<p>I was accepted into the honors program with a half tuition scholarship. I'm thinking I'm going to end up going to UConn, but what are the benefits of the honors program? I know there are smaller classes and different advisers, but what sets UConn's program apart from others. Also, what is Buckley Hall like? Is it guys one floor, girls another? Is it stricter? Is it nice? Are the rooms nice? Are they all doubles?</p>
<p>Hey Pickles89…
I’ll bump you.</p>
<p>Don’t know why your questions was DOA because it’s an important one.</p>
<p>I’ll give you a parent perspective and hopefully you’ll get some student input as well.</p>
<p>Honors has been great for my son who is a freshman. He loves Buckley because: 1.It’s all he knows but 2. Because he’s found some great friends there. The honors dorm is two towers and a shared cafe. The floors are single sex but they alternate at each level. The rooms are decent but a little tight. Lofted beds make them livable.</p>
<p>I’ve heard that Buckley is a bit more studious but again…nothing to compare it to.</p>
<p>Honors allows you to register for smaller classes and register earlier which is a good perk. You can also live in the Honors dorm in the future.</p>
<p>There are other requirements as far as attending some meetings and you can join the Honors council.</p>
<p>Hope this helps.</p>
<p>Thank you! It is nice to hear about someone who has lived in Buckley, because most people I talk to have lived in Shippee. Does the distance from the rest of the campus bother him?</p>
<p>About Honors: [Honors</a> Student Values Individualized Experiences at UConn UConn Today](<a href=“Honors Student Values Individualized Experiences at UConn - UConn Today”>Honors Student Values Individualized Experiences at UConn - UConn Today)</p>
<p>S does not mind the distance and does not ride busses (as a matter of principle…don’t ask me) so he likes the walks. But the busses run very often and you can even check the website to see the time the next bus is due at the corner in front of Buckley.
[Department</a> of Parking and Transportation Services | UConn](<a href=“http://park.uconn.edu/index.php?module=busroutes]Department”>http://park.uconn.edu/index.php?module=busroutes)
Check the Orange line.
If you are an Art or Music major Buckley is very convenient. And it’s close to South for “fine dining”.
And of course, you need to weigh the advantage of living in a more academic community depending on how you feel about this.
Finally, the reduced tuition is a VERY important factor where money is an issue. Leaving college without a mountain of debt gives you the freedom to live your life with more freedom and enjoyment and perhaps head off to the graduate school of your dreams without worry.</p>
<p>I’m currently living at Buckley, and while I realize the OP is already in college, I thought I would put in my two cents because there are probably googling The Buck to decide whether they want to go here…</p>
<p>I have a blog, called The Buck Sucks, chronicling my experience here in Buckley Hall: thebucksucks.■■■■■■■■■■</p>
<p>However, this isn’t to say I don’t LOVE it at Uconn. I love being here, I love the honors program, I love Buckley for the sense of community it has provided. It really is so much more friendly and interconnected than any of the non-learning community freshman dorms. My blog is more for current students, so we can share our gripes about the building/dining hall/people.</p>
<p>So, my REAL review of Buckley Hall
The Walk: Buckley is pretty darn far away from everything else. You probably want to bring a bicycle if at all possible. It’s a godsend on those days you are running late or you oversleep. The walk to MSB (the Math Science Building) is about 20 minutes, depending on how far you walk. Of course, there are buses that run constantly around campus, but usually if you are running late, buses are not a good option because it is hard to know when they will come and when they will get you to class</p>
<p>The Dining Hall: The food in our dining hall is seldom better than passable- with two exceptions: french fries and desserts. Those are the ONLY things Buckley Dining Hall makes well on a consistent basis. Also, there is Stir Fry Wednesday every other Wednesday, where you can pick your own vegetables, meat, tofu, and sauce, and they will personally stir-fry everything together for you. It is absolutely delicious.
Buckley <em>IS</em> close to South Dining Hall, which, although it may not be universally held as the <em>best</em> dining hall on campus, does have the largest selection. However, when you can just walk downstairs in your flip flops and pajamas and grab a quick bite, it is hard to get fully dressed and walk across campus to South, especially if it is dark/cold/rainy out, which is about 75% of the year.</p>
<p>Environment: There are definitely a lot of people who study CONSTANTLY here, so if you aren’t big on social events, you will find your niche in the South Lounge or North Classroom… there are people studying there until 5 or 6 am on nights when there are exams. However, there still are (what I thought was a surprising number of) kids who go out and party on Thursday, Friday, AND Saturday Nights. Like any college dorm, there is a certain amount of partying that goes on within the dorms. But the RA’s are pretty strict here, more so than on the rest of campus. You can get written up just for talking too loudly, playing music, (my friends were written up for cheering while playing Sporcle, an educational-ish game). If you are into the party scene, Buckley is an awful walk away from the parts of Uconn that are active on the weekends… like an hour+ walk.
And, as other people have said, the floors are same-sex by floor, but they pretty much alternate every floor or every other floor.</p>
<p>Classes: Honors classes do give you smaller numbers and a better environment (for the most part) but you have to know how to pick them. I made the unfortunate mistake of picking incorrectly. So, here is my guide to picking honors classes:
DO NOT TAKE HONORS CHEMISTRY. EVER.
there are approximately 4 exceptions to this rule, but even if you have ECE or AP credit for Chem, think you are good at chem, etc, this class is awful. It is really hard, the teacher is hard to understand, and it is an unbelievable amount for work, and you will definitely struggle to get honors credit (a B-) in the class, let alone get an A
DO take an Honors INTD (First Year Experience) Class
Even if you don’t get a topic you like, it is a great way to meet new people and feel connected, and, of course, get honors credit: By taking it, your Sophomore Honors Credits requirement is dropped from 18 to 16, plus you get 1 honors credit for taking the class.
As a general rule: don’t take any broad subjects that you can major in, unless you are really confident in your abilities in that subject. Especially the sciences. Honors Bio is great because it gives you 5 honors credits per semester, but it also means 7 hours a week of class time. </p>
<p>That is all I can think of for now, but if anyone reading this has further questions, they can send a message to me through my blog (see above) and I’ll answer it! :)</p>
<p>Traxygirl, cool to see a UConn student blogging about it (my condolences on Buckley, but at least you’re close to Subway/Wings Over/Husky Pizza/etc). Regarding this:
Are you talking about Honors Gen Chem? If so, is Seery still teaching it? I thought he was an excellent teacher, and he was one of my favorite teachers at UConn.</p>