<p>Hey everyone,</p>
<p>I was accepted to the South Carolina Honors College, and I'm trying to decide if I should seriously consider going there. My other choice is UNC Chapel Hill, which I don't find out about until mid-late January. I've toured both schools, and they both seem great. </p>
<p>Does anyone here go to the Honors College? What social / academic opportunities exist for Honors Students at USC? Any input would be greatly appreciated.</p>
<p>Thanks,
Jake</p>
<p>Jake
My S and his girlfriend are both upper level(Senior,Junior) Honors College students.I’ll get them to answer your q either here or in a Private Message .</p>
<p>Congrats! Did you get a letter? We were expecting to hear decisions in January and curious how you found out…</p>
<p>Mailman came and answered my question. D was accepted into Honors College. She wasn’t expecting to hear so soon so she is excited to get the news. Now, decisions, decisions…but I’ll post that on another thread.</p>
<p>Honors College students are housed in a beautiful new dorm! (one thing to consider…)</p>
<p>If you applied to the honors college, but are not accepted, will they mail you a letter? Also, are Capstone letters coming out now as well? Haha, I’m in Massachusetts. Waiting patiently! :)</p>
<p>If you get accepted to the Honors College and live within a reasonable distance to Columbia, I’d recommend you go to one of the accepted students “Meet the Honors College” things. It sounds cheesy, I know, but all the deans are there to talk to and a bunch of current students come to answer any questions you might have. It’s a really good way to get an idea of the more personal side of the Honors College, and the cookies are really good.</p>
<p>I was surprised to hear back so early from honors since I live in texas</p>
<p>I’m a senior in the Honors College. My final two choices were USC and UNC (over acceptances at Emory, Duke, and UVa). Cost was a big factor in my decision, as I get paid to go to USC while I was looking at $25k (rising after the first year) annually at UNC.</p>
<p>Both schools fit exactly what I was looking for in a college. I really like the school spirit and environment of the large state schools. I wanted sports to be a big part of the campus culture. A big difference is that USC’s campus is ingrained into the city of Columbia while Chapel Hill is a true college town (I like the latter better). Add in the fact that UNC is an elite basketball program and is better-known nationally, I likely would’ve gone there if the price had been the same. With that said, having been admitted to the honors programs at both schools, I think USC’s is definitely set up better.</p>
<p>In talking with honors students at UNC, I got the feeling it’s more of a honors ‘affiliation’ than an Honors College like we have at USC. UNC honors students can be paired with each other as roommates freshman year, but there was no set honors housing when I was looking at the school. In comparison, USC has always had specific housing for honors students: an entire honors dorm and honors floors in another dorm (I stayed in the latter). They now have a beautiful new dorm that houses everyone. I have a lot of friends outside of the Honors College, but being around others who are more academically motivated and who are often in your classes is a really good thing, in my opinion.</p>
<p>Depending on what you’re studying, staying in the honors program can be harder at UNC than at USC. When I was applying, UNC honors students had to take a set number of hours each year. USC requires you have earned a certain number of hours by each year. That allows you to front load honors hours in your earlier years, in case higher-level courses aren’t available in honors later in college. I was told that this is a big reason science majors at UNC find it hard to stay in the program.</p>
<p>The Honors College is just really well-structured. All the faculty are in one building. You get to know people really well. Your advisers sometimes are your professors. They have their own funding and are really receptive to working with student organizations (the two main organizations I am in have gotten tremendous help from the HC). Maymester abroad courses are really well organized for honors students. People are eager to help you set up your senior thesis. A lot of funding is available for honors students for research, studying abroad, etc. Their requirements promote a well-rounded course selection. It’s just really well set-up.</p>
<p>Thanks Steeler. I’m glad that you compared UNC and USC, because Chapel Hill is my other top choice. I hope you aren’t a Pittsburgh fan though (I’m originally from Cleveland and a die-hard Browns fan). I guess I can forgive you though.</p>
<p>Does anybody have any idea about how many students typically apply to the honors college?</p>
<p>Valmom,I’ll PM (private message) you later on today. I see you’re new make sure you have the PM feature enabled!</p>
<p>Can those that have already been accepted into the honors post your stats. D has not heard yet and is very anxious. Does anyone know how they release the honors decisions? Should we be worried?</p>
<p>I got into the Honors College with:
32 ACT & 1380 SAT
4.5 Weighted GPA
(What I consider to be) a good essay
good rec letters
President of Beta Club, NHS Member, tons of volunteer hours, etc.</p>
<p>I’m not sure how they release the decisions, but I got my letter last Tuesday, Dec. 22.</p>
<p>I’ve been getting anxious to receive my honors decision as well, but my mom reminded me that the admissions office is closed this week so they probably have mailed nothing. I wish they could have mailed all the letters at once, instead of just someeee of the days prior to Christmas, but hopefully the rest will be on their way next week 
So no, don’t be worried, the office is just closed.</p>
<p>The office is closed until the 4th. They also release honors decisions in multiple groups. Some people hear as early as December 15, some won’t hear for another month.</p>
<p>Why do some people hear before others about Honors College? Did they apply earlier, or are their credentials just that much better. We are anxiously awaiting news.</p>
<p>I also applied for the honors college but I’m starting to get a little bit nervous all my friends who applied received their HC letters prior to Christmas. I know for a fact I have better grades and EC than 2 of them so I’m not sure what is up. But then again I got my regular acceptance letter about a week after everyone. I think they go in an alphabetical order of some sort. If I don’t get into the HC I guess I will be going to UNC provided that I get in which I don’t see any reason why I wouldn’t.
Congrats to everyone thats received their letters :)</p>
<p>My D just finished her first semester as a freshman and loves the Honors College experience. She gets percs such as early registration for honors course and extra advising (although she says it’s not that helpful so far - mostly just ‘figure out what you want to major in’), the honors classes are smaller, and the honors residence dorm is gorgeous. Not every honors class has a terrific professor (use ratemyprofessor.com to prescreen teachers before you register!), but the other students can make the class discussions worth it. She’s had no trouble getting her desired classes, and there seem to be plenty of sections so kids aren’t shut out. Plus almost everyone from her classes lived in the honors residence - getting together for study groups or to share notes was really easy. The students enjoy all kinds of entertainment in the dorm game rooms and common areas - plenty of parties and get-togethers but not much drinking, which means they still have a really nice-looking dorm even after a semester! </p>
<p>She also likes the other honors college kids. The honors residence has many more OOS students than the other USC dorms. The upperclass honors students (sophomores and juniors) mix with the freshmen around the dorm, so that helped her find her way the first few months. She’s from suburban DC, so she’s had fun getting to know a lot of South Carolina kids and has found them really nice and easy to be around. In her words, she likes meeting people she’d otherwise never have known if she’d attended college in the mid-Atlantic or northeast. She’s pretty liberal and most people seem cool with that even if they are fairly conservative. She was accepted to several other flagship universities and chose USC for the honors college program, the chance to live in a different part of the country, and getting a great education. The scholarship w/ in-state tuition made it cheaper than our instate U, and she loved everything about USC when we visited (whereas every interaction with UMD brought another annoyance, such as you couldn’t be sure you’d get your desired major because all the popular ones are over-enrolled!)</p>
<p>Still no word on the honors college. Has anyone else heard?</p>