<p>With college applications coming up soon I was wondering if it was worth applying to a school's honors program or should I wait and apply my sophomore year of college? Also, do honors programs really help in finding a job after graduation?</p>
<p>If you’re planning on applying later anyway, it wouldn’t hurt to apply now. I don’t think many honors programs would directly factor into employment prospects, but it could lead to other opportunities, such as internship/research opportunities, closer relationships with professors, more individualized attention, etc.</p>
<p>They help in getting into graduate programs; in fact, they’re all but required at some schools. I’d try to take it from the very start, if you can handle it, as classes build on one another, and it’s better to get that extra prep for later courses from the beginning.</p>
<p>Well a lot of Freshmen Honors apps use standardized test scores as qualifiers so if you don’t meet those then you can apply your 2nd semester or Sophomore year. If you do meet the qualifications, I would go ahead and apply because sometimes you can become eligible for more scholarships and perks in general. All of this depends on which school you’re applying to though. </p>
<p>And I hear being in the Honors Program alone really didn’t impress employers that much. You have to take advantage of all that the program and university offers. Employers really value internships and work experience. Being in honors can help you get there, but that little sticker or side note won’t automatically boost your appeal to employers.</p>
<p>Depending on the school, being accepted into the honors program *may<a href=“1”>/i</a> get you merit money, (2) allow you to skip some general distribution requirements, (3) put you into small seminars with more interesting or intelligent classmates, (4) make you eligible for special or themed housing, (5) give you priority registration, (6) open some doors for research on campus, (7) give you another resume line that may or may not help for job hunting, (8) give you a boost for grad school admissions.</p>
<p>Usually, you have to take x number of Honors classes to complete the program. And you only have access to them by being in Honors. So it’s best to get in as soon as you can.</p>
<p>Depending upon the school -some don’t let you apply for honors they just pick honors students from the application pool without any extra forms etc.</p>
<p>Honors programs are almost completely designed to help with graduate school admissions. If you want to get a Master’s or PhD, it helps a LOT to have that guaranteed research opportunity. Otherwise: It’s just unnecessary work.</p>
<p>However, sometimes you may get lucky. Let me give you some examples.
- At my school, Honors Speech was much easier than the regular class.
- We had an Honors housing floor 1st year, which was AWESOME.
- We get a special room for studying and FREE PRINTING to 1 million pages
- Priority registration</p>
<p>Just ask yourself if those small gigs are worth the extra work. But if you want to go to Grad School, I would say Absolutely.</p>
<p>I would say in general to absolutely go for Honors. However look at your colleges to see what it involves. It may not make as much difference at some schools, but I think it’s key to getting a more personal education at some large universities. At D’s large school all honors students get some kind of scholarship, many that reduce or waiver OOS tuition. There is also priority registration and additional advisement; new honors dorm/priority housing; addition support for internships, scholarship and fellowships; plus smaller classes and guaranteed admission into some majors with upper level admission standards. </p>
<p>It also depends on kind of learning environment you like. Some find the discussion based classes that you often see in honors easier and more interesting than regular lecture classes.</p>
<p>Do some homework on your schools and be sure and note application deadlines. At D’s school the deadline is the same as EA deadline (even though you don’t have to be EA).</p>
<p>Guaranteed research is nice, but there are many schools where it’s incredibly easy to start researching as a freshman regardless of honors designation. Priority registration is also great, but if a student comes in with a sufficient number of credits, it’s often not necessary.</p>
<p>The greatest benefits of a well developed honors program IMO, come from smaller, more rigorous intro classes (I cannot stress enough how important they are), and a predesignated community of “scholars”. Maybe the priority registration, but that’s only if a student doesn’t come in with a great deal of credits. IME, most students at a relatively selective school’s honors program come in as sophomores or above in terms of credit.</p>
<p>However there are some very poor honors programs, so it’s important to research the perks of the honors college before applying to the school. I’ve compared my course work at a regular LAC to a friend’s at a CC “approved” honors program and it seemed that my coursework was more rigorous. She agreed with the statement.</p>
<p>Honors colleges can be a great choice for those attending a larger school. Honors colleges offer valuable perks and let you meet some of the top students at your college. However they are often oversold with glossy pamphlets implying a small LAC has been set up inside the larger university giving ann elite private education at the public school price. On this forum you’ll read posters who also say/imply that.</p>
<p>Depending on the program offerings may range from separate honors classes to taking just one honors seminar per semester. And some of the “honors” offerings may just be a special discussion section of the regular class (at many U’s you meet 2-3x a week in a large class with the prof, then everyone meets weekly in a discussion section with a TA). You really need to dig in to find what a particular school offers.</p>
<p>Keep in mind honors programs typically offer the small classes and hand-picked profs only the 1st two years of college. They can do this because doesn’t take that many classes to come up with a set that will meet the lower-division requirements for most majors. It is rare to find more than a token amount of upper-division classes since the honors program simply doesn’t have enough faculty members to create entire major(s). So the last two years most/all classes are taken with the rest of the students in the regular U’s classes. The teaching of the profs will be geared towards the normal U level, the discussions and student involvement in class will be dominated by the regular students, and so on. Class sizes may balloon, too, if you’re in a popular major.</p>
<p>Peer effects are big, too; when almost everyone around you at school is a strong student you have lots of good student to emulate in class or outside it such as doing research or internships. If the top kids are a few hundred strong dispersed among tens of thousands at the U then strong examples may be harder to see. When it comes to finding a job, employers are less likely to send recruiters to a campus with a limited number of honors seniors when they can get a campus-full at more highly regarded schools.</p>
<p>Honors colleges do offer some valuable perks, in addition to the classes. Typical ones include registering for classes before everyone else so you get the classes you want (a perk worth its weight in gold!), special counselors, guaranteed housing, special library privileges. They will mark your diploma with special recognition. But I would be dubious about attending a college for its honors program in place of a more highly regarded U if finances are not an issue.</p>
<p>You ask about applying now versus after a year in college. I can’t think of any reason to delay if that’s the route you are going! A large part of the benefit is making the school seem smaller and more intimate, plus personal attention. Perhaps most important frosh year when its easy to be lost in the crowd, bewildered by all the activity.</p>
<p>I just completed my freshman year of being in the honors program at Ohio State, and it was one of the best decisions that I’ve ever made. The instructors have been great and some of them know me by my name. I’ve also met some of my best friends through the honors program, which I accredit both personal experience and the program itself. Honors classes really do make the university feel a lot smaller than it really is.</p>