If you apply to an honor’s program at a school like, say, UPitt, if you don’t get into that program, are you still eligible to attend as a regular student? I don’t see the point of applying to an honor’s program if you’re using a school as a safety, because then it’s not even going to be “safe” anymore.
You apply for admittance to the college. In addition, you may apply for the honors college. You may be admitted to the college but not honors.
Thanks, just making sure 
Here’s an example. With ASU and its Barrett Honors College, you first apply to ASU which is auto-admit. In other words, you will be automatically admitted if you meet certain minimum criteria in terms of having passed certain “core competency” classes in high school and have one of the following: (1) a minimum 3.0 GPA in the core competency classes, or (2) minimum class rank (top 25%) in graduating class or (3) minimum SAT/ACT (1120 SAT and 22 ACT for in state, 1180 SAT and 24 ACT for OOS). So it’s a safety assuming you meet those minimum admission standards. With ASU you can self report grades, so you don’t have to wait for a transcript. My senior was admitted within a week of submitting her application. Now she has a username and password for the ASU portal and she uses that to apply to Barrett Honors. The Barrett application requires essays, SAT/ACT and letters of recommendation. It’s also holistic so it as not a safety (although for very high stat applicants it is pretty close to a safety, especially if you’re NMSF).