Honors Program or a more prestigious college?

<p>Hey abyss.
I was wondering your opinion on which is more beneficial: an honors program at a reasonably prestigious university or regular admission at a top 15 university?
The honors program is pretty intensive and tight knit. It offers a lot of 'extra' opportunities.
The honors program I'm considering is at American University. The reg. admission I am considering is Johns Hopkins. I am an IR intended major.
Thanks all.</p>

<p>Run, don’t walk, to Johns Hopkins.</p>

<p>Unless the honors program comes with a giant discount, I’d go for the better school. If this were an honors program at a great state U, that would be different, for instance. But yeah, definitely go for Johns Hopkins if the price is the same.</p>

<p>do you guys go to Jhop? Or have kids there?
Why do you guys suggest Hopkins?</p>

<p>I’m personally not a fan of the culture of Hopkins, so for that reason I would go for the less intense school. The honors program there is very well regarded in the immediate area, but less so nationally. However, you will have excellent grad opprotunities and many other opprotunities for political internships if you choose American. In addition, I’m pretty sure if you get into honors it means you’ve gotten money so you will probably save some $ by going to American. That’s just my .02.</p>

<p>American is full of smart kids who didn’t dedicate themselves academically in high school. Many end up challenging themselves intellectually in college, but many continue to slack. Go to Hopkins.</p>

<p>More generally, honors colleges are like band-aids for a school that isn’t committed to improving academics for all students. They’re great for students already enrolled, but its really a stop gap solution for the institution.</p>

<p>Is money an issue? Usually when people are trying to make this kind of decision the honors program is much less expensive.</p>

<p>If money isn’t an issue and you are trying to decide based on your preference have you visited the schools? Didn’t you get a sense of which one you would prefer?</p>

<p>If the earlier posters who recommended that you go to JHU don’t go there or don’t have kids there, as you asked, that should tell you something too. They are recommending it based on it stellar reputation.</p>

<p>I don’t have any association with JHU–it just has a far more impressive reputation.</p>

<p>My sister goes to JHU. Her roomate had 5 alarms hidden around the room and would set them to go off throughout the night so that she could “study for an hour, sleep for an hour.” Her mother called and would yell at her that she only paid for As so unless she wanted to be poor, she better get straight As. People tear pages out of library books so that other students can’t access the info for the same research. This culture is dominant at JHU. I’m sure there are many healthy, normal kids, but as a whole I get the purely achievement-driven, intense, almost unintellectual vibe.</p>

<p>AU has made a major effort to recruit top students for their honors program and offers them good scholarship money. The honors kids I have met through my son have all been impressive. And they do make a major effort to have programs that will keep these kids interested and engaged - special honors sections of regular classes, honors colloquia, special social outings.</p>

<p>While AU is less prestigious overall, the IR department at AU is a star for AU and is highly regarded, among IR departments. They offer opportunities to intern during the year (you can arrange your schedule so you have no classes on wednesdays so you can intern on Wednesday).</p>

<p>ALso, the campus is very politically active. Lots of opportunities to hear speakers. Anothe rpoint that sold me on AU is that AU is in the middle of an expansion program - unlike many schools, AU has a surplus and has committed to expand faculty.</p>

<p>So, at AU you will be at the top, in the honors “bubble” (as my son called it) versus being in the middle.</p>

<p>THese threads from the AU sectoin talk about the IR program at AU in more detail. IR is really a strength of American</p>

<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/american-university/901105-au-vs-gw.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/american-university/901105-au-vs-gw.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/american-university/898594-american-vs-unc-ch.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/american-university/898594-american-vs-unc-ch.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>Oh shut up with all this “he said, she said” nonsense haterade.
We all know that the “bad roommate” is not just found at Hopkins.</p>

<p>This year, my roommate has been fantastic because I picked him, but in Freshman year, I also had a fantastic one. He was a BME major. We stayed up talking till 3 AM sometimes, just about random things. Our neighbors would come over to watch movies or the Daily Show while doing homework. We would eat for hours and just talk about random things with our group of friends at the FFC nearly EVERY day. The beach is filled with people just laying around right now, doing NOTHING but chilling and enjoying the sunshine.</p>

<p>If you haven’t been here, you really need to shut up. And if I could say it any nicer, I would.</p>

<p>+, the academically/success-driven culture you experience is not something unique to Hopkins. Every elite school has a culture like this, especially in the sciences. It doesn’t mean they aren’t intellectual. I’ve had conversations with kids who know 8 languages, and others who can probably outthink the greatest philosopher of our day. </p>

<p>again, people who don’t have first hand EXPERIENCE with the school need to shut their traps.</p>

<p>and on that note, I would suggest you at least VISIT Hopkins.
These urban myths and rumors about Hopkins are ridiculous. From what you hear, it will seem like Hopkins has no parties, is filled with boring tight-wads, and is just study 24/7.</p>

<p>NOT TRUE AT ALL. ANYONE WHO BELIEVES THIS OR TELLS YOU THIS SHOULD BE MENTALLY EXAMINED FOR SPREADING LIES.</p>

<p>Hopkins is AWESOME. You should visit to find out how and why for yourself. Honestly, at this point, if you gave me a choice of Harvard, Princeton, or Hopkins, I would still stick with my original choice. Not only is the student body awesome, but I love the academics here, and Baltimore isn’t what people like scaring you that it is. TRUST ME, I had the same reservations my senior hs/freshman year, and they all went away in 3 days at JHU, and I FULLY hate and blame the people who even gave me this doubt.</p>

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<p>The IR program at Hopkins also is highly regarded among IR programs. It is one of many stand-out programs at Hopkins.</p>

<p>What is the cost difference between the two schools? How important to your family is that?</p>

<p>I’d take anecdotal reports (like the one about the kid with 5 alarms) with a grain of salt. Maybe that was a pre-med or engineering student who only did that at exam time. You don’t know the circumstances or how typical that behavior is even among other students in a particular program. You don’t know how that student’s abilities or high school preparation compare to yours. Such stories are extreme illustrations of some perceived characteristic of the school. So let’s agree that JHU is challenging. Is that a good thing or a bad thing for YOU?</p>

<p>If cost is not a factor, if you are not turned off by something about the atmosphere at either school, then I’d say the overall undergraduate quality probably trumps the advantages of an honors program. Remember, you won’t be only an IR student. You’ll be taking many other classes and interacting with diverse students (art history majors, poets, engineers, jocks, hippies, etc.) Which school provides a better, more stimulating overall educational experience for a future diplomat (or whatever you want to become)?</p>

<p>Its a common dilemma and a well asked question. </p>

<p>Its true at many schools, not just AU and JHU. </p>

<p>The answer lies within YOU and what you want from a total college experience and that varies from school to school and person to person. What each offers socially, academically, athletically, professionally, etc.</p>

<p>Some honors programs are worth it. Some have horrible grade deflation. But some higher ranked schools suffer the same prognosis. Where will you thrive and excel the best? Find out the facts BEFORE you commit. Visit each school and get the vibe. Are they hyper, stressed and depressed and cutthroat? Or easy going, having fun and doing well…challenged but not totally stressed? Stress causes SICKNESS…both mental and physical and leads to depression. Many really smart high school kids get depressed in college if they don’t come home with a 4.0 gpa. Get ready for tough classes and tougher grading. </p>

<p>Some kids thrive in hyper competitive environments and some don’t. The goal should be for you to thrive and be happy. If you can’t say yes to that question at one or both of those schools, then I suggest you are at the wrong place.</p>

<p>Good luck.</p>

<p>Also raiderade, I want to point out the stupidity of the tearing pages out of books comment.</p>

<p>FIRST OFF: very few undergrads use the library that much to check out or even read the books. The library is more of a place to bunker down and prepare for exams/finals. </p>

<p>SECONDLY: Most books that NORMAL people would need are the textbooks, which students are expected to buy anyways. If you rip your own textbooks, then wow, you’re an idiot, but it doesn’t help or hurt anyone else.</p>

<p>THIRD: I have checked out a lot of library books here (out of my own curiosity for subjects) and none of them have had any pages torn out. My anecdotal experience trumps your hearsay. </p>

<p>in a court of law, your case would be dismissed.</p>

<p>As a general rule, you are better off at a more pretigious university than at an Honors College, unless the honors college is at Berkeley or Michigan or a public Ivy or unless you simply can’t afford the prestigious university. Hopkins is in a pretty nice area of Baltimore. Hopkins is a fantastic school. I would choose Hopkins hands down. This is not to say American is a bad school. It is a good school but not the caliber of Hopkins.</p>

<p>Before I say any more, Hope2getrice, the intensity from your posts is incredibly off-putting. It is clear that you are not “chill,” at least not in this setting. </p>

<p>Okay so it is clear that what you want me to say is “all hail Johns Hopkins, Johns Hopkins is a great school for everyone! Everyone is so relaxed and fun and it is just a wonderful learning environment for all types of people, regardless of their personalities. Everything I said was a made up lie because I secretly desire to destroy Johns Hopkins University…”</p>

<p>Since it is clear that other opinions are not welcome on this thread I will bow out now…</p>

<p>Your opinion was welcome raiderade. That story about the alarm clocks was so sad. I can’t imagine sending a kid to a school like Johns Hopkins and demanding that they get all As. That is so not the point. The classes there are so hard, even someone who gets Bs has learned so much, I thought that was the point of going to college.</p>

<p>Hey all.
Thanks for the responses. Very interesting.
To answer a few of the questions posed:

  1. I have visited Hopkins. It gave off a very cold and unwelcoming vibe. I am going back this wednesday in hopes to change my opinion of the campus.
  2. Financial aid for each school is roughly the same. I got presidential scholarship at AU and Hodson Trust at JHU.</p>