<p>After reading some older threads here, and the impression we received from our visit last summer, many engineering students who are eligible for honors either don't do it or drop out.</p>
<p>This could be due to the non-engr course requirements, or the GPA requirements to stay in the program. It seems that freshman year the GPA is 3.0 and after that it is 3.2, correct me if I am wrong here. I didn't look into the requirements for the merit scholarships, but assume they are in the same ballpark.</p>
<p>At the other schools my daughter is considering, grading is said to be very tough, with many classes having a < 3.0 mean curve. Are class averages published for Delaware engr courses? If not, what is the general sense of a typical curve (assuming they are curved?)</p>
<p>Since the total cost at Delaware would be less than the other schools under consideration, an option would be to take winter session classes to possibly lower the load, or have the ability to bail on a class which isn't going well during one of the semesters without falling behind. Is this a reasonable strategy?</p>
<p>Her major is ChemE but all engr as well as STEM disciplines feel free to chime in, if applicable.</p>
<p>All anecdotes and impressions welcome.</p>
<p>Jackief, my daughter is also accepted into Chem E honors at Delaware and i have many of the same questions that you do. What other schools is your daughter considering? Mine is trying to decide between Del and Nova. The cost for us is going to wind up being the same from what I can figure.</p>
<p>LIParent- I have noticed several other prospective ChemE’s in the last days on this board :)</p>
<p>She has all her decisions in, and although they were all acceptances the ones which are still under consideration are Case (also w/ merit $) and Georgia Tech. See my question in the “ask a student” thread about internship opportunities, as the other schools have formal co-op programs. This is the only honors acceptance she received.</p>
<p>Great topic! My daughter’s in the same boat - Biomedical Enginnering & Honors.</p>
<p>We discussed the concept of the Honors Program last night. My impression is that the high school student who was comforable juggling several AP classes, a bunch of EC’s and generally enjoying their teen years would probably be able to survive the extra requirements of the Honors Program.</p>
<p>But speaking as a ChemE graduate, I won’t try to diminish the effort required to keep on top of the major-specific coursework. If it was easy, the world would be full of ChemE’s.</p>
<p>Outside activities like a part-time job or participating in Greek Life certainly need to be considered. With that said, if my daughter chooses to attend UD, I’d encourage her to give the Honors Program a shot during freshman year and then take it one semester at a time.</p>