<p>Yesterday, upon checking the mail, I have discovered that after going through the process of selecting my school, figuring out what major I want to pursue, getting prepared to attend said college, and filling out numerous scholarship applications, that there is one more application that I may need to write, and this one comes with a very weighty decision: whether or not to apply for Honors College.</p>
<p>For reference, I'm an accepted student for the coming fall at Ithaca College, and I received an application for their honors program. Albeit, I know that there's still quite a good chance that I'll get rejected anyway, I really have no reference point beyond the pamphlet, that paints Honors College as just dandy, on which to make my decision.</p>
<p>So even if it's not for Ithaca College, what are your experiences with Honors College? Are the courses extremely difficult, moreso than college or AP courses? Did you have trouble maintaining the minimum GPA in order to stay in the program? Lastly, did any of you manage Honors College with a really rigid course schedule, thus making it difficult to fit the classes into your schedule?</p>
<p>Thanks in advance for any feedback. Even if you just have the experience of a friend or family member, I'd really appreciate it. I'm only the second person in my family to start off at a four year school (everyone else started at community college), and the only person in my family even so much as invited to apply to an Honors program, so I'm really flailing in the dark right now as to what course of action is right for me.</p>
<p>It really differs between each school...In some, the Honors program is really mostly a name only, at other schools, there are significantly different programs, maybe different dorms, etc. If they sent you an application, it seems like they think you qualify. (In D's choices that had separate Honors program, she was automatically invited (with no add'l application) to the Honors programs. ) Look into what it means specifically at Ithaca....If you get into it, and realize it's too much work, you can always drop it. I'd say give it a try. Why not?</p>
<p>D was invited to a special program that is a subset of the Honors program, involving a 4-year research project that she'd be a part of. She looked into it, and felt that it would be a time drain against a schedule that she intends to yield a double major/degree. She was honored to be invited, but respectfully declined, and later found out that wasn't unusual.</p>
<p>Yeah, I know it varies from school to school. At Ithaca, there are a number of Honors-only humanities classes, optional Honors-only dorms, plus an annual trip to a major city, various other social and intellectual gatherings for Honors students, and a conference room and lounge only accessible by Honors students. </p>
<p>Mostly, I'm worried about whether or not the workload will be managable, and even if it is, if it's really all that relevant to my major (Occupational Therapy) or even compatible with it at all.</p>
<p>I don't know what the avg class size at Ithaca is, but at larger schools, and especially for the typical large lecture classes, sometimes the Honors sections are smaller classes with a lot more interaction. It's not necessarily more work. D has taken several honors seminars (similar to the honors-only humanities classes, I assume) that are on really focused, specific topics. The assumption is that there will be active conversation with a small group of students who have similar academic priorities...and who, at least in high school, had pretty good study habits. </p>
<p>As a parent, it was a relief to me to know that D would be more likely to find "her people" among the people she met by living in the Honors Dorm. It's not a bookish, all business environment.....but at finals time, everyone was studying.....it was not necessarily the case elsewhere. Regarding your major, most of the honors classes you would take would be fulfilling general requirements, and wouldn't be that tied into your major. That's usually the case; Honors doesn't imply all engineers, or anything like that.</p>
<p>Yeah, I noticed that the Honors seminars in the book seemed really really specific. I think one was about why people go to college.</p>
<p>I also love the idea of living in an honors dorm, because my personal nightmare is getting stuck around people who are constantly loud/partying/messy, etc. </p>
<p>Also, I already have some 30 general education credits through AP classes, so I'm wondering if having those already filled might free me up more for the honors program, but at the same time I wonder if those hours would be better invested in pursuing a minor of some sort.</p>
<p>Shoot for the Honors Program. Normally, you get nice benefits from it. If you have the chance now, take it. It's not like you're going to be rejected if you don't get into the Honors College. You lose nothing--and have everything to gain.</p>
<p>Thanks a lot for the advice. The other thing that's been confusing me a lot right now is that my family members are torn on advice too. They like the idea of the perks but they're also concerned it'll put me under too much stress if I get accepted.</p>
<p>I've heard that Honors Colleges are NOT significantly different unless the college goes out of the way to pull you out of normal classes.</p>
<p>Well, I know that Ithaca has honors seminars that you have to take, but I don't know exactly how much more challenging taking the Honors classes is than taking normal curriculum. I really wish I could contact some Ithaca Honors program alums on this one.</p>
<p>I doubt it's THAT much challenging. I know someone who goes to IC and it's not particularly challenging. For him, the hardest part is keeping his liquor in and balancing out broadcasts/work. Sorry if that's not what you wanted to hear...</p>
<p>Apply for it. You may not be able to apply for it later on. Also, honors courses are sometimes weighted, so it might help your college GPA.</p>
<p>Yeah, that's a good point. And trust me, I'm HOPING that the work isn't that challenging, because I'm burnt out from high school.</p>
<p>College classes are not weighted.</p>
<p>Besides that... I don't know much about IC's honors program; some honors programs are very good, some are not. You might as well go for it. If you dislike it, then leave the honors program later on.</p>
<p>Whoops, didn't mean to split this into two posts. Oh well.</p>
<p>At my school, the honors program is pretty cool. There are lots of honors-sections of regular classes, like genetics, organic chem, general chem, modern western history, and about a thousand others; these are usually more challenging and class sizes are also smaller, which is great.</p>
<p>Sometimes, an honors class might be graded easier; sometimes, it might be graded harder. It can be a crapshoot in that regard, but I'm not in it to take the 'easy' route, so I don't mind if it's harder. We are required to attend a number of "honors events" or seminars. A lot of the events are interesting, so I don't mind that we are required to attend a certain number. We also have to perform research and write a thesis before graduation.</p>
<p>I've had a very busy schedule the past few semesters, but it really depends on you whether you can handle honors+everything else or not. If you have good time management, it won't be bad. Same goes for minimum GPA requirements. Depends entirely on you.</p>
<p>At my school, honors students get access to some of the best housing on campus, they get priority registration for classes, and more library privileges among other things. All in all, some very nice perks.</p>
<p>Honors classes are not really too much more challenging than regular courses. I'm in the honors college in the small LAC I attend in the southeast, and the only thing I dislike with it is the fact that the courses are generally limited to topics in humanities. </p>
<p>Other than that, the honors program has several benefits such as priority for course placement and getting out of several general education requirements. I can't really speak for the increased interaction since my school's average class size is already under 20, but I know at the State U. I would have gone to had I not ended up here has smaller courses and special honors housing. Actually, sometimes the honors housing is so much better than other housing that it makes it worth it to do the honors program just for that purpose (such as at my school or at the State U. I almost went to).</p>
<p>The typical honors college will offer honors course for the students(which are smaller and with more individual attention), priority registration, scholarships, housing for people in the program, events, and a few other perks. Certain schools are able to offer a lot of honors classes, like penn state and oho state. Smaller schools really can't offer many classes, so it is important to see if going to honors instead of a better school is worth it.</p>