<p>Hidy ho there everyone. I just got a letter a few days ago from Notre Dame inviting me to apply to the Glynn Family Honors Program. Did anybody else get a letter? What are your thoughts on the program?</p>
<p>The HP actually ain't too bad. I'm in all seminar style courses. My largest class has like 15 people in it.</p>
<p>i got a letter. i'm thinking about applying.</p>
<p>Do it! Do it! Do it!</p>
<p>I'm in the Honors Program and it has its pros and cons. I'm planning on sticking with it, but to be perfectly honest, I'm not sure if I'd decide to do it if given the choice now. If I were you, I'd apply, but think about whether or not its something you really want to do before you commit.</p>
<p>shellzie2006, if you don't mind me asking, what are some of the pros and cons?
How do you qualify?</p>
<p>I have to agree with Shellzie, based on what freshman son has said. He is an engineering major having completed 17 hours fall semester, and taking another 17 hours this semester. Son decided against the honors engineering program just based on what he had heard about engineering from upperclassmen. I think he made the right choice--but you have to make your own personal decision. If you have any AP credit, consider using it to take the advanced classes. And, most especially in engineering, if you have AP English credit, you can opt out of the First Year Composition that is required. Son did this, and has been able to move on to other electives and requirements for engineering. Weigh your options very carefully--freshman year is tough! Personally, I think honors program should be something offered to sophomores and above-many students are still trying to decide on a major during their freshman year. Also, many freshman are only taking 14 hours or less to get adjusted to college life. In Engineering, however, it is my understanding that you follow a prescribed courseload. Again, weigh your options carefully and good luck!</p>
<p>Pros: supposedly better research opportunities (haven't tested this out yet), teachers and departments a little more willing to pull strings for you (for instance, I got into a class usually not open to freshmen), more challenging seminar-style classes, some access to social opportunities (registration preference for trips to Canada/Chicago, honors program lounge- supposedly has free food, but I've never actually been there...)</p>
<p>Cons: very little schedule flexibility freshman year (because of all the required classes- especially if you are a science major, are trying to double major, or both), can't get out of classes with AP credits (i ended up having to use my calc AB/BC scores to place into calc III instead of dropping math altogether), possibly makes it more difficult to maintain a high GPA for applying to med/grad school (so far, Ive been able to deal with the workload with a good GPA and am more worried about the fact that I'm a biochemistry/Chinese major than the Honors Program)</p>
<p>You qualify for the program if you have a a high GPA/test scores (I forget the cutoffs- I think I might have posted them in this forum about a year ago, they should also be on the ND website)</p>
<p>yeah i got a letter for it too but i don't think i'd apply for the program.....the undergraduate curriculum at ND is rigorous enough as it is...</p>
<p>Is the Honors Program only for people who got in EA, or is everyone eligible if they meet the cutoffs?</p>
<p>It is for anyone who is qualified.</p>
<p>Cons
--inflexible first year (esp for science majors)
--tougher classes
Pros
--you take classes with the "best" professors (since all of your classes are the ones for majors in that field)
--better research opportunities (I haven't explored this yet though)
--interesting and not-too-difficult honors seminars
--perks like honors lounge and trips to Chicago
--get to know other honors students since you'll have many classes together</p>
<p>I think it's worth it. In fact the only thing that would have deterred me from accepting (and still would if I had to make the choice again) would be if I wanted to go to med school, because it is a bit tougher to get a very high GPA in the program.</p>
<p>I'm in the program, got a 3.95 last sem. To begin research all I had to do was ask my prof for the opportunity. A lot of my friends are in the hp; I would highly recommend it.</p>
<p>I got an invitation in the mail a couple of days ago. It sounds really interesting, but I'm unsure about whether I should go for it or not. Can someone who is in the program explain it more please? I'm planning on majoring in the sciences and I'm concerned about taking a lot of humanities honors courses. What are the honors courses? How many honors courses does one take and is it over the course of four years or mostly in the first year? Also, does the honors program fulfill the grad requirements in the same amount of classes as non honors? Basically any more info would be greatly appreciated!</p>
<p>If I were you, I would definitely send in the application- it'll give you some more time to decide and keep your options open. You can always opt out if you get in. </p>
<p>And don't worry too much about the humanities honors courses. Freshman year you will take a year-long seminar on literature and a semester each of philosophy and social science. These classes will take the place of FYC and count towards the lit, philo, and soc. sci. university requirements. The honors courses are typically more interesting and in depth than the regular classes. Some are harder/more work and some are not (it depends on the professor, my honors seminar has very little busywork- its interesting, but not too intense). There are some additional requirements over the rest of the 4 years, but most of the requirements are for freshman year. I believe the honors program fulfills the requirement with the same number of classes except in the cases where you would otherwise be exempt from a requirement due to AP credit. I've really enjoyed my honors seminar this year. I hated philosophy, but I think that was the subject rather than the class. </p>
<p>The biggest complaint I have is that it was very difficult to fit all the classes I need into my schedule (since im trying to double major) and I had to get special permission from the honors program and jump through a few hoops. I think it will all work out, but scheduling would have been a lot easier and I would have had a lot more flexibility (maybe even the possibility of an elective or two within the next few years) without the honors program requirements. </p>
<p>All in all, I have mixed feelings about the program. I think you should definitely look into it because it has a lot to offer, but also take a look at what exactly it means for your schedule and the classes you will take over the next four years. If you have AP credit and want to avoid all the humanities classes, you might want to opt out and leave some space open for some electives you are really interested in. As a science major you won't have a lot of electives to play with, so make the most of them.</p>
<p>Thanks for the info! I'll definitely look into it. The only AP credit I will have is AP Calc BC and possibly English, so I won't be able to get out of many classes from AP credit anyways.</p>
<p>Alright so I got an email about the honors program like a week ago and honestly I thought it seemed like some sort of scam or something because I didn't think ND actually had an Honors program (and I never applied to one or thought I would have gotten in if there was one anyway...) so I kind of forgot about it. Then I just remembered (like 15 minutes after the June 8th deadline) about it again and frantically looked up information about and found it it is actually a legitimate honors program and wasn't junk email or something (yes I know, I'm an idiot). So anyways I sent the email saying I want to do it but I want to make sure I'm not making an uninformed decision here.
I want to be a doctor and I'll probably be going the biology major route, or a similar path. Either way I'll most likely be a science major. My concern about the program is if the courses are really much harder than normal, because I know how much GPA matters in medical school admission. I took AP Bio, Lit, BC Calc, and Econ as a senior and expect 5's on all of them, especially Bio and Econ, the two I actually need a 5 on. I've gotten 5's in AP US and Euro and a 4 on AP Chem. I actually really enjoy social studies type classes, as well as science (except for chem, I'm screwed, don't tell me). I was considering taking bio, calc, and maybe econ over at ND just to raise my GPA, and I'm not sure if the honors program fits into that plan. Anyways so basically what I'm asking is if the Honors Program is the right choice for a pre-med guy like me, and if I'm going to have to kill myself with work to do it. Thanks in advance for some advice.</p>