<p>I’m interested in AU and I’m wondering if the honors program really is rigorous and affording of opportunities for research and independent study. Could someone who knows please comment on the honors program? Are they very selective of who can be a part of the honors program?</p>
<p>I just did a "Search this Thread’ and typed in honors. I got 200 responses - including this thread.</p>
<p>My son is entered AU in the honors program. At accepted students day, the dean of the Honors program gave the stats of the students they accepted. The average GPA of accepted students was a 3.85 (I think) and the average ACT score was 32.5. (Don’t remember the SAT score)</p>
<p>The students I met that day who were accepted into the honors program all had been also accepted into some great schools. For example, Barnard, Northwestern, Georgetown, William & Mary, were all from our lunch table.</p>
<p>The honors seminars/colliquia are interdisciplinary and very topical, and very interesting. We sat in on a simulated class on how to deal with the Economic crisis which will be taught in Sept. It was very good. </p>
<p>On the flip side, when my son stayed in the honors dorm, one of the students told him that the course work was easy. </p>
<p>The other part of the honors program is the scholarship. If you qualify for it, the Presidents award is $27,000 per year. Most honors students who choose American that I have heard talk say the scholarship played a large role in their decision.</p>
<p>I’m on the Student Honors Board at AU (which is part of the honors office and organizes a good chunk of the honors events for students) so I am very involved with the honors program. </p>
<p>The honors program at AU is, for the most part, whatever you choose to make of it. There are plenty of opportunities, but only a handful of honors students choose to be actively involved in the opportunities that the honors program offers. There are less opportunities, as far as classes go, for students in math, economics, or science. On the other hand, for students in international service or political science, there are an abundance of honors classes offered. For research, however, it is equal.</p>
<p>The honors colloquia are very rigorous and taught by some of the best professors AU has to offer. You can read the descriptions for the colloquia being offered this upcoming fall here: <a href=“http://www1.american.edu/honors/currentstudents/documents/f09_colloquia.pdf[/url]”>http://www1.american.edu/honors/currentstudents/documents/f09_colloquia.pdf</a></p>
<p>As far as research and independent study goes, that area of the honors program has expanded since I was a freshman and continues to grow. When I first came to AU, there were far less opportunities for research. Now, the honors office actually offers undergraduate research grants for the fall, spring AND summer for students interested in pursuing their own research. ([American</a> University Honors Program](<a href=“http://www1.american.edu/honors/grants/grants.html]American”>http://www1.american.edu/honors/grants/grants.html))</p>
<p>The honors program has also just started sending a couple of students per year to the National Collegiate Honors Council conference to present their research at either one of the poster sessions, or at an actual breakout session. </p>
<p>And of course, there is also the capstone. If you are interested in researching, the capstone project best suited for you would be a research paper or project. I know as a political science major, you take honors thesis classes your fall and spring semesters to allow you to work closely with a professor on your capstone project. </p>
<p>Hope that helps!</p>