<p>my D is interested in the honors dorm because she perceives it to be less distraction from studies. She i s very social but wants to choose when to be so. no other reason.</p>
<p>Honors - best? Honors - the most quiet - YES.</p>
<p>Aside from honors dorms, many schools offer interest housing - languages, culture are typical, but you also find ones oriented to community service, etc. These are all worth thinking about. </p>
<p>As for expense, most kids view the variety of housing as a way to keep their own bills a few thousand lower and / or as a way to live more independently. BU, like some schools, has a number of apartments. These cost more than a room but you don’t need a meal plan so the overall cost is less or at least the cost of food and what you eat is your choice. One of my daughters loved having a 2 person apartment where she could cook, her roommate could bake, etc.</p>
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<p>No, economic, geographic and racial diversity are just smokescreens you are putting up to avoid the issue of fairness. Obviously, these are not the issue being discussed. </p>
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<p>Well, since you asked, look no further than across the Fenway to Northeastern University. </p>
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<li><p>While BU is a two-year honors program, NU is a four-year program. </p></li>
<li><p>While BU excludes great students that transfer from another university from getting into its honors program (or even kids during great academically that want to shift from one of BU’s schools to CAS) - NU welcomes transfer students as well as current students to apply (as early as after first term Freshman year). </p></li>
<li><p>While BU sends honors students off to New Hampshire or gives free tickets to the BSO and the Red Sox - NU has none of those- activities are around academics - such as reading a book prior to first term and having discussion groups around that followed by a lecture by the author. The only social activity I’ve heard of is an ice cream social for honors students. </p></li>
<li><p>Rather than ‘marketing speak’ nonsense in BU’s Honors webpage like “As a pathway through the General Education curriculum in CAS, the Honors Program is quite straightforward. Ours is not a college within a college that separates its students from their classmates. Instead, the CAS Honors Program experience is fully integrated into the College’s general freshman and sophomore curriculum.” </p></li>
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<p>Really, I’m sure this is great comfort to know that those NOT going to Fenway Park to watch the Red Sox or NOT going to Symphony Hall, that they are NOT being separated from their classmates … because BU says so. Meanwhile, NU’s webpage merely discusses the positives of the academic opportunities. </p>
<p>UCONN is another that is about academic opportunities. It should also be pointed out that this is not about BU per se, but about schools like BU that have gone too far afield of academics or fairness.</p>
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<p>I’ll use a ski resort as an analogy. I think most would agree that offering different levels of slope difficulty is a positive to a ski resort - providing a benefit to those that have achieved expertise in skiing from their talent and hard work. The same can be said for honors courses. </p>
<p>But what if skiers went into the base lodge for lunch to find that there are two food lines - one free buffet for expert skiers and a pay for everything line for everyone else? If one were to ask they would say that it is a reward for expert skiers having chosen their resort. What would you say? 
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<p>End result would be that that resort would either have to quickly change its policy or be out of business inside a month. The reason is that no one should have a problem that there is a section of the mountain they won’t be using - they will however have a big problem (having paid to be there) that there are social benefits not available to them. </p>
<p>Same thing in college, you pay your money and purely social benefits (not to be confused with honors dorms) should be available for all.</p>
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<p>I’ve been involved in honors education for many years and I have heard this from many prospective students when they visit campus. I ask them if they want to see what an honors student looks like. When they say yes, I tell them to look in the mirror.</p>
<p>In my experience, honors students cover the entire spectrum of students at the university. Are there geeks? Yep! But there are competitive athletes, greeks, student government leaders, hippies, goths, and everything in between. </p>
<p>What they all (or mostly all) have in common is a desire to learn, a desire to make the most of their time at our university (in myriad ways), and a desire to go on and do good things (defined hundreds of different ways) when they leave us.</p>
<p>I encourage your daughter to visit any honors program that interests her and talk with faculty, staff, and, most especially, students. Chances are she’ll have a different opinion of Honors programs/colleges and Honors students when she leaves.</p>
<p>"have no problem with perks for honors kids, whether my kid is in honors or not. you work hard and get good grades, you get more goodies … just like in REAL LIFE! " </p>
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<li>Yep, very true! The earlier they get it, the better for them. I told mine when she was 5. She got it! They are not stupid, just tell them the way it is, that there is much more depend on them than anybody else even considering the hardest of circumstances.</li>
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<p>ctyankee - private universitites are businesses. This is not about “fairness.” And the topic totally hijacks the OPs question. Honors students are the best and the brightest. Schools come up with incentives to lure them to their school. Be it different dorms, special programs and opportunites, scholarships, etc. Honors students raise the bar for the university. The ski resort analogy is absurd. </p>
<p>Mike, when your D, has to make her decision. It probably won’t be the dorms that sways her. If she’s honors level, she will probably get offered some scholarships. It’s very subjective. I suspect her pride will kick in too. Sometimes HS students don’t want to be perceived as “geeks”, but college is a whole new ball game. All of a sudden, it’s very cut-throat as to admissions. University prestiege factors start getting weighed vs. cost benefits etc. She will feel a “pull” toward some schools and be bored by others. Have you taken her on many tours yet?</p>
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<p>Agreed. Strict to your question, it has been answered. I’m sorry for others that didn’t make that mental leap, even after you posted this.</p>
<p>Back on topic and for those wandering in:</p>
<p>As some great schools do not have an honors programs (because they consider all their students high qualified) or may not have honors dorms or may not have honors dorms that are better choices than alternatives - the end result is that the issue of honor dorms is the cart before the horse where all attention should be on finding great candidate schools for your kid … period. </p>
<p>If after finding where a kid has been accepted and the financial factors weighed - for some kids getting merit money, declining an honors program is not an option as it ties to the financial factors already weighed. For students accepted into an honors program not tied to financial considerations, some kids will accept the honors program but decline an honors dorm (if even available) for a host of reasons (including a preference to a special interest floor/dorm). Net, net, picking a dorm merely becomes a factor to be decided on based on the available options after admissions.</p>
<p>Now, the doesn’t diminish the valid thought of trying to promote an honors program for a kid that may enjoy the academic benefits of a program. However, may I suggest that arranging for a conversation with a college kid that took honors classes and found that his or her favorite classes were honors classes and favorite professors were teaching those classes would be more beneficial than any ‘hook’ that may backfire on you.</p>