<p>So, i transferred into my engineering school last semester, and today i got an email inviting me to apply to the honors college. I was wondering if it would be worth it for all the stuff i have to do. Also, part of the application requires me to write an essay in which part of that requires me to explain my prelim thoughts for a senior thesis/project. Can I just write about a product that I would like to try and design? Or is a thesis a totally different thing?</p>
<p>
That can vary a lot between schools. Honors programs often open a lot of doors that can really help with things like grad school - access to grad level courses, research opportunities, etc. See what people in the honors program are doing, see if it appeals to you!</p>
<p>
Totally different thing - relatively little university research leads directly to a product, it is more foundational. I would suggest looking at some of the professors in your department, see what they are researching - realistically you are going to be limited to their resources and probably their fields of study. In engineering it is hard to branch too far away from what they are already doing, simply because you will lack both technical expertise AND the necessary infrastructure.</p>
<p>As fish said, it varies based on institution. For example, at Oregon State, there are honors sections of Calc and Chem. These are typically large classes, instructed by a prof with discussions and labs taught by TAs. The honors lecture is smaller than the regular discussions/recitations/whateveryouwannacallem and taught by one of the best profs in the department. Plus, the most recently rennovated dorms are reserved for honors students. They also offer engineering specific honors classes. There, it’s a no brainer.</p>
<p>At other schools it can be lots of extra work, very little if any, relevant to engineering.</p>
<p>It’s up to you to weigh the pros and cons at your school.</p>
<p>It’s going to depend a lot on your school, too. You haven’t really explained the requirements or perks, both of which would be required to know whether this program is worth it.</p>
<p>
As boneh3ad correctly observes, whether or not the Honors program is worth it depends on what they offer and what they require. That said, most Honors programs I’m familiar with turn out to be pretty good deals.</p>
<p>
Different. As an engineering student, you’ll likely be asked to do a capstone project anyway, which will probably give you a chance to have more of a “product design” experience. This sounds like an academic research project, possibly one to groom you for graduate school. The idea here is that you will pick something someone in your department is willing to supervise, and then you will perform some research and do a write-up on it at the end.</p>
<p>What is research? Well, it’s 90% reading, 50% collaborating, 20% doing, and 40% writing.</p>
<p>It depends on the school. The one school my son applied to, they gave you scholarship money for being in the program. Then I feel it’s worth it.
The school he went to did not offer money, but he enrolled in it. His feeling, and the opinion of other students that took and graduated with honors was the only real benefit was early scheduling. Otherwise, engineering is hard enough. The honors classes made it harder, and he felt it hurt his gpa. When he talked to employers at career fairs, the honors program never came up. I even asked the co-op counselor, if an employer is looking a student in the regular engineering program, with a 3.5, and one that took honors with a 3.2, which one would they prefer. The counselor said the honors never came up. Beside other things, they were just interested in the gpa.
Now this was at his school I think it’s different at all schools.</p>
<p>Your idea sounds good and the honor program always worth a try.</p>