Honors College Pro's and Con's

<p>So uh I recieved an email from honors college admission and the first words were "Congratulations on your admission" so I got excited, but then realized that they were congratulating me on admittance to UofM and telling me that I should apply to honors college.</p>

<p>Apart from being able to write an essay about cabbage, can anyone tell me some benefits of joining the honors college? I know the courses are harder, but I was wondering if extra scholarships or better housing make it worth the harder courses.</p>

<p>Michigan has an Honors program --- they will not be rewarding you with extra scholarships or better housing. However, it will look better when you apply to grad school four years from now, because it shows that you have tried to challenge yourself in an already challenging environment. But there are no honors courses for Engineering though.</p>

<p>u get kickass honor dorms, I beleive their in south quad.</p>

<p>From a friend who goes to honor college, courses don't necessarily become that much harder, and if you apply to Ross, it will make you look hella better.</p>

<p>ab2013: I think it is pretty obvious that Michigan has an honors program. You DO get better housing. It's the reason most people want to go to honors. There isn't anymore consideration for grad school either. Please only comment if you know what you are talking about.</p>

<p>From a high school level, honors courses are way more difficult - I can't see them becoming easier in college... maybe I'll just take some honors courses... like I heard from some retard in my comp sci class about an honors math class that's supposed to be LEGENDARY. If the only reward is better housing, I guess I'd prefer to be in normal college and have the option of taking some honors courses instead of being forced to take them in honors college.</p>

<p>Perhaps another student could correct me, but I think one of the advantages of honors (besides housing) is prior call on courses in demand, not just "honors" courses.</p>

<p>^
wondering the same thing</p>

<p>krleach:
I think he's referring to Math 295 (Honors Mathematics I). </p>

<p>By the way, who here knows about this course? I've been considering this sequence as well.</p>

<p>I didn't take the Honors math sequence mentioned above, but I would instead recommend the Applied Honors Mathematics sequence rather than calc 1, 2, 3, 4. It actually seems to require less work and has a better curve than the normal math sequence. Stresses applications rather than theory. Thought it was a pretty good sequence. I planned on transferring to engineering after my first semester in the honors program, so it worked out rather well for me.</p>

<p>math 295:</p>

<p>-really hard
-covers the 4 year undergraduate curriculum in 2 years
-homework takes a long time (other hw usually takes me very little time)
-you take graduate courses when you are done (or possibly a few undergrad ones...)
-proofs and theory, not plugging numbers into equations
-if you get an A-, you are kicked out of the sequence
-there are programs like it at harvard, uchicago (i think) and one other university.</p>

<p>you should learn the difference between plural and possessive forms! or maybe it was just a typo..</p>

<p>hey josh thanks for trying to be the grammar police, but the apostrophe is actually ok to use with pros and cons to avoid mispronunciation of pros (for example the plural of do would be do's).</p>

<p>thanks for the information on the honors college everyone else</p>

<p>um, you actually can't do it for pros. especially since you have context, you can't mispronounce this word. you can do it for dos, which is not something i disputed. you're welcome (for trying to be the grammar police). paycheck, please.</p>

<hr>

<p>just so you know, the 3rd place winner in the mmpc a few years ago dropped out of the 295 sequence. don't take it lightly.</p>

<p>So you have to write a separate essay to get into the Honors College once you get accepted into Michigan? Or do they just invite you and you have to say you want to be in it?</p>

<p>And yeah...aren't honors dorms usually better? (bigger?)</p>

<p>Some students do not have to write a separate essay to get into the Honors College, they are just invited along with their acceptance to UM.</p>

<p>Most students do have to write a separate essay to get into the Honors College.</p>

<p>Very rarely, interviews happen in place of essays (like for me), but this is very uncommon.</p>

<p>Honors dorms are better (for example, mine has a sink) and bigger. The honors housing in south quad won't keep you up until 4 in the morning with party noises. In the honors college, they let you schedule earlier, give you more leniency to do weird things with your schedule, and generally give out exceptions to rules more often. You have better advisors who actually know you, and have a bunch of honors events. Then, obviously, it just looks good on your transcript. You have to take an average of 2 honors courses per semester and have to take at least one semester of Great Books. That may sound like a constraint, but Great Books actually satisfies two "core requirements" (you have to take core requirements no matter what your major is) in one class, so it actually saves time. </p>

<p>Honors classes are more work then regular classes, but you are rewarded with a higher grade (if you do the work, and do it well, for example, you'll probably get some kind of an A or B). In math 295, for example, an A- is considered a failing grade (you are kicked out of the sequence), but it's still a 3.7 for your gpa. This is in opposition to my non-honors classes (like econ 102, for example). If everyone gets above a 93, 10% or so have to fail. Finally, honors classes are much smaller. Physics 240 (E&M) has hundreds of students. Physics 260 (honors E&M) has 30 or fewer in the lecture. It is important to note that you don't have to be in the honors college to take honors courses, but you are given preference (if lots of people want to take it).</p>

<p>i think josh is a pretty cool guy. eh has sinks and doesnt afraid of anything</p>

<p>josh - about how many total courses do you have per semester.. just wondering how many non-honors courses I could take if I need two honors courses. also, can non-honors students take honors courses too?</p>

<p>A few things to keep in mind about the Honors college:</p>

<p>1) Honors college is mainly only relevant for your first two years. After that, most likely you won't be living in the dorms, you'll have already made friends with a lot of smart kids, and will mainly be taking upper-level classes in your major. You'll still have access to better advising and some special academic events/lunches/talks, but nothing that important.</p>

<p>2) It's not that big of a deal if you don't meet the requirements/get kicked out (especially after two years, because of what I said above). You only get "Honors" on your degree for doing an Honors concentration, which you can do without being in Honors college (though everybody in Honors college is expected to do that).</p>

<p>3) You're only required to average 2 honors classes a semester for your first two years. So you don't have to force in a certain amount per semester, and they can't really enforce it until the end of sophomore year (at which point, see #1 and #2). Also, it's not mentioned online, but almost any 300+ level class taken as a freshmen and 400+ level class taken as a sophomore counts towards your 2 honors classes per semester (I say almost any because some classes like Stats 350 aren't nearly as advanced as the number might indicate, and I'm not sure if they count or not).</p>

<p>4) Whether or not non-honors students are allowed into honors classes varies greatly. Certain classes like Great Books are exclusively open to honors students. Certain classes like the honors math and physics classes are open to non-honors students if they get permission from the department. Some classes will have the same lecture for everybody, but a specific discussion section reserved for honors students where you'll cover additional material.</p>

<p>Okay, could someone give me more information on Math 295 other than "It is hard"?</p>

<p>I realize that it is a hard class. But will I be able to do well as long as I keep up with the work? Or do I have to be a genius.</p>

<p>No way am I taking applied math for lame engineers (no offence). I want the theory.</p>

<p>
[quote]
In math 295, for example, an A- is considered a failing grade (you are kicked out of the sequence)

[/quote]
</p>

<p>Is this true now? It definitely wasn't true when I took it. There were kids who went all the way to 396 without even getting an A in any of the courses. Given, some of my friends who got B+s in 395 were told to either study hard for 396 or not take it, but they got pretty damn far.</p>