Class of 2024: Honors Discussion

Colleges and Universities A-Z University of Michigan
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Hi Class of 2024! I thought it would start a thread to discuss honors programs at Michigan, as there seems to be a lot of interest. Feel free to ask additional questions here and discuss your applications, etc.

Some clarifying points:

There are several programs at Michigan that can bring you an “honors” designation of some kind:

LSA Honors Program: This is what many of you newly admitted folks are probably hearing from and about. This program as a lower division program with an optional residential component in South Quad, and an upper-division program that is administrated through your major’s department. You can apply to the lower-division program as a new admit, or you can transfer into the lower division program before your sophomore year. You can transfer into the upper-division program whenever, so long as you are willing to complete the requirements they have. You being admitted to the lower-division program, does NOT mean admission to upper division program. The upper division program has a college GPA requirement with a research thesis or Honors Individualized Major Program equivalent. In order to graduate with an Honors Major, you DO NOT need to have been in the lower division Honors Program. Also, being in the lower division Honors Program itself is NOT enough to graduate from the Honors Major. Benefits of the lower division Honors Program can be found on their website - it includes nice living amenities, advising, and special classes.

Engineering Honors: You apply to this program after at least two full-time semesters at Michigan. They have their own requirements and benefits that can be found on their website.

Honors Course Sequences: At least one department, mathematics, has an “honors” course sequence that you can follow without needing to be in any honors program.

University Honors: This is awarded on a term-by-term basis to students getting a 3.5 term GPA or higher.

Distinction (equivalent to graduating “Latin” honors at other Universities): This is attached to your diploma, and the current requirements are:

Highest Distinction (known as “summa cum laude” at other places): 3.957 – 4.000
High Distinction (known as “magna cum laude” at other places): 3.865 – 3.956
Distinction (known as “cum laude” at other places): 3.722 – 3.864

Honors Societies: There are several of these with their own requirements. Phi Beta Kappa is probably the most recognizable one. There is also HKN for EECS students and Tau Beta Pi for engineering students - there are others as well.

Hope that helps clarify things!!! Discuss your applications, concerns, and questions here!

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Are there any past live-in LSA students that could describe the atmosphere in the honors area of south quad? Are people generally fun and outgoing, or are they more quiet and dorky (in comparison the the average umich student)?

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I know Penn State’s Schreyer Honors College guarantees $5000 a year scholarship. Does LSA honors give any scholarship?

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@saltypretzel

It is my understanding that there is no guaranteed scholarship for admission into the Honors program.

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Here is a text conversation I just had with my friend that is a current Econ major at LSA. Lol enjoy.

Me:
did u apply to lsa honors

Isabella:
no don’t do it

Me:
why
is it just smaller class sizes

Isabella:
kids think it’s dumb

Me:
does it come w any scholarships

Isabella:
no they don’t give you money

Me:
is it just smaller more advanced classes

Isabella:
im not in honors and my calc english and women’s studies class had less than 20
kids in it. econ was the only lecture with 500 kids, then my discussion had 30 kids in it

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Honors students do get their own floor in South Quad (most of the freshman athletes are there too) and their own lounge. Plus priority registration. I’m not sure the classes are that much more difficult other having to do a little more extra work.

OTOH, there’s a good shot you’ll get Central Campus or The Hill for a dorm anyway, registration hasn’t been an issue and the classes are already difficult enough and do a boatload of work. Also, you will probably have a lot of the same classes with non-honors students, since there seems to be only a few honors-only classes offered depending on the major.

From what my kid has told me, honors at UMich isn’t “a thing” as it is at true “honors colleges.”

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@sushiritto

I think your chances for Central Campus become stunted if you are not applying for any living learning community, theme program, or special program (like the RC) on Central and you are not an athlete. Lloyd Hall Scholars take up a good amount of Alice Lloyd, MRC and WISE RP take up the vast majority of MoJo, HSSP takes up a good amount of Couzens, RC takes up a good amount of East Quad (which also has the Entrepreneurship themed community, GILC, and maybe others), MCSP takes up a good amount of West Quad, Honors takes up a good amount of South Quad, and athletes take up a good amount of South Quad and West Quad.

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My son got lucky then. Was in West Quad. Saw some football players in the elevators. When I asked him about applying to honors he looked at me like I was crazy. Saying… “engineering is hard enough”. Lol…

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@yikesyikesyikes I agree, but the question is how many spots are stunted in Central and The Hill by MLC’s, honors, athletes, etc.

So my kid and the pack she runs with along with all her roommates, both freshman and sophomore years this year, have been non-honors students placed in Central Campus dorms freshman year, except for two. Those two were placed in Markley. Of course, they hated it.

I actually found an old post of mine back on 3/24/19. There’s also Fletcher and Oxford dorms too.

http://talk.qa.collegeconfidential.com/discussion/comment/22113658#Comment_22113658

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@sushiritto

Right, out of the 63% who live on Central, a very high amount of them are linked to a residential program of some kind.

I do not have total numbers, but based on what I have seen from the large amount of time I have spent in University Housing work, I would ballpark estimate perhaps 40-60% of eligible freshman housing on Central Campus goes towards people tied to a residential program or special housing needs (like women only or Gender-Inclusive Living): whether it is the RC, a living-learning community, a theme community, Martha Cook, Barbour and Newberry, Honors, GILC, religious needs (some people need easy access to their place of worship in or around the Central Campus area), being an athlete, or other special circumstances.

If you really want/need Central Campus, apply for one of these programs or special housing requests (so long as you are willing to do what the programs ask of you). It is also worthwhile to note that the two Central Campus dorms that are primarily first-year students and NOT heavily tied to any special programs s besides the First Year Experience, are Oxford and Markley (maybe Fletcher as well - not sure if they are primarily first-year or sophomores right now) - which are objectively among the worst in terms of amenities/comforts. However, they have some cool stereotypical college social scenes, if that is what you are into.

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FYI, just a heads up for those thinking of doing Honors.
My daughter (UM ‘18) was admitted LSA Honors Bio/Pre-Med in 2015. She enjoyed the program. After a 6 months, she realized that in order to put the time into a thesis, she would not be able to go abroad for a semester. So she dropped Honors & went to London winter jr. year instead.
1 yr Honors, BS Bio/pre-med, 3.89 MCL, PBK 12/18 grad.

P.S. Sad, bc she was literally the “poster child” for LSA Honors for a couple of years, as they used a photo of her by the Coliseum in Rome on the home page.

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Current UM LSA honors sophomore here. I lived in South Quad my freshman year and had a great experience. Many of my current friends are honors students who also lived in South, and I’d consider all of us to be outgoing, social people who also happen to be very serious students– the two aren’t mutually exclusive here. There are definitely pretty reserved students in honors, but there are also plenty of honors people who are really involved in Greek life, and a bunch of people in between. If you’d rather play board games or watch movies on a Saturday night, there’s people here for that, but if you’re worried that you won’t find anyone to go out with, don’t be. One thing, though: in my experience, if you’re doing honors housing, do your best to find an honors roommate who matches your vibe on Facebook ahead of time. I found my roommate this way, and we are still great friends. On the other hand, I’ve seen some terribly incompatible random match-ups between people who are both very smart, but happen to be at opposite sides of the social spectrum. The contrast can be amplified in honors.

In terms of the program itself, the core classes are cool to take if you have room in your schedule, and honors discussion sections operate at a faster pace, which is nice. Central campus housing is a major perk, no doubt about it, but I think that honors advising is actually one of the best parts of the program, too. There are designated honors advisors who are super helpful and personable– I see mine a few times a year and she knows my name, degree plan, and goals for the future backwards and forwards. You can definitely be successful here in and out of the honors program, but honors has definitely been worth it for me.

2 Likes
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Hi everyone, I hope to ask if LSA Honors’ selection committee can see my preferred admission application to Ross. I’m wondering if I could reuse one of my essays in Ross Portfolio to write my Honors essay.

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Do all accepted students get invited to apply to LSA honors? Or is there a pre-selection?

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My daughter got her invite soon after her acceptance. But, it does say on the website that everyone is invited to apply. They put heavy weight on the essay. It’s actually a pretty unique prompt. The nature and importance of truth in todays society…paraphrasing.

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I’m not sure if everyone gets an invite, but anyone can apply.
You can always apply as a sophomore too.

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When are applicants for LSA Honors notified? Is it all at once or might students who applied for Honors in early action hear something sooner?

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So apparently LSA honors (at least some) decisions are out.

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My daughter got her acceptance yesterday.

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Still waiting and they were due by midnight last night.