Hi everyone! I’m about ready to submit several of my EA schools, but some ethical issues have come up.
For several of my schools I’m applying early action/priority deadline to, those including Miami Ohio, UT Austin, and the University of Houston, have their own honors program/honors scholarship program. The ethical dilemma is: should I even consider applying to these honors programs if there’s an extremely low chance I attend that university? I’m looking to go out of state, am currently a Texas resident so UT Austin, despite being a high reach (not top 10%), isn’t exactly an extreme priority for me at this point. For Miami Ohio, and the University of Houston, I have about a 65-70% chance of getting in (I can list my stats if needed).
Where this ethical dilemma plays in, is that I’m applying to 17 colleges like the idiot I am. I’ve already finalized this list, and of all the schools only 3 are in-state, the rest are LACs. Miami Ohio and the University of Houston being classified as high safeties, and low matches, are universities I most likely won’t attend, but are there if everything goes horribly wrong.
So my question is: Should I even consider applying to an Honors program/Honors Program scholarship if there’s an EXTREMELY LOW CHANCE I’d attend? I don’t want to be offered a spot at an honors college/be selected for a scholarship for a university I most likely won’t attend, and take that spot from someone else who genuinely deserves that spot. But at the same time, if everything goes wrong I’d prefer to go to a college where I’m in some sort of honors program.
I hope this sounds coherent, my mind isn’t working at the moment, senior year is starting to get to me. Please let me know what questions you have, I can provide my stats if need be! Thanks y’all!
Yes, if you have the time and energy to apply, and if there is a chance you might attend (even if you think it’s a small chance).
It is up to the university to take yield into account when accepting students to their honors programs. They know that some students will be accepted to these programs and not choose to attend. It is all part of the process. Do not worry that you are taking someone else’s spot.
You never know… in the end, you might even decide that one of these honors programs is a perfect fit for you.
My son originally wanted to go out of state, even out of the country, but he ended up very happily going to school just 15 minutes away from our house
I appreciate that you’re thinking about ethics during the college admissions process , but there isn’t an ethical issue here - any more than applying to the college at all. If you’re interested in the college and being part of the honors program would influence your potential attendance, then absolutely apply. The school’s job is to estimate your likelihood of matriculation (or, more accurately, to estimate the overall yield across all accepted students), and you aren’t “taking away” anything that couldn’t be granted later if they thought it was valuable to do so. Apply away without ethical concerns, and good luck!
I agree that you should consider applying to the Honors program.
Do not worry about taking another person’s spot. They all do waitlists for Honors.
But you never know where you are ending up. D is only applying to 6 schools, and is only applying to honors at 5 of them. The one she’s not is her last choice, and I looked at the honors program itself and was not terribly impressed.
@V3rnor don’t waste your time applying to UT Honors, and honestly I wouldn’t even bother applying at all. If you’re not even Top Ten%, there’s ZERO chance at getting into any UT honors program, and slim-to-none chance getting accepted into UT at all.
We don’t know your stats, other than ‘not Ten%’, so hard to gauge what your chances will be. It is almost November, so at this point I’d just focus on getting all general applications submitted. 17 schools? Whittle that list down and get them submitted.
Not only is it ethically allowed, they want you to. They fully know that things like Honors colleges, programs, and scholarships are often Plan B for their applicants. But if they end up wanting you as a student, then they would love a shot at becoming your Plan A. And if an Honors-something could help seal the deal for them in any plausible scenario, then great.
So if those sorts of things would even potentially interest you, then go ahead and apply. You are just giving them a chance to try to use such tools to woo you in the event you can be wooed, and there is nothing at all wrong with that.
You are applying to multiple (17) universities but will only attend one. Is it unethical you are applying to more than one or two? No.
Is it therefore unethical that you apply to six or eight Honors programs when you’ll only be able to go to, at most, one?
No
Whether you should apply or not is up to you - based on choice, workload, ability to complete, etc.
But an ethical issue this isn’t…
btw - don’t assume that if you get accepted somewhere or get offered a scholarship that you’re pulling it from someone else. and even if you were, it’s not your concern. But this would be more likely an endowed scholarship than a regular one. My daughter was an alternate for one and eventually got it. I don’t know the exact reason but I was talking to a mom on here who had the scholarship and that student chose another school. But they were under no obligation to do so.
Most scholarships aren’t endowed so this wouldn’t come into place…
The other thing I’d tell you - many a kid has an idea of where they are going now - but after visits, etc. their entire perspective changes and many end up at the “safe” schools. You just read @tamagotchi write they switched 180 degrees on schools at the end.
So if you’re taking the time to apply somewhere and you have the bandwidth to get Honors done, then do it!! Of course, look at the actual Honors program - they’re not all the same and some kids apply to some that meet their needs but don’t at others that don’t meet their need. You don’t apply to Honors simply based on that they have Honors.
, but there isn’t an ethical issue here - any more than applying to the college at all. If you’re interested in the college and being part of the honors program would influence your potential attendance, then absolutely apply. The school’s job is to estimate your likelihood of matriculation (or, more accurately, to estimate the overall yield across all accepted students), and you aren’t “taking away” anything that couldn’t be granted later if they thought it was valuable to do so. Apply away without ethical concerns, and good luck!