TAMU has a University Honors that is University wide. They apply separately (deadline has passed). They are required to live in the LLC for Honors, have advising and different criteria to meet to stay in it. They are eligible for honors classes.
However, students that meet certain criteria are able to take honors classes without being in the honors program. I am pretty sure that @AggieMomhelp has a student that does this.
Honestly, I have not heard an overwhelming positive review of University Honors. There seems to be frustration over advising that they receive and the amount of āextrasā they have to do.
Here is info for the honors programs:
https://honorsprograms.tamu.edu/
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so if they can take honors classes without being in UH department honors program , then what is the advantage of being in honors program? The website is super confusing and UH is unverisity wide means they can take honors classes in subjects which are not their major also . Might suit some kids but others it might be better to have honors in their major to taylor their needs. This is my understanding. My son applied to UH as we were not sure what exactly was the difference at that time so before the deadline passed, he applied.
@pp72 the biggest perk/advantage to being in ANY honors program at A&M is being able to register early. Registration is a beast, so having the earliest time slot is HUGE!
And just because theyāre in UH, doesnāt mean they can get into every honors section. Iām not sure exactly how all that works, and it may depend on the major, but the biggest complaint I see about UH is upper level students canāt get into honors sections they want. Iām assuming-and I could be wrong-that perhaps major/department honors students get 1st dibs? I know in Mays, honors sections are quite small.
UH is on a point system, which requires a certain number of honors classes to be taken. If a UH student canāt get into an honors class, they can ask the professor to āmakeā the class an honors section for him/her-which usually means an added project or something. The professor doesnāt have to do that.
Make sense! Thank you . his major is international studies. he got invited into the department honors program. The department said only 20 students are selected per year . Hopefully he will get selected as he did not apply for it but got invited by the department.
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@pp72 I donāt know anything about International Studies. If he gets accepted into their honors programā¦take it!
You remember correctly. If your cumulative goad is above a 3.5 you are eligible to take an honors class. However you are not priority. Gotta get lucky lol
And regardless of how many honor courses my son takes, he wonāt graduate with UH but will graduate with the cum laude, magna etc. anyone over a 3.5 will be designated as such.
Can anyone help me out?? I have been checking the LAUNCH portal about once a week for months regarding the status of my freshman university honors application. Every time I checked there was a notification at the top saying that my application was in review but I logged in today and my entire application has disappeared. I canāt find anything saying I got accepted or denied but itās freaking me out that my application is gone. Has this happened to anyone else?
If you are referring to University Honors, we have not heard anything. I will say that I was concerned that my sonās still says āApplyNowā. Even though he completed the application the Honors Program Portal never changed. The head of the Honors Department, Jonathan Kotinek, told me that the Launch Portal does not communicate with the Honors Programs Portal. So, I am not sure if that is what you are referring to. I just tried the Launch Portal and it allows me to start a new application, which it was not doing before. I would not worry about it until you hear yes or noā¦ I donāt think they are supposed to be finished with decisions until the end of March.
Thatās very reassuring, thank you!
I think the UH websites lists March 31, for decisions to be made
My son is on the fence about the University Honors program. I just read on FB that if someone is offered an LLC and declines, that they go to the bottom of the list for housing? Do you know if that is still true and if it is the same if he declines honors? I think we signed him up for housing on the first day and I would hate for him to miss out by declining honors.
@tmclanton that did happen 2 years ago. I would call ResLife Wednesday (because I think theyāll be closed Monday & Tuesday) to verify. Only they can give you the certain answer for that. I think you can email ResLife also, which might be nice, to have the answer in writing.
Thank you! I went in and looked at his Phase II and he did not indicate that he wanted to be in an LLC (he was still banking on Business Honors.) So, as of right now, we donāt need to worry about it. I need to have a real conversation with him on if he really wants to do honors or not so that we can go in and choose the LLC if he wants to do honors. It is my understanding that they will not even look at your application unless you choose the Honors LLC. I could have sworn we chose that, but apparently not. I emailed housing to ask the question so that we would have a real answer before changing his Phase II indications.
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@tmclanton my student wasnāt interested in UH, so never submitted application. However, I havenāt heard UH wonāt consider you, if you havenāt checked LLC. It is my understanding you automatically get put in Lechner/McFadden, if you accept UH.
I would definitely reach out to ResLife for clarification. That would be awful, to move to the bottom of the Housing list, just for changing your mind. But it did happen 2 years agoā¦parents were not pleased.
Does anyone have a good list of pros and cons for being in University Honors? I think this will help him make a decision on if he wants to do it or not. Here is a couple to get us started:
Pros:
Priority Registration- Huge!!!
Possible built in peer group
Some honors classes will be smaller
Cons:
Have to live in Honors LLC as Freshmen- some may like this, some may not
Cannot pick your roommate
I have heard the advising is not great
Hard to get classes that you need to fulfill the honors requirement
Some āhonorsā classes will just add extract work to other class curriculum
I bet ānot pleasedā is an understatement!!! I would be hot!!!
I donāt know why people worry about registration. Neither one of my kids ever got or get priority reg and neither one has had an issue. Things always open up or you at least get a solid schedule. And believe meā¦ I worried too at the beginning. Iām not judging at all. Iāve been there.
And I heard the amount of extra work for honors is outrageous. My son will just graduate with honors and pretty sure itās not going to affect his chances at grad school or employment. Right now we all think they have to do the best and have these accolades and for a very small few, I think it matters, but not for the majority. These students will be fine. They need to just find their way. Iāve seen it time and time again. Iāve been working this forum for years and keep in touch with a lot of them outside this forum now. We laugh about the things we worried about when they were hs seniors and then now as they have finished up and moved on, it just didnāt matter.
Iām not saying honors or accolades arenāt a good thing, Iām just saying we shouldnāt stress about it. Business honors sounds amazing. I didnāt know it was a major. I thought it just required extra work like UH. So doing that and then wanting an MBA would prove beneficial but itās not the only way to get into a good MBA program.
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Thank you! I honestly do not think he should do University Honors. If he had gotten into BH, then that would have been amazing.
He kind of has it in his head that he needs to do honors. I am goi ng to talk to him about it and see if he really wants it. I think having to live in a certain dorm and not getting to pick your roommate may be a deal breaker. The extra work will be a turn-off for sure!
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@tmclanton overall, thereās a big difference in dorm personality/vibe-kids that live in Hullabaloo vs those in Lechner/McFadden. Not saying every kid, but many-Hullabaloo more social, not as much in UH dorms.
We toured both.
My student had a high school friend live in UH-very popular kid, and she didnāt mind it. But she definitely didnāt want to live there more than 1 year.
The āextra workā is what I hear the most complaints about. Freshman have required ice breaker/mixer/socials, all UH on a point system, and the points are harder to get as upperclassman. Profs donāt have to āmakeā a class Honors section, if they donāt want to.
Early registration is huge! But Mays is small enough-unlike Engineering-that it isnāt impossible to get specific Mays classes. Mays is known for great Advisors, so thatās a plus, too.
I thought it was really odd, in January pretty much every current student with a 3.5+, was sent an email asking them to consider applying for UH. Strange to me, to solicit UH, but maybe they always do that? (Never heard it mentioned last year).
Like everything at A&M, there is something for everyone! UH definitely fills a need for some, and they thrive in the program.
It would be great if your son could speak a to a current Mays UH student (preferably soph or junior, those that lived in UH dorms pre-pandemic) and ask their thoughts.
So, are there any real advantages to being in UH? He will most likely get priority registration through disability services. If graduating from the UH program does not have any huge advantages, it sounds like a lot of work and hoops to jump through for nothing. Other than the perceived āprestigeā of being in honors, which some kids are into. Am I missing something?