<p>Hey why do you guys apply to honors colleges? Is it not just too much extra work, and a gpa burden? Not to mention the ridiculous amount of essays! My environmental science class had a huge debate with the consensus that it would not be worthwhile....So CC'rs argue as well as you can against our class consensus. I dare you.</p>
<p>Oh come on, don’t be chicken =)</p>
<p>Well if you actually enjoy learning and want to get the most out of college then the choice would seem obvious…</p>
<p>Otherwise, yeah I would agree it’s stupid</p>
<p>Hmm, well I tried to take ridiculous classes because I enjoyed learning. Then my gpa dropped.</p>
<p>I don’t want to make the same mistake, and have adapted my mindset in response as well. The idea of taking honors college now bewildered me. So thank you for your insight!</p>
<p>Although I have to ask, isn’t the essay and reading load murderous? ok maybe not murderous, but well to a point you might regret taking it? :)</p>
<p>There are SO many reasons. Depends on your goals in life. If a degree is all you want ("D"s make doctors), then why bother with extra effort?</p>
<p>BUT…if you are a high achiever, here are some of the things it can offer you:</p>
<p>I once pulled my D back from a 2 year advanced math class…that put her ONLY on track with the normal “advanced” kids. She’s now not able to take advantage of many offers THEY are getting, because of that. She was capable of this math class, but I hated to see her work that hard, I HATED myself for it.</p>
<p>She also got an erroneous grade of C in 6th grade English. We met with the teacher and principal - principal said to get rid of it because it was wrong. Teacher said she did. Guidance told us she did. But, we didn’t find out until the summer that she didn’t fix it. Prevented my daughter from being eligible for taking foreign language in the 7th grade…which put her a year behind a lot of kids, she didn’t get as many years of the language, which is a BIG requirement for top schools, no credit for her 8th grade class then (which was a 9th grade honors course).</p>
<p>So these are reasons why getting on the honors track can take you places you might not have realized.</p>
<p>In college specifically-</p>
<p>My D has already been offered admittance to the honors college at our state U. We hope she’ll be eligible at one of her other schools too. So I can tell you their benefits:</p>
<p>(I know I’m doing your homework for you, aren’t I…now you’re going to argue THIS side in your classroom)</p>
<p>Your college actually WANTS you there (my D has ALREADY received a cute neck scarf even though she hasn’t even accepted their offer).</p>
<p>You receive special counseling from senior counselors to help plan your schedule…this can be a huge thing in a big school with hundreds of class options, especially if you’re “creating your own major”.</p>
<p>You often receive perks such as first choice housing, or guaranteed class availability.</p>
<p>You are invited to attend lectures from visiting dignitaries. Depending on the college, these can be Nobel prize winners, politicians, celebs…people you really admire and want to meet.</p>
<p>There is often a scholarship involved to top tier honors kids. This reason ALONE should be enough. Even if you can afford full fare. How nice to have EARNED your way through school!</p>
<p>If you don’t START in the honors college in the beginning, it’s harder to get on board.</p>
<p>When it’s time to award prizes/money for grad school or …?..the honors college is where the school is going to be looking for their recipients.</p>
<p>Other specific perks…I know that one of my daughter’s school choices offers trips at very little cost to honors college participants. YOu travel as a group and do charity work and/or discover historical sights, etc. At this school, one domestic and one international. And they’re practically free.</p>
<p>You’re frequently offered MUCH smaller classes. You can actually LEARN and discuss instead of JUST being “lectured AT”. </p>
<p>You often get professors in these classes that are department heads, etc. Not as many grad students teaching you.</p>
<p>If you do go to grad school, you have Honors College on your transcript. That’s a HUGE plus. </p>
<p>If you’re eligible for Honors College, one assumes a certain intellectual level. You might find honors classes much more stimulating, being surrounded by those of the same level. My D took one required class in summer school. Forget what it was, Econ maybe. They didn’t offer AP in the summer, so it was just a “regular” class. Well…guess who takes summer school econ…the 2.0 GPA jocks. She said it was a horrible joke. Deviant behaviour. You were unable to learn anything. Show up and get an A, yeah. But…at what cost? Education.</p>
<p>Lastly, some school require only ONE honors course, on average, per semester. Surely anyone could handle THAT extra load if they’re eligible in the first place?</p>
<p>If you don’t go to grad school, then how about your job application? When you say you graduated from the Honors College…that tells your prospective employer something about you. Might translate into an offer for you where another person gets left out, or even more responsibility or money some day.</p>
<p>As far as your GPA dropping by taking more a more rigorous class load…of course that depends on the person and depends on what you want. If you are not up for a challenge and work…then, yeah…maybe you are NOT the honors college type. It’s not for everyone, that’s for sure. But you’ll see that most of your college applications request the most possible high school rigor. They want you to try AND succeed. But if you’re finding you’re not succeeding, then perhaps you should not do it. </p>
<p>I’m sure I’m forgetting a ton of things but this is so long anyway.</p>
<p>To expand on a couple of things R12 said, if you’ve been admitted to an honors program within a large university obviously the admissions committee feels you can handle the workload. Rarely do honors colleges require more than 2 classes per semester; so at most only 1/2 your schedule would be “extra tough”. </p>
<p>Honors college students are often offered special opportunities like the travel example mentioned by R12 as well as special (non-graded) seminars and presentations. At some schools they even have living learning dorms specifically for Honors. If you want to be around other bright types this can be an invaluable opportunity.</p>
<p>R12’s points about grad school and employers are well taken. Anything that separates you from the pack in a positive way is valuable. Honors designation will catch the eye employers. A 3.0 with honors will open more doors that a 3.2 without. Furthermore, the opportunity to meet professors in a more intimate setting can foster friendships and relationships that can be invaluable when it comes time to get into grad school or make a employer connection.</p>
<p>In the end it comes down to whether you want to challenge yourself or merely chug along. Why play on the JV when you’ve been offered a spot on the Varsity?</p>
<p>Honors College classes are not typically harder nor do they usually require more homework. Honors college/program classes usually are just more interesting and more discussion-based because they are filled with higher stats kids.</p>
<p>There are often other perks to being in honors colleges/programs- such as smaller classes, classes taught by the best profs, priority registration, and honors housing.</p>
<p>which honors colleges do you think require more homework?</p>
<p>One reason can be social.</p>
<p>I know a college junior who finally found his niche in the honors college of his large state school. He was happy enough in high school, but never very social, not finding kids who shared his interests and intellectual pursuits. Honors college was perfect for him and he does all kinds of things with the kids in his housing area and classes.</p>
<p>honors colleges are for the nubs who didn’t get in ivy league</p>
<p>^^^</p>
<p>Uh no…there are kids in honors colleges that TURNED DOWN their ivy acceptances because of the research opportunities, internships, etc, thru their honors colleges. Going to an ivy is not the “be all, end all.”</p>
<p>Frankly, that post is very offensive. What makes you assume that those who don’t go to ivy schools are nubs? Do you have any idea how many very successful people have never stepped foot on an ivy campus?</p>
<p>I think mofofo must be ■■■■■■■■…</p>
<p>at least from my experience here at a highly-ranked HS, there are so many kids who don’t even apply ivy because (since there are no merit scholarships) there’s no way many of us would ever consider paying full freight. Honors colleges are a great solution to that.</p>
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<p>Along with scholarship $$$, I would agree this is the heart of it. It should be about scholarly efforts. </p>
<p>What I don’t agree with are honors programs that move beyond scholarly efforts. For example, BU does not allow enrolled students to get great grades and join their honors program nor allows transfer students to join. They also give non-scholarship related perks like free tickets to Red Sox baseball games to honors kids while NOT providing the same to non-honors kids. BU also stops their honors program after sophomore year. I guess scholarly efforts aren’t require at Boston University after a kid’s second year, not that the first two years matter that much as honors results in only one (1) honors class per semester (thus a total of 4 for the entire program).</p>
<p>^^^</p>
<p>BU does what is does. Other schools’ honors programs/colleges are different. Each should be judged on its own.</p>
<p>There are some that allow transfer students to join and current students with high GPA’s to join. There are many that have honors classes for all 4 years.</p>