<p>It may seem like a stupid question, but what's special about getting into an honors college in UO? From what I've read, you have more graduation requirements which requires a whole buttload of additional classes and a "special" tuition(?) that they don't specify (which could cost another fortune, with tuition increasing drastically over the last few years).</p>
<p>What are the merits other than the small, additional (graduation-required) classes, another adviser, and another shiny thing to put on your resume?</p>
<p>Do they offer a community of alumni/professors that open doors to jobs/internships?
Do they offer more financial aid?
Bottom line: what are the benefits?</p>
<p>I am a transfer applicant (99% sure I'll get in, this is my safety school) and I want to really know what I'm applying for and would greatly appreciate an insider's view.</p>
<p>My daughter is in the honors college and I think very highly of it, however, just judging from the slant in your question, and the fact that you’re a transfer student I’m not getting the feeling it would be a good match for you.</p>
<p>Are you transferring in as a sophomore or junior… that would make a difference, too, I think.</p>
<p>The additional tuition is about $3200 per year for a 12-credit course load for the first three years. (It goes down for the fourth year, but since you’re a transfer you probably wouldn’t be there that long.) Once students are in the HC, though, they can apply for scholarships, and need based aid is also available. My daughter had a need-based reduction in the first year’s extra tuition, since then I believe it has all been covered by scholarships that she applied for and received.</p>
<p>The merits are the small classes, the fact that all are taught by full professors and the community of academically motivated students. This is not to say there aren’t many, many outstanding, academically motivated students in the university generally, but CHC is a smaller community within UO and that is valuable to some students.</p>
<p>There is such a huge array of opportunities for every student at UO, it just depends on how focused a student is on finding them and taking advantage of them. You don’t need to be in the honors college for that. The reason to be in the honors college is because you’re drawn to the small seminars, the higher expectations, the interdisciplinary approach, the opportunity to get to know the professors well, and being in a community where you are more well known to each other – possible because of the more human-scale size of it.</p>