<p>I have no idea if this has been posted before, but anyone have information to share about the Honors College? I am definitely applying to UW and wanted to hear a perspective of somebody who had experience with it. Thanks.</p>
<p>I’m a Freshman in the honors college.
The program itself is pretty good.
You have lower general requirements, but your AP classes don’t apply to Honors.
The best thing about it is the small classes (none of my lecture classes was over 50 people), you have more opportunities for scholarships and interns, it looks better on a resume, and you get access to similarly minded students to develop bonds with.
Also, you have access to more unique classes that non-honors students have no access to.
Also, you can leave the program at any time. So go ahead and apply to it (but I think the Honors application was due back at the beginning of December?)</p>
<p>Thanks! Actually, December 1 was the priority deadline, but they still accept applications until the 15th. I think I will go ahead and apply. </p>
<p>In terms of the community, do Honors college students mix with the students at the regular college? Or is it a completely separate/exclusive school? </p>
<p>I really like the idea of smaller class size and scholarship or internship opportunities. How hard would you say the workload is? I’m currently taking literally all IB/AP classes in high school.</p>
<p>As a non-honors freshman taking two honors classes this quarter and last, honors students definitely do mingle with the non-honors students. In fact, a majority* of an honor student’s classes will be with non-honors students, as the honors college recommends only taking a single honors course each quarter. </p>
<p>I completed the IB Diploma, so I think I can address that question as well. There isn’t necessarily more* work, but it is all more difficult in my opinion.</p>
<p>If I’ve already been accepted, when should I expect a decision on my honors app?</p>
<p>compactrunner, thanks! I’m a little confused though… is what you’re doing departamental honors? (I read about this on the website, it’s graduationg “with distinction” instead of “with honors”)</p>
<p>How are you “non-honors” but able to take honors classes as a freshman?</p>
<p>Can you apply for the honors program when youre already a student? Like, if I didnt apply this year, and decided I’d like to do it, is it okay to apply next year as a freshman?</p>
<p>yeah i have that question too lol</p>
<p>Good discussion. I have been wanting to ask similar questions on this forum. Got acceptance letter last week. Spent some time yesterday looking at info on honors program. Looking forward to decision on honors college applications.</p>
<p>Here are some questions:
[ul]
[<em>] Do any of you know when they will decide on honors apps?
[</em>] Are the courses designated as HONORS available only to students admitted to honors college?
[<em>] My understanding is that taking just the departmental honors classes leads to a degree with distinction and not honors. Is this correct?
[</em>] Does the class registration open earlier for honors students? What I keep hearing is that in large universities like UW and UC Berkeley getting into popular classes is always a challenging and some kids end up taking an extra term or two.
[/ul]
Thanks.</p>
<p>Okay.
To answer some of these questions in no particular order.</p>
<ul>
<li>Yes, you can apply into the honors program after Freshman year. But do note, that if you’re in Honors, you must apply into the Honors Department of your choice (when you decide your major). If you are for whatever reason rejected, you also get dropped out of honors. Of course, you could also do honors in a department and not be in the honors program.</li>
<li>You will be notified of your acceptance into the Honors college after you find out if you got into UW. I got my acceptance into UW around March last year, information about Honors in May.</li>
<li>Honors students get priority into honors classes. In other words, most other students don’t ever get to take an honors class because the honors kids take up all the add codes and spots in the classes.</li>
<li>Yes, departmental honors gets distinction. Being in Honors, you will have to end up doing departmental honors anyway, and this will lead to a degree with honors.</li>
<li>Class registration in honors is based on your year, and not on your academic class standing. For example, I’m a Freshman, but I have junior standing due to credits. When registering for normal classes, I register before the students with sophomore and freshman standing. However, for Honors, my priority is last since I’m technically still a first year student, i.e. a freshman.
Do note, however, that Honors class registration is held several weeks before normal class registration.</li>
</ul>
<p>@ Zester Thanks for the clarifications! They are really helpful. Already got admission offer from UW but no word about Honors College. Hope to hear from them before I have to decide on other admission offers.</p>
<p>Zester, thanks! </p>
<p>How do you like the honors program? </p>
<p>How many “normal” classes to honors students take in addition to their honors classes?</p>
<p>Wow, I typed out a long answer, and it got deleted -.-</p>
<p>The honors college is really rewarding.
You have unique access to scholarships, classes, internships, and study abroad opportunities.</p>
<p>I personally like the program because I’m with people that are not just academic, but down to earth, and social. My honors floor is actually the most social floor in my hall. Everybody always has their door open, and it’s really easy to find people with similar classes to make study groups with.
Generally, everybody that I’ve met in my honors classes has been really friendly and helpful.</p>
<p>A great thing about honors if that you get to personalize with your advisors. The honors program has about 5 advisors for about 1000 people, compare that to about the same amount of advisors for the other 39,000 people that aren’t in Honors.</p>
<p>The honors requirements actually end up being a better deal than taking the general UW requirements.
- Honors classes are more engaging, smaller, and interesting.
- They have substantial curves (I was below the median in my honors math class, and my GPA ended up .3 higher after the curve.)
- You get face-time with your professor, so you have someone who can write you recs.
- Random, interesting classes, like Honors Astrobiology, cover your honors natural world requirement.</p>
<p>Personally, I took 3 honors classes last quarter. Honors Math, English, and a seminar. Honors students typically take 1 honors class per quarter, and they end up meeting their requirements by senior year. Just last quarter, I got rid of my Honors seminar requirement, English comp, and one natural world class.
This quarter I’m continuing down my Honors math series, and taking 3 other classes.</p>
<p>Feel free to ask anything else :)</p>
<p>Does the Honors program use affirmative action? For example, if someone who is a minority has the same stats as me, and the same strength of essays, would the Honors program choose the minority for diversity? Or is it all based on merit?</p>
<p>I think I have a chance at Honors program, but from my own stats, I feel like I’m not a ‘super competitive applicant’ for it. I think it would be nice to get in as a Freshman.</p>
<p>Zester- do you find yourself spending time with only honors students because you are in the honors dorm?</p>
<p>@ Zester Thanks for sharing those details. Very useful info. </p>
<p>Would you please elaborate a bit on “unique access to scholarships”? Is this something you apply for after you get admitted into honors college? I will check the college web site to see if they have more info.</p>
<p>Again, thanks a lot!</p>
<p>Stats from Freshman Class of 2009
[ul]
[<em>] Total applications: 2,723
[</em>] Admitted to Honors: 704
[<em>] Enrolled in UW Honors: 224
[</em>] Average Highschool GPA: 3.92
[<em>] Average SAT: 2060
[</em>] Average ACT: 30
[/ul]</p>
<p>@ Zester Which Hall is more popular among honors students - McCarty Hall or Lander Hall?</p>
<p>Here are some OT questions if you don’t mind:</p>
<p>[ul]
[<em>] From what I can tell, various residence halls together can accommodate about 4000 students. Where do rest of the students (about 35,000) live? Are there enough apts/houses nearby at walkable distance?
[</em>] Do you enjoy campus life at UW? Since most students live off campus, does it feel like ghost town on weekends?
[/ul]</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>I’m pretty sure Washington State bars any time of affirmative action, and especially since UW is a public institution.
On that note, I’ve seen people from many walks of life in honors. The majority of honors students seem to be female, but I would assume that is because of a shortage of “well-rounded” male applicants into the program.
I would say it is based on merit, and your essay.
I was initially wait listed, and I got off it.</p>
<p>If you don’t get accepted into honors your first year, you won’t be missing too much. You can always also apply for departmental honors, which is something that honors students must do anyway to stay in the program.</p>
<p>
Yes, and no.
Yes, because my floor is really active, and I’ve made really close friends on my floor that I spend time with outside the dorms. That being said, they’re actually NASA Space Grant kids (they have the same status as honors and get to be on the honors floor). There are about 5 people on my floor that aren’t in honors either.
I occasionally hang out with people from my non-honors classes, and I’ve also gotten involved on campus with ASUW things, so in that sense I’ve broadened my friendship circle.</p>
<p>
What I meant was that there are honors specific scholarships that are only accessible to honors students. Since the honors program has about 1,000 people all together, that’s a better shot than the other 40,000 students on campus applying for similar scholarships.
Also, there are a few honors scholarships that are given out to entering freshmen based on merit, so keep an eye out in case you get an e-mail from financial aid, asking you to fill an app. out or something.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>I, myself, live in McCarty Hall, and I love it. It’s in North-Campus, so it’s close to the 8 (which is better dining then the Eleven 01 in Lander). It’s also close to all my classes, the IMA, etc. That being said, I haven’t heard any bad things about Lander Honors. My only concern would be the fact that it’s an all Freshman dorm, so even though your floor might be social and calm, the surrounding floors are notorious for their rambunctious freshmen (and yes, you can hear noise from upstairs and below).</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>It looks like that, but it’s really more. Most of the housing in Lander, Terry, and McCarty are triples. Lander, especially bad, was built only to accommodate doubles, but they made them into triples to fit more Freshmen. Double and Single rooms are usually reserved for upperclassmen.
Everybody that applies for housing will get housing, that is the basic policy of HFS. UW, of course, also has a large commuter population, and a fairly large Greek community.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>Even on weekends, it’s definitely not a ghost town. I’d say that in McCarty, about 1/4 of residents leave on the weekends. That’s mostly because people live close to Seattle. I live close too, but I stay during the weekends to hang out with my friends, floor mates, and do homework (I find it easier to work together with people on my floor).
There are always loads of activities going on every weekend. Sometimes there are concerts, movie nights, etc. Winter fest is coming up this month so yay :D</p>
<p>And yes, I’m glad I dorm. I find it more convenient than planning bus routes and scheduling my classes around those times. Plus, the location is awesome.</p>
<p>@ Zester Thanks for taking the time to answer my questions.</p>