<p>Hi all, I got accepted into UNC-CH early action from in-state. I got a letter from Excel@Carolina, put Honors Carolina as my 1st pick, and got in a couple days ago. I was pretty excited about that, but the more I looked at the program I realized that while it was a good thing, it wasn't a huge deal. Today I got an email saying that I have the opportunity to speak with a member of the UNC Board of Visitors because "you have impressed us as a student with exceptional potential." This invitation is apparently from the Honors Program and the interview will be about "my aspirations" and what I want to get out of Honors Carolina. </p>
<p>Has anyone else gotten this email? Is it a big deal (I'm under the impression that it's not)? What can I expect/get out of this interview? Also, can any current or former Honors students tell me what Honors Carolina is like? Is it considered a big deal or not? </p>
<ol>
<li>The Board of Visitors conversation thing is just a phone call you get with an alum to talk with you about UNC, what post-graduation implications his or her degree may have had, etc. It’s not so much a “big deal” more than just a resource.</li>
<li>Honors Carolina can be a big deal, but it also doesn’t have to be. You’ll have much smaller classes within honors, slightly more opportunities to knock out GenEds (priority to honors first-year seminars either your first or second semester) and get certain electives, and more extracurricular opportunities through access to more visiting speakers, professors (sometimes) and their networks, study abroad opportunities, housing for sophomore year (Cobb), and research (SURF scholarships). At the same time, though, the benefits in practice aren’t quite as good as they sound in theory–you might take one or two honors classes every semester, spaces for extra opportunities get really competitive the better the opportunity, class sizes are limited within the honors program, and you’re also expected to work more for somewhat more favorable grade distributions. The designation for “graduated in the honors program” might not hold as much weight as “graduated with high honors majoring in ____” (though you could theoretically get both), and it’s hard to stay in the program for 4 years for some majors with the number of upper-level honors courses being quite limited. Honors Carolina is essentially what you make of it (or are fortunate enough to get within it), but then again so is college in general.</li>
</ol>
<p>Thanks SkeezeyJ, that was really helpful. Btw, I got that email too, the invite to talk with the board. I personally don’t really plan on taking it up, unless there’s some benefit to doing the phone interview.</p>
<p>Our son got the same thing, and he was wondering the same thing. Do all Honors Carolina students get this invitation? </p>
<p>Our son got the same thing, and he was wondering the same thing. Do all Honors Carolina students get this invitation? </p>