<p>I am looking for larger colleges, preferably urban, that have well-respected honors colleges that allow for smaller class sizes, undergraduate research, etc. I know more and more universities are starting honors colleges in name, but I am interested mostly the the very respected ones.</p>
<p>Let me start the list:</p>
<p>University of Texas-Austin
Michigan State University
University of Washington-Seattle</p>
<p>Please let me know if others deserve to be on that list
Is the University of Maryland College Park a good one? It is very near D.C., so it's almost urban.</p>
<p>Penn State. But, I think it only makes sense to go to an honors college in your home state where you can save money. If you have to pay full tuition just go to a better college. By the way, Maryland is a great public university. It is the 12th most selective public university in the country.</p>
<p>^ I only partially agree with collegehelp. I agree that it makes sense to consider an honors program if the net cost of attendance is lower than that at a private school. I do not agree that this confines you to your own state school. Many (but not all) honors programs offer quite generous merit-based aid. Don't rely on generalizations here, one way or the other; the devil is in the details.</p>
<p>As for mikemac's dissing of honors programs in the thread he cites in post #2, it again reflects gross generalizations that do not apply to all honors programs. The University of Michigan, for example, has an outstanding honors program offering small classes with students whose stats are comparable to those of the most selective colleges in the country. Honors students at Michigan are required to take at last half honors classes, but may take all honors classes if they so choose. Bottom line, be careful. Not all honors programs are alike. Consider carefully the financial bottom line, the stats of the students currently in the program, and how the particular program is structured. You'll find enormous variation. The best of them are IMO competitive with the best of the best in undergrad education. Some others are largely window-dressing. And many fall somewhere between these two poles.</p>
<p>Barrett Honors College (Arizona State). They're opening an entirely new campus for Barrett next fall including dorms for all of the honors students. If you got National Merit, then they'll pay for everything :)</p>
<p>Oh and the weather in Phoenix is amazing :P</p>
<p>
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As for mikemac's dissing of honors programs in the thread he cites in post #2, it again reflects gross generalizations that do not apply to all honors programs. The University of Michigan, for example, has an outstanding honors program offering small classes with students whose stats are comparable to those of the most selective colleges in the country. Honors students at Michigan are required to take at last half honors classes, but may take all honors classes if they so choose.
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Michigan honors is a typical example of an honors program -- well worth doing if you are going to the school, but it doesn't seem to me to be comparable to a true elite U or LAC. The special advising, getting to know other top students, special classes, etc are all valuable and make your experience at a good school even better. But bclintonk didn't notice or chooses not to tell you that while you can take all honors courses, you can only do so the 1st 2 years. After that there's a smattering of upper-division honors courses, many of which are just honors thesis credits (in other words, not a real class with other students and a professor). See Honors</a> - University of Michigan to see what is offered this winter quarter; 100 level classes are for freshman, 200 for sophomores, and so on. Look at how few depts offer any real classes after the 1st 2 years. And the school discloses that right on their website
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In your first two years, you'll be expected to take an average of half your coursework in Honors courses, although you're certainly permitted to take more if you wish. Honors</a> - University of Michigan
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Note the key words In your first two years After that you're out in the regular U, mostly taking ordinary classes although some honor are offered upper division (see the link I gave above). But take a look -- this winter Econ offers exactly one upper-division honors class, none in English, one in History, none in Psych, and so on. Compare that to what you'd experience at a top U or LAC where all the courses are going to be at the same level you enjoyed lower-division, taken with the same bright kids. Then ask yourself if the experience is really the same ...</p>
<p>^Right, but by the time you're in your junior and senior years at a place like Michigan, you can take graduate-level classes with top professors and top grad students in some of the top graduate programs in the nation. At least that was my experience at Michigan, where I spent my first two years doing small honors classes with other honors program students, living in honors housing, etc., then moved directly into small (< 20) upper-division and graduate-level classes in my major (philosophy) with one of the top philosophy faculties in the English-speaking world, ranked #4 at the time and currently ranked #3 by the Philosophical Gourmet. You're right---it wasn't comparable to an elite LAC experience becuase there's no LAC in the country that can match the breadth, depth, and quality of the Michigan philosophy faculty. I don't think I ever had a class with more than 25 students in my major, and only 3 or 4 large lecture classes outside my major---none of them required, all classes I chose to take because they were taught by some of the top people in their respective fields. By the time I was senior, most of my classmates were grad students in one of the most highly regarded graduate philosophy programs in the nation. It was an educational experience that at the time I truly believe could have been replicated only at Princeton and Harvard. Thatwassome years ago, but I believe the same holds true today. </p>
<p>I don't say that's possible in all programs at a place like Michigan. In extremely popular majors like poli sci, psych, or English, students take some large classes even at the upper division. But for a field like philosophy or classics, the Honors Program-->uppper division major route at Michigan is an outstanding educational opportunity that very, very few schools can match.</p>
<p>The honors college at Penn State, Texas, MSU, Washington, and Arizona are the ones I've heard most about. Like aforementioned, not all honors programs are created equal. I'm in the honors college at MSU and love it; it gives me smaller class sizes and more qualified professors, chances to take grad. courses, first chance at course registration, a lot more lenient graduation requirements, numerous chances to do research with a professor (either paid or for college credit) etc.</p>