<p>i was reading on the website, and i didnt understand it comepletely ..</p>
<p>is it just that instead of taking a written exam, you can give an oral exam? or, u have to give the written AND oral exam?</p>
<p>and, what else is the honors program about apart from specialization in the subject you chose for a degree?</p>
<p>There are several differences between honors and course:
1) In honors you typically take double credit seminars rather than single credit courses (Swarthmore requires 32 credits to graduate).
2) Honors seminars are typically small - 8 students max.
3) Honors seminars typically require frequent student papers, often once a week.
4) Honors seminars typically meet once per week for 3-4 hours.
5) Your grade in an honors seminar is determined by outside examiners - typically faculty members from other universities. The honors exam is both written and oral.
6) Honors is great preparation for graduate school.
7) These days honors usually means taking 4 seminars in your last 2 years. The rest of your schedule in those years would be made up of courses.</p>
<p>Just to amplify:</p>
<p>1) A "normal" semester at Swarthmore is 4 courses. A double credit honors seminar counts for 2 of those courses, leaving only two slots available for other courses. Many Swatties take an extra fifth course. It's often smart to take an extra course pass/fail (you can take three pass/fail courses after first semester freshman year.). Pass/fail is a great way to try a course that may be a little out of your comfort zone.</p>
<p>2) The current system requires four honors preparations: three in your major major plus one in your honors minor. A "preparation" is usually a double-credit honors seminar, but can also include other combinations of like a course & seminar, study-abroad, independent "directed reading" study with a professor, or double-credit thesis. For example, my daughter could have easily arranged for her study abroad to count as one "honors preparation".</p>
<p>3) The honors program in most departments includes a double-credit senior thesis or research project. Some departments require this for either an "honors major" or a "course major".</p>
<p>4) About 130 outside professors visit campus for the written and oral exams. These take place the final week of senior year. It is high stress for the students. However, in reality, virtually everyone who completes the honors track (98%) receives honors. 60% of honors track graduates receive "high honors" or "highest honors", which translate to an A/A- or A+/A.</p>
<p>Here is the Honors Handbook, which explains the whole shooting match:</p>
<p>One main reason that students opt not to do an honors major is that it can limit the variety of courses you take during junior and senior year because you must take four double-credit preparations. </p>
<p>In some departments, the honors seminars are taken by all majors -- honors or not.</p>
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and, what else is the honors program about apart from specialization in the subject you chose for a degree?
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<p>Depends on the department. In some departments, there really is no difference (except for the final written/oral exams). In some of the very popular majors, it is difficult to get into the honors seminars unless you are an honors major.</p>
<p>To be honest, I wouldn't even try to make even a tentative decision until you've been at Swat for a year or so. Every sophmore writes a "Sophmore paper" or plan of study during second semester of sophmore year. This paper is written in conjunction with your faculty advisor. The paper declares major(s) and minors(s), declares honors or course, and lays out a plan of study including planned courses and study abroad during the final two years at Swarthmore.</p>
<p>cool, thanks!!!</p>
<p>Current senior here. Just to clarify a couple things:</p>
<p>1) The grade which appears on your transcript for your honors seminars is given by your professor, not an external examiner. The external examiners only come into the equation in spring of your senior year, when they determine what kind of honors you graduate with. But none of that affects your transcript.</p>
<p>2) It's also not always as easy as ID suggests to get a study abroad program to fit in with an honors program. I only have one friend (of quite a few in honors) who managed to get work that he did abroad to count as an honors preparation. It often depends on the department. If this is something that you really want to do, be sure to speak with <em>the department head</em> when you're working out your sophomore paper and before you choose your study abroad program. This doesn't mean you can't go abroad. It just means that you need to plan carefully.</p>
<p>3) Most honors exams will begin with a written portion (typically 3 hours). You would then have a couple days to prepare for the oral exam, which would be based off your answers in the written exam. Questions and proctoring for both portions are done by external examiners. And, yes, the examiner is often someone whose book you read for seminar. Very cool.</p>
<p>4) There's no need to decide at this point whether you want to do honors or not. You won't need to declare until sophomore spring and you'll be able to drop it as late as senior fall (believe me, I know).</p>
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It's also not always as easy as ID suggests to get a study abroad program to fit in with an honors program.
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<p>Probably not easy in most cases. Study abroad academics are typically pretty light-weight. However, there are some programs that are so tightly fitted to a particular major and so concentrated that it would be logical to give credit for an honors preparation.</p>
<p>As you point out, charting out majors, honors, and study abroad is part of the sophmore paper discussions. I would recommend that incoming first-years worry about crossing that bridge when they get to it!</p>
<p>hi lala55,
Mother of a senior Honors student here (within the social sciences). My S did not study abroad. It would have been difficult to fit in all his honors preparations and be abroad. And while interesteddad is correct to say that you don't have to make up your mind about trying to get into the Honors program until you get to Swarthmore and are there for a while, it was the Honors Program which attracted my S to Swat as an ED applicant. You must apply to the Honors Program as a sophomore and be accepted by your department. Most departments have minimum grade requirements both within the major and overall for a student to be accepted for Honors work. About 1/3 of each class chooses to participate in the Honors program. My S has had between 9 and 12 students in his honors seminars and has not had to write weekly papers. His experience has been that each week several students prepare papers for the class, and they email the papers to their classmates a day or two before class so that everyone has had a chance to read and think about them. He may average writing 3-4 papers for each Honors seminar. The seminars meet once a week, usually for 4 hours, sometimes longer. I think that the written and oral examinations administered by the outside examiners are an exhausting, yet exhilirating experience, and an experience which is pretty unique to Swarthmore.</p>
<p>momof3,
Thanks for giving an up-to-date summary of the Swathmore Honors experience. My own experience in Swarthmore Honors is over 30 years old (when we had to do 6 seminars). My D is a senior at Swarthmore, but in course, so I don't have as much insight into the program as it is today as you do with your S in Honors.</p>
<p>I remember wearing a suit and tie for my orals -- the only time I wore a suit in college. My dad had insisted I get a suit before going of to college. Somehow I don't think the students wear suits to their orals today....</p>
<p>No suits, but I'm pretty sure we're asked to "clean up." :)</p>
<p>"Clean up" must mean a haircut! Excellent news! ;)</p>
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when we had to do 6 seminars
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<p>I think there had been a serious decline in the number of honors students during the 1980s and early 90s. </p>
<p>A big part of the decline was the degree to which honors precluded students from taking courses in multiple departments. It's always been a program that trades off breadth for increased depth.</p>
<p>One of the goals of the revised honors program was to make it less restrictive in terms of taking courses in several fields, doing study abroad, etc.</p>
<p>The changes must have worked because participation in the honors track is now back up to historically high levels.</p>