<p>I got accepted to LSA and I got invited to apply for Honors but I don't really understand what it is. Is it just harder classes? I want to rush so I don't think I'll have time…also I wanted to try and transfer to Ross so does LSA honors only count if you're in LSA for four years?</p>
<p>Thanks! </p>
<p>You can still transfer to Ross. Honors program will also grant you Honors Housing if you really want to live in the main campus. Otherwise, most freshmen will be put in the North campus. Nevertheless, there are other residential programs resided in the main campus too.</p>
<p>LSA Honors gives you access to discussion sections in larger lecture classes that are usually led by the professor (not a graduate student) or smaller than non-Honors sections. You also have certain classes to take your freshman year, and, as billcsho mentioned, you’ll be eligible to live in Honors housing in South Quad if you desire. </p>
<p>Honors also has an upper-level component for students who remain in LSA. You must write a thesis in your senior year (or complete some particular department-determined requirements) and achieve at least a certain grade to graduate with honors, high honors, or highest honors. If you do transfer to Ross, you’ll have different requirements to meet if you want to graduate with any level of honors: <a href=“BBA Academic Honors - Academics at the Michigan Ross School of Business”>http://www2.bus.umich.edu/MyiMpact/academics/bba-academic-honors</a></p>
<p>I would say that if your priority is rushing a fraternity/sorority and not your classes, participating in LSA Honors may not be the best choice.</p>
<p>So we HAVE to take honors classes or is it optional? And are the classes any harder or anything? @Finnlet</p>
<p>If you are in Honors, you have to take some Honors classes. </p>
<p>If you decide to continue in the upper level, you will have additional grad requirements. </p>
<p>Beginning this past Fall, LSA honor students are required to take three “Core Honors” courses during the first two years; these are special classes just for honors students. They also need to take 8 honors courses (including the Core Honors courses so 5 more) in their first two years. But often a “honors” course is simply a special section of the discussion group. For example, my son took biology and had the same lecturer as everyone else, but his discussion section was just honors students. The tests were the same and honors students were in the same grading pool so it was not any harder. There are some non-Core classes that are just honors but often it is just a special section. Big plus of honors is living in South Quad. Also you live with other honors students so most kids on your hall are pretty serious about their studying (not that non-honors students are not but it might be more consistent). Like other posters said, honors is really two programs, one for the first two years, and another the for second two years. There are a lot of special activities for those who choose to do them. It is well worth applying in my view.</p>
<p>I haven’t taken a single honors course since my first semester at Michigan and they’ve never bothered to follow up on it or boot me from the program.</p>
<p>I’m a junior now. Goes to show how much they actually care.</p>
<p>I might be biased but I got nothing out of the program and saw its requirements as limiting my ability to take the classes I actually want/need. Do it for the guaranteed Central Campus housing and then drop it. I have zero regrets.</p>
<p>If you really want to graduate with honors you can just do the thesis and all that that’s already been mentioned. It’s a separate program and you don’t need to be admitted as a freshman in order to do it.</p>
<p>entenduintransit is right about the thesis. I came to Michigan as a sophomore transfer student, so I missed getting into the underclass Honors program, but I graduated with honors because I wrote a thesis in my major. If you choose not to join the Honors program but later want to graduate with honors (assuming you don’t go to Ross), that option is definitely available, as long as you meet your department’s requirements for joining that track. </p>
<p>Like what others have been saying here, it seems like alot of my honors friends do it mainly for the housing (not a bad reason considering squad is probably the nicest dorm on campus)</p>
So basically I can do it freshman year, get on south quad, then drop next year if i get into ross? and it won’t show up on my transcript or anything?
@tedonan yeah basically.
^is this still true? Can a freshman apply and get “honors” for the dorm and not take the courses with no consequences? Particularly if the student is a Ross pre-admit and will be leaving LSA, it seems worth doing just for the better dorm. Can anyone confirm?
My neighbor went to Michigan. Honors is no great shakes. You can also leave the program if you don’t like it. There are many specialized programs at Michigan, check them out too.
(a) One can’t get into Honors Housing (South Quad) as a freshman unless one’s been admitted to LSA Honors Program (or belong to U-M’s special programs such as student-athletes, etc).
(b) One’s required to sign up for a minimum of 2 Honors classes (plus others) during New Student Orientation or else one will get red-flagged (never been in this situation before, but presumably one won’t be able to complete the registration.)
© If one starts struggling in the original Honors class once the semester starts, it’s OK to drop the class, BUT s/he may have to choose another Honors alternative to make up for the min # of Honors classes/semester, unless there’s a valid reason to get an override for this requirement (again, never been in this situation first-hand, so unsure of how strong/compelling the reason must be.)
Some “honors” classes are simply a particular discussion group of a larger class. In others words, my son took biology which was a regular class, but his discussion section was for honors students and he got credit for that. It was the same test so was not harder. There are 3 core honors classes that need to be taken (there are more than 3 to choose from) but one satisfies the writing requirement so really there are only 2 extra that need to be taken in the first two years. This was the first year they had the 4 core honors classes requirement (as well as requirement of average of 2 each semester). My understanding is that “not everyone follows the rules” but my son has.
Hmmm. My son would be leaving LSA for sophomore year, so it would only be freshman year…
I didn’t realize there were 2 required courses each semester. If they are courses, such as writing, that would have to be taken anyway (as core or GE or whatever UM calls them), it might make sense for him to apply?
For us, this is really all about housing. It’s a conundrum. I wish there were an “MLC” for the 110 or so Ross pre-admits. To layer one on top of the commitments they already have seems unnecessary. They’re in a strange neither here nor there zone, and unfortunately it impacts housing.
From this Honors Requirement:
https://www.lsa.umich.edu/honors/currentstudents/academicinformation/honorsrequirements/lowerdivisionhonorsrequirements_ci
it looks like taking the 1-credit Honors Seminars/Workshops may count as well. My son’s never taken those before, hence, no first-hand account on how much workload is involved in those 1-credit Honors courses.
My son seemed to think that the Honors discussion group (e.g.: Biology 171/172) wasn’t as time-consuming as the 4-credit Honors Core (Writing) class; but that’s perhaps the latter’s just not his strong forte, compared to STEM topics.
I don’t know, however, whether an Honors Program student will be allowed to postpone taking their first Honors Core until after freshman year. Like @2135ar, I also think think that “not everyone follows the rules”, but my son has, in general, though he’s about to do something different mainly due to the flexibilities that the Honors Program affords its students.
I have a master’s degree and don’t understand this. Apologies. The 1-unit course may “count” as what as well? And the honors writing course is more time-consuming than non-honors? That would be a negative. My son is a numbers guy. Although in my combing these threads, many students seemed to think the honors writing/english courses were no more challenging.
The original link above (middle section “Honors Courses” >> “Several types of Honors courses…”) shows examples including Honors Seminars & Honors Workshop.
The 1-unit Honors 135 used to be called Honors Seminar, though recently, it’s been referred to as Honors Minicourse. In any case, when writing my post #16, I thought Honors 135 could be used to satisfy Honors Courses since it’s sponsored by the Honors Program. However, now I have some doubt based on what I just found out from googling up for “UMich Honors 135”:
https://www.lsa.umich.edu/vgn-ext-templating/v/index.jsp?vgnextoid=4af7960c00570310VgnVCM10000055b1d38dRCRD&vgnextchannel=6dc8363f39070310VgnVCM10000055b1d38dRCRD&vgnextfmt=detail
My son found his Honors Core Writing much more time-consuming when compared with Honors Biology (though only the Discussion part of the Biology was considered “Honors”). He’s also taking another upper-level non-honors Writing course this semester, and finds it to be less time-consuming, albeit just as interesting in different ways. I’d like to think that his writing skills have been greatly honed in his 1st semester Honors Core Writing 
Anyway, I’m not saying that Honors Writing/English courses are more challenging than the Non-Honors version (though they probably are, in general). The above is just my son’s experience, but I’m sure it’s not reflective of everyone else’s.