<p>A little about myself, I plan on majoring in chemistry or biology with the ultimate goal of going to medical school. I noticed that there are three different general chemistry classes. There is General chem, Adv. Gen chem, and honors general chemistry. I’ve take two years of chemistry in high school. However, my school didn’t offer any AP courses, which it looks like was necessary to get into Honors Chemistry. My school called it Advanced Chemistry. It was somewhat challenging, with only 5 or so out of about 35 students getting A’s or A-'s. Science didn’t really challenge me in High school, and I always got A’s. I’ve also completed Calc I and II at a community college.</p>
<p>My questions are: How much of a difference in difficultly is there between the classes? Will taking the tougher classes better prepare me for higher level classes? Will Graduate/Professional schools recognize that I could have gotten a higher grade by taking an easier class?</p>
<p>The prerequisites for each course (as I’m sure you are well aware) are slightly more demanding than the one immediately preceding it. 144 requires at least one year of high school chemistry and placement in calculus. From the looks of your resume, you should take the 144, 154 and 164 series. If you are feeling up to a greater challenge, you can take the Honors Chemistry placement test to see if you score well enough to get in (it might be worthwhile taking this test anyway just so you know where you stand). </p>
<p>The course demands are on par with the prerequisites, each class more challenging than the course preceding it. 145 and 155 cover the 142, 152 and 162 series in two quarters vice three for instance.</p>
<p>The tougher classes won’t necessarily be better for you from an academic standpoint. A more advanced class may cause you to struggle to fully comprehend the material, thereby diminishing your future success. Additionally, your grades will suffer. Graduate/professional schools do not care so much about the class series you took, they care about your grades. Don’t sacrifice your GPA for the perceived prestige of a more advanced class.</p>
<p>In order to take chem 145 (honors chem) you need to be in the honors program. I have talked to my counselor about this course and she told me only to take it if i had taken both regular and AP chemistry. Also, chem 142 is a challenging course because its meant to weed out people. By no means is it a slacker class. You should go to the testing office to see how you do on the placement test.</p>
<p>I’m almost positive you don’t have to be in the honors program to take chem 145 (even though it’s called the honors chem series). The only prerequisite is a passing score on the honors chem placement test. I’m not in the honors program, and am planning to take (and pass) the placement test on thursday.</p>
<p>First off, thanks for the info. I have my A&O this thurs/fri, and I’ve decided I’m going to take the chem placement test. I’m pretty confident i’ll pass after I looked at the subjects covered. However, I haven’t decided it’s the smart thing to take honors, because it will hurt my gpa.</p>
<p>I looked up info for honors chem and there is a required add code which they will only give you if you are in the honors program and you passed the placement test or had satisfactory AP scores. However, i have heard that honors classes often have a softer curve because there is a minimum 3.3 GPA requirement, and honors professors are more understanding/considerate of this when deciding your grades.</p>
<p>I’m not familiar with how the add codes work. But if you do have to be in the honors program, it would make things a lot easier for me. Can anyone else confirm this for me??</p>
<p>uwa2013, do you have a link? I’ve been on the chemistry department’s site, the uw online course catalog, and also the advising site, and nowhere have I found any prerequisites other than passing (14/21 questions) the honors chemistry placement test. I just spent several hours today reviewing for the exam (took IB chemistry junior year), so I hope those hours don’t go to waste.</p>
<p>its not a link, its a specific piece of paper handed out at A&O to students in the honors program with lists of numbers to call to register for math and science honors program classes. Every student gets a unique add code. I had to do it for math 124 - you call, they take your student number, verify your stats and give you an add code specific for the lecture and the quiz section you want. your best idea is probably to call the advising office/honors program and find out if you can take the class or not.</p>
<p>If the add code is the only hangup, then I’m pretty sure it is available to non-honors students. For instance, I recently attained the necessary add code for the honors section of PHYS 121, and have met with the math department in order to get the code for the honors calculus series (MATH 134), which I will officially get at my orientation next week. </p>
<p>While it is true that students not enrolled in the honors program can not sign up for HONORS courses, there is a difference between something like Honors Chemistry (CHEM 145), and HONORS 210. It is unfortunate they use the same nomenclature, but I’m fairly certain that only classes listed within the HONORS section [here: <a href=“http://www.washington.edu/students/crscat/hnrs.html][/url”>HONORS][/url</a>] are those reserved exclusively for honors college students.</p>
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<li>its my b if you can register for classes in honors - when i was at A&O they made it seem like you can only be in honors to take the classes. but i just dont know if its worth it for other people to take them because grad school and stuff dont really care if you took honors or not…</li>
<li>compactrunner, if you are taking 3 honors course your first quarter you are insane. most people struggle with one. Especially with ACCELERATED calculus H (its 6 courses in 3 quarters), chem and physics. when you factor in quiz sections, etc. that is a ridiculously hard first quarter. if your so into honors science classes, you might as well just apply for late entrance to honors…</li>
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<p>I know they’re challenging courses, but that’s why I’m taking them. Math and science are my strengths, and I’ve always taken difficult schedules (just completed my IB Diploma), so I’m looking forward to calc, physics, and chem at an accelerated pace next year. I also understand what you’re saying about how honors courses don’t do that much for you except maybe deflate your GPA, but I’d rather get the most out of my education instead of taking CHEM 142 for instance, and have to sit through lectures of stuff I’ve already learned before. </p>
<p>As far as the college honors program goes, my roommate and I are actually considering the late entrance option (neither of us applied for honors initially), but are still torn since we’d need to take a slew of extra humanities type classes that we’re really not all that interested in. We’ll see how I’m feeling about it when the opportunity presents itself in the spring.</p>
<p>yes honors classes are hard, but so is normal chem and physics. at the honors meeting for A&O they said that almost no one will ever take more than one honors course a quarter, and people taking two are considered insane. regular courses at UW are definitely not slacker courses and are certainly plenty challenging</p>