<p>How is Uconn's honors college viewed in regards to prestige and academic quality compared to the Patriot League schools?</p>
<p>For those not familiar the Patriot League is the academic sports conference that these schools are a part of:
Colgate, Bucknell, College of the Holy Cross, Lehigh, Lafayette, etc. </p>
<p>I will ultimately not look into prestige as a deciding factor, but it is part of the research process for me. I am very interested in academic quality though, and sometimes I find there is a tie between the two (sometimes not).</p>
<p>For the record, I am aware of the massive differences between some of these schools in terms of size, social life, surrounding area, etc. Just want to know about the prestige and academic quality between Uconn Honors and these Patriot League schools</p>
<p>I am also going to majoring in a natural science. Definitely not business, engineering, or anything else. Will apply into biology.</p>
<p>Up until that last sentence I would have told you that you’re probably at a noticeable disadvantage at UConn. Then I saw that you’re interested in the life sciences. If I can tell you anything about being an honors student at UConn, it is that there is (seemingly) no end to the benefits for biology/pre-med majors.</p>
<p>Spaces in the labs of professors/researchers on campus and nearby at the UConn Health Center are relatively easy to get assuming you have a good GPA and you’re motivated/hard working, which you should be because you’re in honors. I get at least a few emails a semester advertising internship/RA positions at the health center or on campus (none of the other majors get such direct offers FYI).</p>
<p>The amount of independent funding you can get is pretty nice, too. Some students in biology are even funded to start independent research after their first year. That’s how much UConn loves funding anything biomedical. Particularly as an upperclassmen there are a lot of grants that can cover supply costs that you might run into.</p>
<p>With regards to prestige, you will still be marginally disadvantaged, but honestly the life sciences at UConn have a pretty strong reputation. I’m not really sure why (blatant engineering major bias here, I think our work is exponentially more difficult), but it’s probably the most prestigious program at the university. You even have a decent shot of getting into the top medical schools if you work your references and GPA from the first year. They even have a program that guarantees acceptance to the medical school at the health center after 3-4 years of undergraduate pre-med courses. It’s probably the most competitive program at UConn, though, besides the Nutmeg Scholarship (full ride no exceptions). Anyways, assuming you come out with a 3.8+ (not too familiar with pre-med GPAs, but they’re notoriously grade-centric), and strong research/internships/recommendations, I’d say you’d have as good of a chance at the best graduate/professional programs as the schools you listed.</p>
<p>As you mentioned, the differences in social environments will be drastic. This is not something to take lightly.</p>
<p>Thanks! Is being in honors very different from the regular student body? What is the interaction like between honors/non-honors students?</p>
<p>It really varies from person to person. If I had to generalize the honors community vs. the student body, I’d probably say honors students are more concerned with their grades and classes. There’s also generally less partying in Buckley (the freshman dorm), but there are still lots of people who like to party. My impression is that the girls’ floors are probably a bit quieter and cleaner. The guys’ floors do get pretty messy and loud at some points, but nothing compared to what you’d get in other freshman dorms. There’s also a fair few guys who are so focused on partying and sports that you wonder how they stay in honors, but I haven’t met any of them that won’t be nice/understanding about things if you talk to them.</p>
<p>With regards to interacting with the rest of the students, it again depends upon what you like to do. My experience is that there are people who would fit in with a typical “honors” student, but they’re kind of difficult to find. You’ll probably be in at least a couple 200+ person lectures with them (side note: most of the biology classes are absolutely massive, this is something to consider), but obviously you won’t know every single person in the class. The vocal ones will likely be the ones who came to UConn for its somewhat dwindling party reputation. And of course there will be all kinds of people in between. The real limiting factor is that you’ll probably live 15+ minutes walk away from them. I’m not sure if they do this on purpose, but it makes it sort of difficult to go to out with non-honors friends, so a lot of people tend to just hang out with the people in Buckley. That’s my experience anyway. If you want to get outside the honors “bubble”, clubs are a really good option. We have like 500+ organizations for almost anything you can imagine, and most of the members will probably be non-honors students. There are also frats/sororities which I honestly know nothing about, but they’re pretty accessible so it’s not a bad option. Basically it’s possible to make friends out of honors (and many people do), but expect it to be somewhat of a time commitment.</p>
<p>Thanks TacitumType - your response was very helpful</p>