Honors college offers a better education, slightly more rigorous, better living arrangement and location, and usually better study facilities along with a degree that indicates that your time at that University were at that level of rigor. The best benefit of all is the fact that you usually get a better financial deal and institutional grant to help with your tuition. The payoff on your end is having to maintain a certain gpa at the end of each semester in order to maintain your qualification in the honors college.
My question is, why doesn’t everyone apply to the honors college for everyone of their choices? My son applied to the honors college for NJIT which is called the Albert Dorman Honors College and although they have not reponded yet, we already got an acceptance to the regular enrollment of NJIT. In a few more weeks we are expecting the rejection or acceptance letter to ADHC. I don’t know if every college works the same way, if you don’t get into their honors college do you automatically get pushed into the regular enrollment pile?
If so, why doesn’t everyone just apply Honors College and then relax that they’ll be pushed to regular enrollment if the HC didn’t work out? Is it perhaps that not all Universities works that way? Perhaps with some universities if you don’t make HC then you are denied ALL entry?
Many schools require separate applications with additional essays for honors programs, and some dont want to do that. Also, some students are already in rigorous programs (eg engineering) and additional requirements, honors theses, etc may be undesirable.
@reformedman In the case of NJIT, they publish minimum requirements (GPA and test scores) to be considered for Dorman Honors College. My guess is that most students applying to NJIT that are near or above the ADHC minimums apply for the Honors College as well, probably mostly for the possibility of additional scholarship money. None of the schools where my DD is applying are an “honors or bust” approach to applying, so I think most schools you are considered for Honors College independently of the general admission decision.
I think Honors Colleges fall into a few camps. I think the best programs (the ones students are most interested in applying for) are ones that offer additional scholarships, special housing, early class registration, and special honors sections of common class requirements. The list goes on with more unusual benefits at some schools. Macaulay Honors of the CUNY schools offers incoming freshman new laptops, for example. Some offer a research or study-abroad stipend.