What is an Honors course like? Is it harder than a regular course?

There's no one way to describe an Honors course.

Several types of Honors courses are offered:

  • Courses offered by various departments intended only for Honors students which take the place of the standard course offering for non-Honors students. A few examples of this type of class are Honors Calculus I, II and III, and Honors Intro Philosophy.
  • Honors discussion sections of LSA courses. All students attend the lecture for the course, but a special discussion section is reserved for Honors students for more in-depth discussion and exploration of the topics presented in lecture. Honors sections are frequently taught by the professor teaching the lecture.
  • Courses sponsored by the Honors Program, such as Honors seminars, which are small courses taught by LSA faculty on very specific topics. These courses are often interdisciplinary in nature.

In general, an Honors course covers material at an accelerated pace or at a greater depth than its non-Honors counterpart, which may result in additional reading or writing. Yet the major difference is not how much you do, but what you do. Most Honors students say that their Honors courses require less "busy work" and more stimulating assignments, with the total workload being similar to that of a mainstream course.