Hello, I am a prospective member of the class of 2022 and I am considering either the honors college or the FYRE learning community. I have read that the honors coursework is quite rigorous, but my counselor advised me that this was the better option. However, the FYRE community intrigues me more since I plan on majoring in biochemistry and would love the research experience. Can any current students speak on either program???
Hi! Current Honors freshman here. You can actually do both programs, you’ll just be living with the honors kids instead of living in the FYRE learning community. The Honors Program is incredibly challenging- there is a copious amount of reading and you are expected to have a pretty good grasp on each text for the exams and essays. If you are not at all humanities inclined, it may be even more difficult. However, it knocks out a bunch of your core classes, so you do not have to worry about fulfilling those requirements. I personally have learned the most from the Honors program-
my professor is wonderful and helped monumentally improve my writing and critical thinking skills.
In terms of research, there are opportunities available if you do not want to do FYRE. I got a position in a psychology lab during 1st semester of freshman year by finding a lab I was interested in and reaching out to the professor. However, FYRE is nice because everything will already be established for you- you just jump right in over the summer. Hope that helps. If you would like any more specific information, please feel free to message me.
Thank you so much!