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How does it matter to be in honors class or in regular class in 9 grade?

If you're a strong academic student with a plan to go to college, taking the most challenging courses you can take in high school is a good idea. At my school, students in the honors classes are prepared for the Advanced Placement class in English, for instance, that is offered to seniors. If they haven't been in honors, the AP class is especially difficult for them.

According to the Office of College Counseling at my school, when you apply to colleges, the admission people look at your entire high school academic record, and it's impressive if you have taken the most challenging courses available. The only exception seems to be if you apply to a state university that bases admission solely on grade point average. Some students, if they know they will apply to a state school, choose to take regular courses because they believe they will earn higher grades and thus have a higher GPA than they would if they took the more difficult honors courses.

As a freshman, you may not yet have any idea about where you want to go to college. I recommend that you keep as many options open as possible. If you're interested in honors and if you can do the work, go for it!

Admission officers at colleges have commented that they look at the student's senior year as a maturation year.  That is, they scrutinize the courses that a student takes in his/her senior year as indicative of the seriousness of that student.  If the student has taken challenging courses such as the Advanced Placement ones, the admissions officers feel that the student shows that he/she is goal-driven and will more likely succeed at college level.  So, in order to be able to enroll in the higher courses in senior year, a student must begin his/her preparation by enrolling in the advanced courses from the beginning, the freshman year.

Besides all the reasons given here and above, the fact is that if a student has taken the more challenging courses, he/she will ipso facto be better prepared for college, for he/she will have read the literary works, learned the math and science, and have the knowledge of historical periods that one needs to have a background in for the college level courses.  Too many students enter community colleges and otherwise without the foundations in the scholastic disciplines that they need; consequently, they are put into remedial courses or they struggle in a course for which they are ill-prepared.

Bottom line:  It is always wise to plan ahead.  Better to have more than is "required" than to "come up short" later on.  Freshman year is the time to start thinking and planning for the future.

Being in an honors class is much different from a 'regular' class. This class should be moving at a faster pace and it should also examine the materials more closely. Honors classes, from what I have experienced, also tend to do college preperation. This is not to say that 'regular' classes are bad, but if someone can handle the work of an honors class, this would be the class to take.

I agree with what everyone else said, but also remember that when you take an AP or Honors class it is usually "weighted" meaning it adds points on to your GPA--this is how some students graduate w/ over a 4.0. So, if you get a C in an honors class, it counts like a B in an on-level class, and gets factored into your weighted GPA.

Admissions people are ALWAYS stressing to me that the level of difficulty of classes plays a HUGE factor into whether or not students get into college. Having a 4.0 and all regular classes does not look as good as having a 3.5 and having honors and AP.

You will be SO MUCH MORE prepared for college by taking honors and AP. Reading fast and being able to comprehend complex texts is a necessity for passing college!

If your school offers specific programs such as Honors, AP, Institute Programs I would advise you to seek out any and all information regarding qualification. In New York City potential candidates into such programs are notified spring semester in 8th grade, however there are circumstances where by students try it and for one of many reasons choose to forfeit their placement. In such cases other students have the chance to be accepted into such advanced programs. My daugther was accepted into an Institute Program (high honor A.P. program) in her high school. She successfully completed the course of study, and I believe the program taught her the responsibilities she would need to be accepted into a great college. She is currently a junior in a great university, the one she set her goals for. As a teacher I agree with post #5...preparation is key to opening the door of opportunity.

I would highly encourage you to take the honors coursework if you have aspirations for attending college.  Usually, honors courses are more challenging.  However, the biggest benefit lies in that no one forces students to take honors coursework; it is something they choose to do.  As a non-honors teacher, I can tell you that most of my students do not want to be here... they'd rather be at home, or else away from school in general.  That being said, the honors students truly want to be in their classes, and spend a lot of time studying so that they can better prepare for college and standardized tests like the SAT and ACT.

If given the choice, and you feel comfortable with a bit more challenge in your workload, definitely take the honors option. It will only help you in the long run!

What you take matters from the moment you walk in the door as a freshman.  We try to tell freshmen this when they walk in.  This might not "register" with some or most freshmen, unfortunately.  But it is important.  So taking honors classes as a freshman is important.  This is not to say that if you start honors classes later that you are "doomed".  It's just to say that it's better to start them soonor, rather than later.

It looks good on college papers. ^.^ it helps you be more academicaly inclined.

Rigorous and challenging work is the best way to prepare for college, and is heavily weighted by college admissions.  To prepare to take the AP courses, or dual credit courses, in your later high school years, you have to start in early high school, or, ideally, even in middle/intermediate school.  If you wait to start until you are a junior or senior, the other students in your class will be ahead of you and the course will move along at the pace that is appropriate for them, leaving you struggling throughout the year.  Make the commitment to put in the work to be successful, the payoff will last the rest of your life!