<p>I'm not in the honors program, but I heard it wasn't like the honors they had in high school where all the "smarter" people were in. I just heard the classes were smaller, less instruction, etc... So what is the point of them and do they improve grad school apps?</p>
<p>Short answer, no.</p>
<p>Only fools take honors classes in college. Jk. IMO, they don’t add much value unless youre in an honors *program <a href=“that%20may%20require%20honors%20classes”>/I</a>, and that’s because honors programs usually require you to do some sort of extra project w/ a professor for each class. That could potentially look good.</p>
<p>What sort of honors courses are we talking about? Honors general education classes - no, grad schools won’t care. Departmental honors programs that will give you access to more demanding upper-level coursework in your major? Grad schools might consider that.</p>
<p>It depends on the school and the rigor of the honors program. Some schools (especially big universities) have honors programs that are basically liberal arts colleges inside of universities, and those might look good on your application especially if they are well-known honors colleges. Some schools’ honors programs are basically classes that anyone can take, and they just have certain extra requirements. In that case, the fact that you were in the honors program may be of note, but not being in it won’t hurt you.</p>
<p>Also, I agree with b@r!um in that doing departmental honors usually helps. At my undergrad, departmental honors included a rigorous two-semesters honors seminar in the field and a written honors thesis. However, you could write the honors thesis even if you weren’t in departmental honors (although people who weren’t in D-honors usually didn’t bother).</p>
<p>Depends. I did an honors thesis on my undergraduate research which is required as a part of the honors program and that will certainly help. It depends on what your program has to offer, really.</p>