<p>It may make a difference if the rest of the student body is comparable to the students choosing an Honors program, which does have advising, etc. There is no need to be separate if the tone of the rest of the campus is sufficiently high, versus ones where there is a greater discrepancy between the average and honors students' stats.</p>
<p>The important thing is to not get caught up in "college" versus "program", they vary greatly amongst institutions, and the format should not be the criteria used in choosing one's school. Instead, look at the overall quality of the student body and all the other factors.</p>
<p>wis75 - yeah I think SHC at PSU is a whole different concept.
It's one of the few programs that requires a separate application and it's very selective. The good thing about that is that the kids who are in it WANT to be in it...otherwise they wouldn't have gone through the trouble of applying (and it is a bit of trouble with multiple essays and teacher recs).
My s was invited to the honors program at Lehigh...strictly based on his stats. It seemed like an "honors light" program as far as honors programs go (a few lectures and more flexibility in requirements).<br>
The point is, as many posters have chimed in, these programs differ significantly. Some kids may like an intense program...others not. At PSU, you can still take honors classes without being in the honors college, so that's an option too (although they do fill up fast, so priority registration helps).<br>
Bottom line though is that kids in SHC are not on some little island on their own. And, PSU is not quite as selective as WIS but there are still many bright non-honors students. Everybody seems to mix together well in happy valley :)</p>
<p>You might want to take a look at the Honors Tutorial College at Ohio University. It seems to be very different. I've also heard very good things about the Honors College at U Pitt.</p>
<p>ucf has an honors college that is worth checking into further.......has many perks. </p>
<p>some honors colleges appear to be smaller lac's within the larger university and that was appealing.</p>
<p>we found that there are usually differences between honors colleges and honors programs. </p>
<p>pay attention to deadlines. some require separate applications for entrance into the honors college or program and some do not.</p>
<p>questions - find out if priority enrollment in classes is something that is included in the honors program/college or not. ask if there is honors housing. ask if honors students are guaranteed admission to a particular medical school, etc.<br>
others here can probably suggest some more questions.</p>
<p>I have never understood the stereotype that honors students are somehow 'different'- more nerdy, bookwormish, etc. Doesn't make sense that kids with 1400-1600 SATs at Florida are seen as more reclusive than a similar population at Yale, Duke, Harvard, Stanford... or, that a student would enthusiastically associate with the latter, but be embarassed about being associated with the former.</p>
<p>I'm very happy with my son's experience so far at UCF's honors college. He's in the honor's housing, and has gotten very involved on campus, for a first semester freshman. He's also said that he "hangs out" at the Burnett Honors College building, using the computer lab, free printing, etc. He took advantage of the early registration for classes, and has known what his spring schedule looked like since early fall, removing one of the stresses kids have.</p>
<p>He's made good friends, and even did a road trip to UCF's bowl game with a bunch of kids he knows from the honors college. I like that lots regular courses (economics, english comp II, calculus III, speech, psych, etc.) are available as honors courses, with a max class size of around 20. There are cross-curricular honors classes as well, but getting the basics out of the way in small classes is a real bonus. Even with a pile of AP classes, he has to take the basics. They're only supposed to take 2 honors classes per semester, but he took 3 his first semester, and is taking one this semester. I (and I could be off) think the average SAT in this year's honors group is around 1370M/V.</p>
<p>If you're doing a state school, I think the honors programs offer added value, since the cost is the same for the courses (although the housing is often nicer, and thus more$$$) </p>
<p>DS #3 is probably going to go to a state U. He'll do the Honors program if accepted.</p>
<p>More thumbs up for Maryland. Everything somebodynew promised this time last year about the Honors program has been true for Astrogirl. She's completed her first semester, and is registered for her 3rd seminar this coming semester (From Hildegaard to Madonna: A Millenium of Women Making Music). Sounds a heck of a lot better than your normal run-of-the-mill music appreciation class with lots of people. And yes, it does fill a missing requirement for her. The freshman year Honors dorm living environment is also really, really good. In a large university especially, it was comforting to know that the people she'd be living with were at least coming in with the same values in studying, getting good grades, etc. That's certainly not to say that one can't find someone to party with on any given day. It's just that there really are nights where everyone in the lounge actually IS studying.</p>
<p>And, the stigma for being intelligent, getting good grades, and being "nerdy" were left at the door when she left high school.</p>
<p>My S is also in the UCF Honors College. He took 3 honors courses, plus the required honors symposium, his first semester. And, he's taking one honors course this semester. This will complete his lower level requirements for honors. He'll still have the upper level interdisciplinary seminars to take, but as there are so many and several in each person's field ... that's good. The advising has been exceptional. In fact, he should have strictly stayed with the honors advisors and not had first years exploration involved, as they messed him up. Luckily, honors adivsing fixed things and got him in the class he needed with no problem. When there weren't enough Honors sections of freshman comp for this spring, they arranged to get additional sections opened up instead of pushing the kids back to another semester. As Mom2three said, honors housing ... well, let's say no other university we've looked at has come close to meeting it, so we keep telling our daughter she's going to have to decide knowing that's an anomaly. We just returned from touring UF's honors program this past weekend. And while I really liked Dr. Drummond (assis. director to the program), they don't have priority registration for all classes, and the program's only in place for two years. Also, be assured that if you like Hume (their honors housing), you will not be there after your freshman year. There's a concerted effort to kick out anyone but freshman. Very few sophomores and above live there. I did like how Dr. Drummond spoke about advising, however ... and he made it clear that they were your advisors for four years and they knew how to navigate the ins and outs of practically anything you might want to do, wish to do, desire to do ... etc. And, they are always working with you looking for oppportunities that they feel will fit you, be it scholarship or study abroad or research. Very important to have that personal contact in such a large university.</p>
<p>My d's college (Smith) doesn't have an "honors" program, but it does award roughly 40 "Stride" scholarships each year. This provides a paid research assistantship for the first two years (students get to choose), and some of them are very intense - in my d's case, it is the key to her graduate school admission. They also provide $5k a year for four years.</p>
<p>In addition, for seniors, there are research fellowships ($3k) with the Kahn Liberal Arts Institute. <a href="http://www.smith.edu/kahninstitute/%5B/url%5D">http://www.smith.edu/kahninstitute/</a> 3 or 4 faculty come together with 10-12 students to spend a year together on an interdisciplinary theme that can be approached from various perspectives. They get together for lunch every Friday, and present papers to each other.</p>
<p>vig1800,
you're referring to UGA's Honors Program, right?
I've compared it to a number of others, and it exceeds the offerings of most.
my s has been admitted EA to UGA, but his 1350 SAT score will disqualify him from admittance into the program. if he attends, he will apply collegiately. it is a fantastic honors initiative.
sherbear</p>