Okay, so I’m a junior in high school and I plan on attending USF. I’m a pretty decent student - not perfect - but I’m willing to work hard if that’s what it takes. I plan on going to med school so I want my college transcript to be impressive. So would you recommend USF Honors? What’s the difference between Honors and Regular? And will it truly make a difference?
Thanks for any input!
I would recommend USF Honors because you have scheduling priorities and extra money for being honors that other students do not have. You should major in what you are passionate about and take the med school prerequisites as an elective if you will be premed. The New MCAT has added biochemistry sociology, and psychology subjects that you will be tested on, which is on top of the current chemistry, biology, organic chemistry and physics…Good Luck
thank you for your response. I will definitely consider honors.
My son is attending USF this Fall, is a National Merit Scholarship Finalist, and is turning down the Honors College’s offer. He would get $500 per semester, which is their standard scholarship. There are several reasons. The scholarship is not that great, especially considering that they require their honors students to stay in the dorms. The cost of the dorms will be greater than the scholarship… Another reason is that the amount of work that is involved in being in the honors college, especially on the last semester(s) when they require you to write a thesis. If you are in a highly competitive field such as premed or prelaw, what matters most is your GPA and the score you receive on the MCAT or LSAT. If you are spending your time working on a thesis or extraneous work on honors classes, then you are taking away from the time when you could be focusing on relevant subjects, internships and other activities, making sure you have a high enough GPA, and preparing for the tests. If you graduate Cum Laude or Summa Cum Laude, you will have that on your diploma, and it will be proof enough that you are an outstanding student.
I just wanted to clear up some points made in the post above me that are incorrect.
The Honors College scholarship gives you $250 per Honors course taken. Don’t take an honors course, you don’t the money. It is misleading, but the money is there along with access to scholarships and targeted study abroad programs which have their special scholarships, as well.
This is incorrect. The Honors College does not require their Honors students to reside in the Honors dorms. It is encouraged just as every Living Learning Community is encouraged. Honor students can live in any dorm that is open to freshmen. The university requires the student to reside on campus unless their family lives in the trip-county area.
Two semesters of thesis, which is more more semester than required by the university, is required for all Honors students. The thesis requirement generally does not add a strenuous amount of work to a senior’s load; therefore, the concern between the conflicts of entrance exams and a student’s thesis is not there.
Pre-med is extremely popular at USF. There are great opportunities for those intending to go into medical school as it is a top research university. The Honors College has a strong opportunities and resources for their pre-med students. The Honors pre-med students that I know of have had no more problems balancing their regular classes with there Honors classes than any other student would have with their regular load.
It depends what you’re shooting for and what you hope to gain out of your college experience. If you choose to not enter the Honors College you can still receive internships, you can still develop of strong foundation needed for medical school, and you can still have a great experience in college.