Hey Bostonian,
Good points, but I can only respond re how it works at my alma mater. There may be thousands of students needing calculus, but there were not thousands of math majors. So the "math-majors-only" calculus class was smaller and deeper/broader in its coverage. Same for my freshman chemistry-majors-only class.
Also - as a chem major admitted to the honors program, I took "honors calculus." So even though I wasn't in the math-majors-only calculus, my calculus class was also smaller, with a deeper/broader level of challenge and fewer of the icky things that come with the huge intro classes (e.g., no multiple choice tests).
Frankly, we got the best teachers in the various departments for both majors-only and honors classes. And we had more of a personal, interactive relationship with our professors than could be expected in the huge auditorium-style classes.
Hope that clarifies,
Sue
