<p>So I had no idea UVa had an honors program aside from the Jefferson Scholarship. I'm currently browsing the website and planning on going to Scholars Day, but it would be great to have an Echols/Rodman scholar explain to us the benefits of the program! The website says the main benefits are:</p>
<p>[ul][<em>] Freedom from the usual area requirements in the College
[</em>] Priority registration times in selecting courses
[<em>] Access to the Echols Interdisciplinary Major
[</em>] A shared first year living experience
[<em>] A select cadre of faculty advisers
[</em>] Participation in the Echols news and information electronic network[/ul]</p>
<p>I would love to know other perks of being a scholar.</p>
<p>I think those are really the main/best benefits. Priority registration and being exempt from area requirements is an amazing thing, especially in your first couple of years and/or if you go into a popular major with classes that are difficult to get into.</p>
<p>I really want(ed) to be an echol’s scholar but I guess I didn’t have the scores. congrats to everyone who was offered to be an echol’s scholar, that is really an awesome honor</p>
<p>Try not to feel to bad about it. Last year I got a likely letter but no Echols, while another kid from my HS with lower test scores and GPA and no likely letter did end up getting Echols. I don’t think it’s exactly a scientific process.</p>
<p>Now I’m actually glad I didn’t get Echols, or I wouldn’t have gotten to live in old dorms, which I love! And you can apply for Echols after your first semester anyway if you’d like.</p>
<p>lullinatalk, that’s a pretty good summary of the benefits of the Echols program. Here is the web site, for anyone interested: [Echols</a> — Echols Scholars Program, Arts & Sciences, U.Va.](<a href=“http://artsandsciences.virginia.edu/echols/]Echols”>http://artsandsciences.virginia.edu/echols/)
Echols Council also offers several other programs for Echols kids – “Fireside Chats” with professors, occasional trips to things like hikes and apple picking, etc.</p>
<p>The Rodman program is a little different. Like Echols, it represents the top 5%, but because the engineering school is smaller, it’s a much smaller program. Also, because the e-school curriculum is more rigorous/difficult to change due to accreditation, some of the Echols benefits (exemption from requirements, opportunity to design your own major) don’t apply. A lot of the benefits from the Rodman program come from programs that Rodman Council runs. The web site ([U.Va</a>. Engineering Rodman Scholars Program](<a href=“http://www.seas.virginia.edu/students/rodmans/]U.Va”>http://www.seas.virginia.edu/students/rodmans/)) doesn’t go into much detail, so I’ll summarize things here.
Benefits shared with Echols: priority registration over the rest of your class (meaning as a first year you register after second years, but before all other first years), shared first-year living experience (I really enjoyed this)
You get assigned an upper-class Rodman to be your student advisor (super useful)
Shared first-year classes – all the first-year Rodmans take a set of Rodman-only classes together. Which ones specifically seems to be changing year-to-year, but for me it was Intro to Engineering (taught by the program director), Physics, and STS (writing/englishy class)
Rodman Seminars – Rodman-only pass/fail one-credit seminars. These can be technical or not, and you have to take at least four before you graduate. Rodman Council basically chooses what to run, picks professors, and pays them directly out of our budget. This semester we’re offering a class on home energy auditing, a class about dangerous things in the universe, a lecture series (guest speakers each week) about natural disasters, and a discussion-based class on mindfulness and meditation.
Summer study abroad program – Volkswagon has sponsored a study-abroad program to Braunschweig, Germany that will happen at least for the next four summers. It’s essentially a Rodman-only class focusing on a central design challenge that VW provides, alongside technical and cultural site visits.
Smaller one-off events – going apple picking, field trips to interesting things (like the national radio observatory in West Virginia), trips to the beach, capture the flag games, “pitch night”, etc</p>
<p>Both the Echols and Rodman programs accept applications during the first year for current students. The process for choosing the scholars definitely isn’t a scientific one, like skipblue said, so if you weren’t offered a spot in the program I would highly recommend applying during first year.</p>
<p>Feel free to ask in this thread or PM me if you have any other questions about either program! (I started off as Echols but transferred to the engineering school)</p>
<p>Is the first-year application also applicable to the College Science Scholars program? I am interested in that, but was not offered a spot, so is there any other way to get in?</p>
<p>Rodmans have been selected. The admissions process is different for the two programs, as are their size limitations, so you don’t transfer between them automatically, you’d have an interview with Professor Elzey. That said, most people trying to transfer wouldn’t have any problems.</p>
<p>So if I’m an incoming Rodman scholar, and I decided I wanted to transfer into the college, I would automatically become an Echols scholar? Is that a hassle, or is it pretty easy to figure out?</p>
And you can apply for Echols after your first semester anyway if you’d like.</p>