Hi! I’m new to this forum, but frequently visit this site in search of advice.
Anyways, I’m planning on going to either UT Austin or A&M (I’m thinking of a third choice but not yet sure what that will be yet). I am automatically accepted to both; however, upon taking a look at the honors program for UT Austin, I was quite…shocked. Unless I’m ill-informed, I believe College of Natural Science Honors program for biology is the Dean’s Scholar and the acceptance rate and “requirements” are far above me to be completely honest. I’m pretty sure I can make A&M honors however. So to the questions:
A&M has University Honors Program, but also Honors program for specific majors/departments. What is the difference between University Honors and departmental honors program ?
How important is Honors seen for graduate or medical school?
Also, with as little bias as possible, especially if you are from A&M or UT, would it be better to go for a major in biology with honors at A&M or major in biology with NO honors at UT Austin.
Thanks!
So it appears the TAMU biology department has created its own honors program starting this semester. In looking at the requirements, I see one thing that makes the entire program appear to be absolutely worth it from a graduate school perspective.
The 491H research component.
For graduate school admissions, especially PhD programs, research during undergrad is a vital component. Getting started in research early in your undergrad can definitely lead to a undergraduate thesis by the end of your degree.
However, if you don’t feel like having to fulfill all of the other honors course requirements, then there is no need to fret. You can get involved in research regardless whether you do an honors program. It just looks like the honors program may give you a more direct connection to professors.
I can’t really comment on University honors since that program has been overhauled since my days pondering whether to stay in it. I will say that the departmental honors seems more practical from a graduate school perspective since graduate schools are very focused on in-major course performance. If the University honors still requires completing honors courses across the entire spectrum of university required courses, then I wouldn’t even bother with it.
As far as A&M versus UT, I don’t think either provides a distinct advantage over the other. Both schools provide an excellent education and opportunities to perform research as an undergraduate. If you want to get into med school, you can get there from either university, and I know this for fact due to the number of friends I see on facebook getting white coats.
My S (rising sophomore) would say the University Honors program is not worth it…it was not what he (or I) expected at all, and, with his particular major, he’d have to “make it work” somehow to find enough honors classes and to do the capstone project. His department chair basically told him it was not doable. (Don’t get me wrong – I’m usually one to encourage taking on a challenge, but there’s a challenge and then there’s a waste of effort on something that won’t make much difference in the long run anyway.) Since there is a research option in your major’s honors program, I’d recommend going for that over the University Honors program; that will be a much stronger addition to your grad/med school applications. Re: A&M vs. UT, both are excellent schools (S is an Aggie, I am a Longhorn)…pick the one that you feel is the best “fit” for you – that is definitely more important than honors vs. not because you will be the best you four years from now in the right place. Good luck!!
Based on discussions with my son (rising Aerospace Engineering junior), I wouldn’t recommend University Honors. The honors classe are not supposed to harder than regular classes, just more enriched. Instead, he actually had an engineering professor that required much higher test scores for Honors students to get an A than for non-Honors students. There was no enriched or special content, just a much higher curve. My son would have had an easy A in the class if he had not taken it for Honors credit but he ended up with one of his rare Bs. A future employer or graduate school admissions office will not likely notice the H after the course number, but will clearly see the B in a core Aerospace course. I doubt they understand or appreciate the requirements for University or Department Honors, but they will understand and appreciate the Latin Honors (cum laude, magna cum laude, summa cum laude) designations on the transcript, which are solely GPA-based.
The other benefits of University Honors don’t seem worthwhile, compared to a really strong University honors program, like the Barrett Honors College at Arizona State.
I can only speak for A&M. I would say the University Honors experience was most valuable for freshman year. The Honors freshman dorm was very important to my daughter to find her crowd. It was supportive and socially beneficial. She also made those contacts with professors through Honors. She decided not to get the Honors diploma designation, but by the time she “dropped” Honors she was already well into her undergraduate theses project and had made all the connections she needed. She graduated as a Research Scholar. at least for her, I believed being in Honors helped her get some of the continuing student scholarships that she received.