<p>Well, I don’t think they’re a replacement for going to a school built on those things to begin with. It’s not so much that I frown on them per se. The academic climate of a school is determined by its overall student body, and there’s no way to isolate a small group and duplicate that. (Even if there were, would you want to have a “magnet” program that isolated you in the middle of a large campus like that?)</p>
<p>Plus, the most critical components of premedical advising are a single centralized bureau and a long track record of accuracy. Distributing your advisors throughout an isolated honors program completely undermines the point.</p>