<p>I got accepted EA today to BC, and I got a little booklet concerning the honors program and also an invite to an honors day. however, it says that only 5% of applicants get in and you are not notified about acceptance until the spring. I have decent stats but am probably not in the top 5% of applicants… (2190 SAT, 18/331 ranked)</p>
<p>did everybody get these handouts? am i accepted into the honors program or just being considered like everybody else?</p>
<p>Dear lucax33 : Not everyone receives a golden-ticket to the Honors Program. Congratulations. Both of my children (one graduated, one now a junior) are part of the CAS Honors Program and I could not more heartily recommend your participation. If you were selected for the program, there is an indication that your essay, along with your acument for liberal arts, was strong. [Additional : If you were invited to Honors Day, I highly recommend attending. You will see the top end academics that BC can offer along with an excellent perspective on the entire program and school.]</p>
<p>Dear Scottj : DS was also accepted into the Honors program for CAS. Could you elaborate a bit more on what the program offers students? We are considering attending the Honors Day program in February but would be interested in hearing more from you concerning the program. Thanks so much!</p>
<p>Can someone please type out their letter if they got into honors program? How does one decipher if they have gotten into the honors program?</p>
<p>nadal, mine came with the normal acceptance letter, another letter about portal, a small brochure about the honors program, a leaflet about ‘Honors Day’, and then my CAS booklet was the CAS Honors Program Booklet which said you are one of the top 5% of applicants and thus have been invited to join the honors program.</p>
<p>Dear nearandfar : Let me share some of the advantages afforded by the CAS Honors Program. On the logistical front, Honors Program participants are given four years of on-campus housing (hence avoiding the junior year off-campus year as a mandatory requirement). </p>
<p>Next, participating freshmen will find the sections very small (approximately 15 students per section) which is highly unusual for any university’s freshman courses. Students will get to know their professors incredibly well - many form bonds that last throughout the four years at Boston College. Be aware that participants will typically work very hard and in sections this small, there is no where to hide when you are ill-prepared for class. [Workloads and reading assignments will vary by professor, but most are well-respected and well-liked.]</p>
<p>Honors is a “double-course” - and double the work usually. Freshmen will take four courses per semester as a result. If your child has a science requirement with lab work to complete, this is an advantage in terms of classroom time.</p>
<p>Next, the Honors Program offers magnificiently integrated thought - from literature, history, music, art, architecture and more. If your student enjoyed their AP and top level courses in High School, he/she will find the academic environment comforting and challenging in the most rigorous manner.</p>
<p>Core courses in liberal arts (theology for example) are satisfied by the Honors Program which affords some level of additional flexibility in future scheduling.</p>
<p>Finally, your child will have the ability to work with some absolutely brilliant professors. This all said, by all means visit the Boston College CAS Honors Program web site for more details.</p>
<p>I’m a freshman in CAS Honors. They make it obvious if you made it into Honors or not, there’s an Honors brochure or there isn’t. I’ve heard all sorts of ways they choose who actually makes Honors, but all they say officially is “top 5%”. I doubt it means stats, I got a 2200 on the SAT, maybe 10% in high school I guess. It’s a combination of your life experience, essays, and scores. I’ve heard of people in Honors with SATs as low as 2010, but they probably had huge other hooks to make Honors. One thing I will say we all have in common is that we didn’t get into Duke hahaha</p>
<p>Deat bronovan : The Honors Program IS the “Top 5%” of the admitted class. remember, when 85% of the admitted class is in the “Top 10%” of their High School class, one quickly realized that the “Top 10%” in High School is all about admissions into Boston College which is a necessary but insufficient condition for the Honors Program.</p>
<p>As a datapoint, I would highly question your assertion that a 2010 “made” the Honors Program as a freshman. (Possibly as a sophomore with a demonstrated track record in freshman year?) There had to be something incredible - off-the-chart - in the associated essay.</p>
<p>Scottj: Yes the Honors Program may be Top 5%, but by what criteria? We can both agree it is not just the SAT and grades in high school, there is A LOT of subjectivity in who they select which is all I was hinting at.</p>
<p>But on your second point, this person is in my Honors section and I know this individual personally. 2010 SAT Honors freshman.</p>
<p>Dear bronovan : The College of Arts and Sciences has published their criteria (SAT I two-way of 1450+ and host of other elements), but the recommendations and essay need to demonstrate critical thinking and a real thirst for knowledge - along with solid foundations in English, History and other advanced placement style courses. </p>
<p>As for the student that you know who made the Honors Program sporting a 2010 score, all we can say is that there must have been some truly outstanding other parameters. At a 2010, the application will be culled from Honors Program participation by the readers.</p>
<p>Thank you for the information. The honors program sounds like a wonderful opportunity. Do you know if the students in the program are allowed any type of priority scheduling of classes? And are there many opportunities for summer internships afforded these students?</p>
<p>Priority scheduling is not granted to honors students, but it is also not granted to student-athletes, or to anyone else on campus except in the case of disability. At some other colleges, athletes do register before the rest of the student body because of their practice schedules. At BC, it’s just luck of the draw for registration time for all students. </p>
<p>Honors programs within major departments, which are separate from CAS Honors, will sometimes offer overrides into major classes to students as a part of the “package” of being in the departmental honors program. Departmental honors programs usually do not accept students until after freshman or sophomore year. If you are high-achieving in your major, then you will likely be invited to one of these programs. They usually involve advanced seminars with small classes in your own department, graduate seminars, and special events. The classes in departmental honors programs will count toward your major, so there is no conflict with CAS Honors. It’s completely separate. 15-20 students in each major are usually invited, but this varies from major to major.</p>
<p>There are plenty of summer opportunities for all high-achieving students. I suggest you look at these two websites if you are interested in summer research: [Advanced</a> Study Grants - Fellowships Committee - Boston College](<a href=“http://www.bc.edu/content/bc/offices/ufel/fellowships/advanced.html]Advanced”>http://www.bc.edu/content/bc/offices/ufel/fellowships/advanced.html)
[Boston</a> College Undergraduate Research Fellowships - Boston College](<a href=“http://www.bc.edu/content/bc/offices/ufel/fellowships/undergrad/fellowships.html]Boston”>http://www.bc.edu/content/bc/offices/ufel/fellowships/undergrad/fellowships.html) </p>
<p>Additionally, I believe some special honors classes are offered abroad in the summer term, but I am fairly sure that these are not a part of the normal honors program sequence. They would be taken as an elective.</p>
<p>@scottj
Your posts on the Honors program are quite insightful. Having just received the letter of admission and invitation to HP, I am eager to learn more about the program.</p>
<p>It is great to know that I will have on-campus housing for all four-years.</p>
<p>You said the class sizes were very small, “sections very small (approximately 15 students per section)”. Does this include all of the classes including anything I’d take or is this true only of the HP specific classes?</p>
<p>I plan on attending the Honors Day 2012 on Feb 4.</p>
<p>Dear mayacollegeapps : The Honors Program class size (fifteen students as a target) is the target - and will almost certainly be smaller than your other courses as a freshman depending on courses. With both of my children who entered Boston College, their non-Honors Program freshman classes contained about 25-30 students.</p>
<p>By all means attend the Honors Program acceptance day - it will be very worth your time.</p>
<p>Also, reread EagleAlum’s note - there is an Honors Program per college (CAS, CSOM, CSON, LSOE) and departmental honors within specific majors which can also be pursued.</p>
<p>@scottj:</p>
<p>First of all Happy New Year to you and the rest of the CC community.</p>
<p>I live in California and from the sound of your last post you would recommend flying cross country for the Honors program acceptance day. Need to start making arrangements and hence trying to confirm.</p>
<p>I have visited BC this past April and was wondering what specific insight I would gain by attending the Honors day in February that would help my overall college selection process over the next four months. Appreciate your response.</p>
<p>@mayacollegeapps</p>
<p>I’ve attended the honors day before although I haven’t attended a regular admissions tour or program. I would say, though, that the honors visit would be worthwhile because it is specifically designed to explain the honors program and how your participation in honors will influence your undergraduate career. In the past, it has also been very good (in my opinion) at conveying what makes participation in honors at BC different from attending other schools like Cornell/Brown/Harvard/Middlebury etc. without being in an honors program. Students admitted to honors tend to have a lot of options, and BC honors day can help prospective students evaluate whether or not BC, in the honors program, is the right “fit,” I think. In the past, current students in the honors program have been heavily involved in honors day. They have been available for questions during breakfast and on certain panels throughout the day. The faculty are also involved and in attendance, so it is not as if you’ll only be interacting with admissions staff. </p>
<p>The head of the honors program will be changing: [url=<a href=“http://www.bc.edu/content/bc/publications/chronicle/FeaturesNewsTopstories/2011/topstories/oconnor12111.html]oconnor12111[/url”>http://www.bc.edu/content/bc/publications/chronicle/FeaturesNewsTopstories/2011/topstories/oconnor12111.html]oconnor12111[/url</a>]</p>
<p>I don’t know if this will alter the structure or content of the admitted day at all, but based on my past experience, if possible, it is worth the trip. If for some reason you can’t make it, you might ask to be put in touch with some of the students who speak at honors day and you might peruse the BC honors website in greater detail. A phone conversation with the former director could also be beneficial.</p>
<p>With Mark O’Connor stepping down I have heard rumors of even more changes to the Honors Program within CAS. </p>
<p>ScottyJ, any inside info what the BC administration is thinking? It would be a shame to change this program in any way.</p>
<p>@JustADad2:
Boston College administration is working hard to improve all aspects of undergraduate education at the moment.While I don’t feel as though I am at liberty to reveal the specifics, I will say that what I have heard about potential changes sounds positive. The current leadership at BC responsible for undergraduate academics could not be any better. These people care very much about the students, and I know that they will try to do what is in the best interests of BC undergraduates. </p>
<p>While I had an unbelievable experience in A&S honors and would hate to see much of it changed, some of the alterations may make it even better than it is already. None of this of course has to do with O’Connor. He can never be replaced, and his contributions to the program and to the students will have a lasting impact on Boston College. Above all, he has shaped the character of the program, and while some changes may occur, the character he instilled should stay constant. And, he will still be a part of the program, just without all of the administrative duties!</p>
<p>Dean Quigley will be a wonderful interim director. As a student, I was always struck by his friendliness and his ability to remember students’ names and what they were studying etc. That is quite remarkable for a dean of a school as large as A&S. I imagine that he will find someone who will carry on the spirit of what O’Connor achieved for the program.</p>
<p>Dear JustaDad2 : At the beginning of December 2011 when the news broke on Boston College’s web site, I exchanged e-mails with Professor O’Connor regarding his leadership of the CAS Honors Program, his impact on my two participating students at Boston College, and his future direction. </p>
<p>Mark plans to continue in teaching however sincerely felt that now is the time to allow new blood to take the helm on the Honors Program. He sincerely believes that he was afforded the gift of a lifetime in being able to lead the College of Arts and Sciences Honors Program from formation through its current offerings. As many Jesuits would argue, when you love something in your life so dearly, the very best way to honor that devotion is to share it with others. Certainly, Mark is doing just that.</p>
<p>I was honored to have Mark as a mentor to both of my children. His impact will last a lifetime for them both, for my wife and I as parents, and for the CAS Honors participants both now and in the future.</p>
<p>Dear EagleAlum : Regarding your posting -
During the May 2011 College of Arts and Sciences commencement ceremony, I was personally struck by Dean Quigley’s speech. Among his closing comments from “Boston College to the pending graduates”, he discussed the transformation that students undergo during their short time at Boston College. </p>
<p>While entering students (and their families) might feel it to be a long journey, Quigley eloquenty established in his commencement address that the entire process is only 44 months.</p>
<p>Just 44 months.</p>
<p>It is unrealistic to think that I could capture his fifteen minutes of wisdom in this single post - but when you consider that so much change can occur in just 44 months, you can begin to understand the thrust of his comments.</p>