<p>Just wondering if the honors program is really THAT big of a deal. Can I get into a great school or even ivy for my masters without the HONORS stamped onto my transcript?</p>
<p>And also, is it really helpful or a hinder? (I know there are such and such requirements every year and classes you HAVE to take)</p>
<p>Is it possible to get into the program after freshman year?</p>
<p>On the application, there was a box to check if you wanted to be considered for their honors proggram. I'd say it would be pretty beneficial, but I really don't know if it's worth the extra work or not.</p>
<p>Jer0d</p>
<p>I found the site to the engineering departments's program:</p>
<p><a href="http://jamesscholar.cen.uiuc.edu%5B/url%5D">http://jamesscholar.cen.uiuc.edu</a></p>
<p>It seems like I can join sophmore year if I wanted to, which is good because I'm afraid freshman year may be overwhelming. Same with the campus honors program.</p>
<p>Will they care if I try to graduate early?</p>
<p>If you think you can handle the already extremely demanding Engineering program plus more, then go for it freshmen/sophomre year.</p>
<p>Jerod</p>
<p>:) Thanks, .. I'm so unsure of myself right about now that's why I don't want to just jump into the honors program. I'll most likely try it sophmore year.</p>
<p>I really wanted to do the UIUC Technology & Management combination, even more since I'm planning to do MBA for my masters</p>
<p><a href="http://www.techmgmt.uiuc.edu/prospect.shtml%5B/url%5D">http://www.techmgmt.uiuc.edu/prospect.shtml</a></p>
<p>So I probably want to decide which is more beneficial to me. I probably can't cram all of them in</p>
<p>Honors students register before everyone else except athletes, which is a huge benefit at a public school like UIUC. However, IMHO the Campus Honors Program is not worth the time it takes, especially if you have AP credits that satisfy General Education requirements because you'll still have to take the honors versions, and ESPECIALLY if you're trying to graduate early. I was in the James Scholar honors program and the requirements are quite simple: take one honors section of a class per year, and fulfill an "honors agreement" of at least 12 hours. For the honors section, I just took ECE 200, which is a seminar where people from industry and other universities come to give talks for an hour a week. The honors agreement is fulfilled by any campus minor, including Technology & Management, so you can easily overlap them. I would join the James Scholar program right away since that gives you priority registration, and you don't have to do anything your first two years other than take the honors class.</p>
<p>So basically, skip Campus Honors but try for James Scholar? I think Campus Honors I don't even have a shot at because of the selectivity of it (100ish out of all the freshman o_O). I think I may just wait until sophmore year to decide about the honors programs. I'm hoping to get the APs through so I can skip the general curriculum and get right into what I need to know.</p>
<p>How hard is it to juggle everything with the engineering major, Im_blue? ^^; since you said I could ask you questions about the ECE program. How many hours did you need to study each day vs the amount of free/social time you got?</p>
<p>"So basically, skip Campus Honors but try for James Scholar?" That's what I suggest, since you're automatically accepted for James Scholar with a 1450 SAT, 33 ACT, or top 1% class rank.</p>
<p>"How hard is it to juggle everything with the engineering major?" It really depends on how fast you can understand concepts and problem solving. Be aware of which classes (there are a few in every major, e.g. ECE 385, 390, 411) are very time-consuming and schedule your other classes around them. Graduating early with AP credits is trickier than it appears, because you'll be taking almost all tech classes every semester.</p>
<p>"How many hours did you need to study each day vs the amount of free/social time you got?" My experience might be a bit unusual since I graduated in 5 semesters, but I went out once or twice every 2 weeks and was pretty much going to class or working on homework and projects the rest of the time.</p>
<p>jesus.. once or twice every two weeks? Then again, you also majored in math.. That might be a bad idea for me</p>
<p>There's no way I could only go out once or twice every two weeks.</p>
<p>Jerod</p>
<p>Im_blue, I'm hoping to do what you did, graduate early-- hopefully within 3 years. I'm entering in with (I hope, the AP tests will determine that) around 50+ hours of AP credits so that should help me get rid of the general things I'm required to take. Unfortunately, I believe you were (are) way more talented than me in that retrospect so I'm a little scared of what I may be doing to myself. Then again, it probably won't happen because I want to try the Technology and Management minor they provide.</p>
<p>As for social, I was wishing for a more abundant social life but to me, that's not really what I'm here in school for. I don't know, I'm basically torn between it ^^; -- I don't want to be too anti-social, especially at a "party" school like UIUC.</p>
<p>Well, just focus on AP exams for right now and see how many credits you get from those. Then you can start planning your college schedule. See how college goes before making any decisions as far as honors programs, minors, or graduating early. The first semester will give you a good indication of the workload, social life, etc.</p>
<p>[nods]</p>
<p>Out of curiousity..</p>
<p>Do you know anyone who successfully achieved their engineering degree with an exceptionally high GPA and was in the greek system?</p>