The Honors Advantage?

DRJ4
Wed, 28 Jun 2006 23:53:58 +0000

m1817,

It’s hard to tell. Our son has taken honors business, Plan II, and non-honors courses. Overall, he thought he had to work harder for an A in most of his honors courses but he also noticed that there weren’t many students who received Cs in those courses. On the other hand, most students in his honors courses were smart and hard-working. My guess is that there is a greater range of grades in non-honors courses but the reason for that is unclear - maybe it’s due to grade distribution requirements (quotas) but it could also reflect a broader range of student performance.

Over time, our son learned more about the professors and in general he doesn’t pick courses based on whether they are honors or non-honors courses anymore - unless it’s a required course. Instead, he picks courses based on whether he thinks the professor is interesting, good, etc. In one course, he preferred the non-honors professor/course over the corresponding honors professor/course.