<p>My S received a letter inviting him to apply for the Honors program at SU. I'd love to hear comments/advice from anyone who has experience with the Honors application process and the program itself. Also, near the bottom of the letter it said there was additional scholarship money available if he was accepted into the Honors program. Any idea how much $?</p>
<p>First of all, congrats!</p>
<p>There are actually two different honors programs at SU–University Honors and Core Honors. I’m in Core Honors and have several good friends in University Honors. I don’t know which your son was invited to apply to (he could’ve been invited to apply to both), but they’re very different programs and there’s a lot to say. So here are some basics, and feel free to follow up with more questions!</p>
<p>Both programs operate in cohorts, with only about 24 students in the entering class of each program. So all of my Core Honors classes have always been with the same students, and all the University Honors students have all of their honors classes together.</p>
<p>I can only vaguely remember the application processes–a statement of interest, a list of involvement, there may or may not have been recommendation letters, and University Honors requires an essay on a book. Nothing too strenuous though.</p>
<p>University Honors focuses on philosophy, English and history primarily, with some theology, art history and social science as well. The cohort takes three classes together each quarter (University Honors students take four classes almost every quarter of the program to get their other requirements done; most SU students take three classes per quarter), and each quarter focuses on a specific era in history, moving from ancient times during fall quarter of freshman year into the modern at the end of sophomore year, when the program concludes.</p>
<p>In Core Honors, students take one class together each quarter for three years, which all coincide with most of the university’s core requirements anyway (University Honors students come out with more English, philosophy and history than they’ll actually need to fulfill the core; some students use that towards a minor/major). This makes it easier to schedule around for, say, double majors or science majors, but not everyone chooses it for those reasons (I’m neither of those). Students take two English classes, one history class, three philosophy classes, two theology, and one social science.</p>
<p>University Honors has more academic cohesion as a program, since there’s that thematic focus of moving through history; in U Honors, students do oral finals with a board of their honors professors that quarter. On the other hand, Core Honors has a little more flexibility in what each class might actually focus on, and students are often asked for input. For instance, our program director asked our class to choose between a couple of options for our spring theology class. Or, since our class has several passionate science majors, our western civilization history class focused on the impact of technology and tensions between religion and science.</p>
<p>Both programs emphasize seminar and discussion. And I think that’s the main reason I’ve really enjoyed my experience in Core Honors: I love having thick discussions with people who are motivated and thirsting to go deeper and deeper in their quest for knowledge, and to have a cohort community of students whom you get to know pretty well makes it easier to keep pushing each other and our discussions.</p>