<p>I got the letter for the Echols program today, which is great. But, I don't know too much about it. Anyone know how prestigious it is? Is it something worth turning down 1st tier schools for?</p>
<p>Thanks</p>
<p>It's quite an honor, but it doesn't do much. I turned down several top schools to attend UVA, but only partly because of the Echols program. If I had to go back and make the same decision, I would have decided on UVA, but I don't think that being selected to be an Echols Scholar would have been a major factor in that decision. If you have any other questions, feel free to IM me.</p>
<p>Considering the recent change to only allow Echols scholars to register in front of their classmates instead of the entire College, Echols isn't really that useful. It does exempt you out of area requirements, which was helpful for me since I didn't have to finish taking Spanish. The only other useful thing I've gotten out of it was being able to take more than the credit limit with ease, because Dean Wilson is a lot more lax about granting requests to go over the credit limit than the dean for the College. I would base your decision on other factors.</p>