Any opinions on the engineering llc? It’s located in East Hall. Do engineering students find it active, well-run and worthwhile? If it has a good reputation, son might opt for that and not bother with the three essays required for admittance for the honors college. Plus we’re not sure what percentage of honors college applicants are even admitted.
One other important question though is how difficult is it to get needed freshman classes if you don’t have honors college priority registration?
Thanks!
If you’re son is thinking about the honor’s program, they likely have a bunch of AP/IB/AICE/DE credits? If so, they likely have enough credits to be selecting classes like a sophomore or higher (that was the case with my daughter). They shouldn’t have any issues getting into classes. However some work maybe required to get the right courses at the right time. In other words, they can get into Physics 1, but they may have to take the 7:45 am class (or whatever the 1st period classes start…). .
@gertyberty I have fairly specific knowledge about the Honors program- it is not an actual college. I also have a bit of info about the engineering LLC. Your son can do BOTH! I highly recommend honors for several reasons:
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Preferential registration for freshman year and sophomore year. You cannot imagine how easy it is to register when you get to go to the head of the line. My kiddo had her classes all picked out and was registered in 2 minutes compared to so many other kids who had to wait and hope for a spot during drop/ add. For this 1 reason alone- tell your kid to try his best to get into honors. It is so worth it!
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The best advisors anywhere on campus ( engineering is second best)- end of story! They are awesome and are very,very helpful. If they do not know an answer, they pick up a phone and find out and make things happen. They also have a facebook group where the kids can ask questions and they usually respond in less than an hour. Seriously.They have a very informative parents facebook group just for honors as well.
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Community. If your son decides to live in Hume ( very, very nice dorm and great location for engineering and physics) they hold so many nice social events for the honors students and even the honors students who do not live in Hume are also included. First semester, daughter attend quite a few and they had a really diverse mix of kids from all areas and representing many majors. They also have a fall and spring community building retreat that is optional.
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Academics. We could not believe how many courses were available in an honors section for my kiddo.Instead of sitting in a huge lecture hall , my kiddo was one of 24 kids in her physics honors class. They had demos in the class section and she really had a blast being able to see the concepts in action.We were so surprised to see how many engineering required courses had an honors section. She took physics, Computer aided design,and two “uncommon reads” one about transistors and the other about computers. These “uncommon reads” were 1 credit classes that met in small sections with top professors. She had an aerospace engineering professor in one class and the head of the honors program, an electrical engineer, in another section. They know her by name and she is not one face among hundreds. Huge plus! If your kiddo is trying to balance a heavy load with a “lighter class” these uncommon reads are perfect for that. My daughter will have all her academic credits completed for the honors designation the end of freshman year. She took more than most do, though. I also highly recommend honors chemistry if your son needs that course. My kid did not ( she AP’ed out of it) but her pre- med roomie did and said it is far better than the general killer Chemistry.
We heard the engineering LLC is a super way to get a true feel for the engineering community and they are definitely a serious minded group with study sessions and group activities. East is very conveniently located for many of the engineering majors. Hume is a much nicer dorm but if he wants to do the LLC, he can live in East and still be in honors with all the benefits that come with it.
Regarding the required freshman classes: my advice is to have your son send in his past AP scores NOW so that UF has them and to have his 2016 scores sent in ASAP before he attends Preview.That way he can register for what he actually needs. They will make you register for Calc 1 if you do not have proof of AP credit so it is just much easier to have all your class credit ready to go and only register once. The last thing your kid wants to deal with is having to drop a bunch of classes he did not need in the first place only to find out he cannot pick up the actual class he needs. Yes, he may end up in a 7:35 a.m. class! I also wanted to point out some advice that others have given and my daughter took: If your son took Calc AB and Calc BC and received scores of 5 in both, he needs to go right into Calc 3 despite the dire warnings from engineering. Also tell your son to check out the UF subreddit. Lots of engineers write in and are very helpful with newbies! https://www.reddit.com/r/ufl
Another reason to join the honors college: Harry Potter class!
My son is considering applying to the honors program, especially after reviewing the benefits, but there was one question that was not addressed. In the smaller honors classes, are there more expectations/demands on the students? He experienced this in his HS honors and AP classes, and he doesn’t want more stress/pressure from his 1st year workload. Thanks! PP
@ProudParent2020 Honor courses are not meant to be harder (like High School), but to go into more depth in a smaller setting (20-25 students). UF has two “types” of honor courses. The first is the honor version of standard classes, like Calculus or Chemistry. The other is unique honor classes, that have a tendency to cover “fun” stuff.
For example, intro Chemistry (I and II) tends to be taught in a large lecture class (up to 700 students), 2 or 3 times a week and then smaller breakout sessions with TA’s (once a week). Here’s the description of the “honors” version of Chemistry.
A Honor’s student doesn’t have to take the honors version of a class, but the smaller size would be tempting (and you to have to earn “points” with honor classes in the program).
Examples of “fun” classes include:
Analytical Writing/Bad Seeds: Juvenile Delinquents, Violent Children, and Rebellious Youth
Analytical Writing/The Politics of Education
Writing in Medicine
(Un)Common Arts: “It’s a Musical!” Broadway Musical Genres
(Un)Common Read: Lean In: Women, Work and the Will to Lead
(Un)Common Read: Martian
Honors Chemistry 2 is grade restricted. You usually cannot get into it unless you had an “A” in General chem. 1. Also additional classes in honors have to do with honors leadership, undergraduate research and honors sections of required classes in areas such as engineering. Something to be aware of regarding honors chem, physics and calc 3- these courses are also open to students in those specific majors- not just honors students.