<p>I was accepted to Wisconsin Madison way back in early November, I haven't heard all too much from them since then besides the occasional letters for housing, a congratulations letter, and a little booklet for the "Wisconsin Real" overnight visit program. I was accepted into the college of engineering and have an ACT of 30, a GPA of 3.84/4, an SAT of 1950 with fantastic extracurriculars. I was wondering, since i personally haven't seen any mention of this on the site, if anyone knows anything about Wisconsin's honors program or college. Is there one for engineering or for the entire plethora of different majors? Is there a certain score or GPA that is required for the honors program or college?</p>
<p>thanks for your help!</p>
<p>It’s an Honors Program. Each school/college has its own, as a freshman you will not yet be in the college of engineering (everyone gets admitted to the university as a whole regardless of intended major and most students, including preengineering students, start in L&S). You can find links to Honors programs under academics on the UW home page (click on “more”). Read about both L&S and Engineering for the details. In only the past few years ago they decided every admitted student would be eligible for acceptance into the L&S Honors Program. It is not automatic, you have to apply- see the website for details. </p>
<p>Nice thing about UW is that you can enter/leave it at almost any time. Therefore if you don’t do it first semester you can always do it another semester. Of course, by senior year you wouldn’t be able to meet requirements to get an Honors degree of any kind. Aside from Honors courses, Honors sections and extra work in a regular course to get Honors credit there is Honors advising in each dept and other opportunities not available to every student. This is not as formal as at some U’s but it serves the purpose of getting more from courses available. You do it for your benefit. There is no special housing. The student body is so diverse that different students will take advantage of different course offerings- ILS (Integrated Liberal Studies) or the Math/Chemistry/Physics freshmen Honors courses for example. As a potential engineer you may find the regular math/science sequences best meet your needs- something you and your SOAR advisor will discuss. I have seen in past years where the Engineering school has stated that their curriculum is tough enough they don’t see a need for special Honors sections in many classes.</p>
<p>I got my Honors degree in Chemistry eons ago and paid attention once again when son started at UW. Many things have remained the same over the years (even some course numbers) but the changes have only improved the program, making it even more worthwhile.</p>