<p>What are some schools that are not generally considered very prestigious/rigorous, but that have excellent honors programs? Are there any such honors programs comparable to a "tier 1" school in terms of education? Name recognition?</p>
<p>URochester has an excellent honors program, so i hear. but i don't actually know anything about that place, so take that with a grain of salt.</p>
<p>Rochester is a great school. Arizona State has a good honors program and is not otherwise considered a top tier school. Same with Texas Tech.</p>
<p>I think it might be hard to assess that an honors program at a particular place is on par with a tier 1 university. </p>
<p>However, it is the case that almost every large university has a cadre of excellent students. Some of them end up there because it's close to home and they are unwilling or unable to be farther away. Some of them end up there because they think they'll fare better at a place where they stand out academically instead of being one of the herd. Some of them end up there because the merit money they are offered is too attractive to turn down. Some just fell in love with the place for some other reason and didn't care that the place wasn't selective.</p>
<p>An honors program brings these students together into a common program, fostering an academic climate that is suited to their abilities and aspirations. I think your best bet is to check out the honors programs at the schools that have some appeal to you. I think going the other direction (looking at all honors programs) is going to be a lot harder.</p>
<p>Not knowing very much about many honors programs I will say that from the ones I've heard of they don't boost the quality of education THAT much. Specifically, I don't think there's an honors program at a "not very prestigious" school that can rival a "tier 1" school. They tend to just offer extra perks but can't match the sheer prestige/benefits of attending a "tier 1" school.</p>
<p>University of California, Riverside</p>
<p>-2,000$ per year stipend
-first registration on class and first choice on where u live</p>
<p>as for comparable to a tier 1 school, i know a good amount of the people in the UHP here work about as hard as those who go to berkeley (and these people got in there too, but $$$$$$$$ factors)</p>
<p>are there really any honors programs though that have a name associated with them? </p>
<p>as for vicis' words, i agree with them partially, the prestige will never be the same. however the perks one extracts from a college (ie the benefits) are to do more with the individual than with the college he attends. You could learn as much as a student as Harvard but go to a JC, you just have to work as hard as him (and be as good as absorbing facts). but obviously the prestige wont be there.</p>
<p>Indiana University of Pennsylvania has a well-renowned honors college, within a less prestigious school. The honors college is somewhat difficult to get into, accepting only 100 students per year, but I'm sure it would be less selective than regular admissions at a "tier 1" school.</p>
<p>Washington State University in Pullman WA.</p>
<p>The best honors programs and honors colleges are rarely mentioned on this website. Arizona State University has the Barrett Honors College which I do NOT recommend at this time. Many of the so-called honors classes are footnoted classes with regular students. ASU does a great job of selling and marketing their honors college and is initially very generous with scholarship money. Oddly, many of the very best are still honors programs, although there are several high quality honors colleges-just not ASU despite their aggressive marketing. What are your interests, stats and ECs-abilities? Any geographical preferences?</p>
<p>Garrity - What do you mean by "footnoted classes with regular students"? Does that mean everyone in the same lecture and the honors has their own discussion section? Who do you think has the best and worst honors programs?</p>
<p>We are looking at several honors programs also. Does anyone have any experience/opinion on the honors college at the U of Arizona?</p>
<p>Don't go to an honors college unless you are limited financially to an in-state public school. Instead, go to the best school overall that you can get into, which might be a school where the ENTIRE student body is on par with the honors college student body.</p>
<p>Without more info. I am hesitant to recommend any particular program or college. Neither Arizona school is recommended unless, of course, there is a compelling reason to attend, such as the astronomy major at U. of Arizona. To the above poster: There are so many considerations regarding college selection that I feel compelled to respectfully disagree with your well intentioned advice on the basis that it is too general and therefore misleading in that it unfairly casts a negative light on many outstanding honors programs and colleges.</p>
<p>At Arizona State Univ. many of the so-called "honors" classes are just Footnote 18 and Footnote 19 courses. Both are regular courses with regular students; one requires extra work for honors credit, while the other just breaks out into honors section labs or discussion groups. Univ. of Arizona has no honors dorm, just honors "halls" which include regular students.</p>
<p>To Collegehelp: I do not agree with your advice as there are dozens of outstanding Honors Programs and Honors Colleges which offer serious,highly motivated students, in well structured and well funded programs, benefits not available at most liberal arts colleges. Access to graduate programs and resources, merit scholarships, a wider variety of majors, etc. A surprisingly high number of students in honors programs and colleges turned down more than one Ivy League school for the benefits of honors programs. Many honors programs also offer fellows programs; the "fellows" programs reject many NMF and reject many Ivy acceptees, while offering benefits that no Ivy institution matches.</p>
<p>U Rochester is NOT "low prestige" by any stretch of the imagination. It's "top 50" so I'd call it tier 1.</p>
<p>I assume that by "low prestige" you mean tier 3 and down?
(to the OP)</p>
<p>if you are in the UConn honors program, you will be set for jobs/grad schools in new england. highly esteemed in the area.</p>
<p>Most honors college programs only offer the small classes and top profs the 1st 2 years, when for liberal arts majors its easier to craft a standard set of offerings that will meet the distribution requirements for almost any major. And even the 1st 2 years honors programs differ widely; at some schools its just one seminar a semester that is honors, at others they put enough resources into the program so that most or all are honors classes.</p>
<p>It is rare to find more than a token amount of offerings upper-division since the honors program simply doesn't have enough staff to duplicate an entire major or set of majors. So the last 2 years most/all classes are taken with the rest of the students in the regular U's classes. Since the teaching of the profs will be geared towards that level, the discussions and student involvement in class will be dominated by that level of student.</p>
<p>Honors programs offer great perks like early registration, guaranteed housing, and so on. They're worth doing if you're going to that school anyway. But I would be skeptical of attending a college for its honors program in place of a more highly regarded U.</p>
<p>Mikemac: I think that what you refer to as skepticism is better labeled as uninformed. Not only are your comments outdated, they are incorrect regarding upper level courses-which were the original birthplace of the "honors" concept. The Ivy League's biggest fear in terms of competition are state school honors programs and colleges. Check around and I think that you will be surprised at the additional benefits of many of the 600 plus honors programs and colleges. Please do not fall for the US News top # of schools. In fact, my main objection to several honors programs is that the offerings are too heavily weighted for upper level courses-where they are not needed. I think that you may misunderstand the key concepts and benefits of honors programs and colleges; one of which is to escape large lecture courses with unmotivated students. With well over 600 honors programs and colleges, your comments will read true to many, but, as with all schools, further research will open up a new world to you with respect to honors study opportunities and benefits.</p>
<p>i know SO many people who have chosen uconn honors over much more prestigious schools, just off the top of my head: Johns Hopkins, Emory, Tufts, Mt Holyoke, Boston College.</p>
<p>Huskem55: I agree as I know dozens of students who have rejected Ivy League schools for honors study at large state universities. Ivy officials are well aware of losing many accepted students to these programs; they have,in fact, held meetings and discussions on this topic. I am shocked by the dearth of knowledge on this web site regarding honors programs and colleges. Many posters seem to believe that if a school isn't ranked in the top 20 by US News that it cannot be good. A ranking of honors programs and colleges would open many complacent, uninformed eyes. This happens whenever any magazine lists "the new ivies". And, although I like this web site, researching honors study here is only a very early starting point.</p>