<p>I have seen that so many colleges have honors programs, some schools like UT-San Antonio have Honors colleges. </p>
<p>In the grand scheme of things does it really matter?</p>
<p>Well yes..... and no. </p>
<p>Attending an honors college usually means that you get certain extra "perks" that you wouldn't get had you not. This can include early registration for your classes and smaller, more intensive classes. However, what it also means is that you can more easily build relationships with professors and get more opportunities to conduct research, find internships, etc. etc. That being said, I don't think that graduating from an honors college exactly has the same prestige as graduating from Harvard; however, it can definitely make a college experience and help add to your resume if you do decide to attend a state university. Whether an employer would prefer you to a Harvard grad, who knows there, but attending an honors college is a lot of times preferred over not.</p>
<p>They're usually really great options. You get many of the perks of large state university, such as in-state price and school spirit and lots of courses and social events to pick from, but with, usually, a more tight-knit community and, as atrophic mentioned, better relationships with your professors.</p>
<p>How important are professor relationships and finding internships especially if you are majoring in business?</p>
<p>Internships are how you build your resume and get your first job in business. So incredibly important.</p>
<p>At many schools the honors program has become what the regular undergrad use to be, smaller classes w/ motivated students. Unfortunately even these programs have increased in size and it seems everyone is in honors and the small class sizes are larger and the student quality has fallen.</p>
<p>Yes, no, and maybe. To evaluate how meaningful any university's honors college is, I'd recommend two things:</p>
<p>1) Read up on exactly what each honors program includes - honors dorms? special seminars? a few special honors classes, or quite a number of them? more contact with full profs, and/or profs of special expertise and renown? special advising? special aid packages? In addition to the benefits, find out what is required of participants. E.g., there may be a requirement to enroll in at least one special class per semester, etc.</p>
<p>2) If you can, talk to some participants (or recent past participants) in the honors program of interest. Sometimes, these things sound great in the brochure but are a joke when it comes to execution. Others really ARE good.</p>
<p>From a CC standpoint, try posting in the forum for that university to get some feedback on the honors program.</p>
<p>Roger is exactly right. For example, Alabama-Tusc. for honor students has new dorms, exclusive sections for courses, but you are required to take X # of honor classes w/ the biggest gripe being the fact that these classes which use to be capped at 20-25 students now often enroll 50 or more. W/ the honors program expanding so much it has become less of an honor to be in honors.</p>
<p>I think honors college only really matters if you are planning to go to med school, law school or something like that. If so Honors college could really help you out b/c they are very competitive.</p>
<p>One problem is that med and law schools are more concerned w/ GPA than if a student was in honors, meaning that w/ honors one's GPA might be lower b/c of the smarter and more driven students Hence, the student who got a B in Honor's Chem might have been able to garner an A in regular student chemistry.</p>
<p>My impression is that the Honors College program at such as Michigan State Univeristy and Washington State University offer a lot. The Life Sciences Honors College at MSU, which includes a distinct dormitory (and MSU is a very stong school in any case) is highly thought of. The WSU program offers numerous perks also, which can be important at a large campus.</p>