<p>Just curious here as every out of state student seems to be in the honors program. Anyone else with a nice average child like mine?</p>
<p>I can tell you, my son is an average child. He just received his acceptance into the honors program, but he is indeed a regular kid. His best friend is hoping to also be in the honors program, with his 32 ACT, but he is an average kid as well. Only hoping these average kids can keep the GPA to stay in the program and keep their scholarship.</p>
<p>I could be wrong, but I don’t think Cganyard’s D will be in the Honors College.</p>
<p>Peg,</p>
<p>As usual, Mom2collegekids is absolutely correct! My D will NOT be in the Honors College next year at Bama. Her GPA is great, but her test scores…hmm, not so great. Still, she did get accepted at some great schools (Alabama and Auburn among them), and we’re very proud of her! That said, Peg, I can certainly commiserate with you, since most CCers tend to be either extremely strong students–with very high stats–or their parents! :)</p>
<p>But take heart, while the Honors program at Bama is fabulous, I believe only 20% of the student body is a part of it, meaning “regular” kids shouldn’t feel too left out. And there’s still another shot at admissions into the Honors program, if a student can pull a 3.3 first semester freshman year. </p>
<p>Am I right on this stuff?? Somebody please correct me if I’m wrong… :)</p>
<p>Yes, a student with a 3.3 their first semester, can apply for honors. They don’t have to wait until the end of freshmen year. :)</p>
<p>Also, there have been several parents that have PM’d me privately whose kids are applying to Bama and won’t qualify for honors. That is totally ok. I think some parents are intimidated from posting outright, because some kids on CC have stats that are just …Wow…SAT 800, 790, 800, SAT II 790, 800, 800…12 APs all 5’s…are these people real!!!</p>
<p>The people who’ve contacted me have similar stories…either good GPA and lowish test scores…or good test scores and lowish GPAs. So, there’s a lot of you out there. They’re all normal kids, who can all do very well in college. Many kids do better in college. Getting away from HS craziness can be wonderful!</p>
<p>one thing to keep in mind for parents struggling with the gpa comparisons on cc… think about how hard your child worked and all that they have accomplished… in reality maybe they are a stronger student with their 3.0 or 3.2, than some kid that posts a gpa of 3.9. maybe his school was easier, maybe he/she wasnt as involved in other activities that made your child a more rounded individual… maybe your school doesnt weight or weights differently that that other child’s school… maybe your school only gives a .5 for an ap course and his school adds 1.0. gpa’s cant really be compared between different schools., states etc . maybe your school didnt offer many ap courses or none at all, and his school allowed them to take ap in grade 9, so that child gets honors and your child doesnt, not fair but unfortunately all schools have to use some “standard”, its apples and oranges but it still works. your child will do just as well, maybe even better!!!</p>
<p>parent56, you summed that up very nicely. My dd is a solid B student and she works her tail off for that. Sure she has had some A’s and she has had C’s as well and that was all good with us. Her teachers that wrote her recs shared with me that they stressed the fact that she is a student who wants to learn and will avail herself of all help to do well. They feel that she is the one who will do well in college because her work ethic is so strong, even though she is not the A student.</p>
<p>As much as we love to discuss the benefits of the honors college, the rest of UA is great too. Even for honors students, honors only takes up 18 of the 120+ credits they need for a degree. Grades and test scores are not everything and there are plenty of opportunities for students that don’t involve honors.</p>
<p>Even for honors students, honors only takes up 18 of the 120+ credits they need for a degree.</p>
<p>18 is the MINIMUM number of honors credits - many graduate with more. For instance, I know that DS1 will graduate with at least 40 honors credits… 20 from CBHP, and then more from Math, Physics, Philosophy, & UHP, IHP.</p>
<p>Even for honors students, honors only takes up 18 of the 120+ credits they need for a degree.</p>
<p>18 is the MINIMUM number of honors credits - many graduate with more. For instance, I know that DS1 will graduate with at least 40 honors credits… 20 from CBHP, and then more from Math, Physics, Philosophy, & UHP, IHP.</p>
<p>But 
As SEA_Tide notes, there are many fun and interesting non-honors classes, too. We should post about some of them. It’s just easier to find the UHP ones because they’re all on a neat list. </p>
<p>I am glad that UA lets students join the Honors Program after they begin college. I like the policy: *** It’s our philosophy to be selective but not exclusive in our admission to the UHP: all eligible students are admitted.** Currently, the UHP serves 20% of each incoming class of students. The UHP offers them smaller, more exciting courses with fellow Honors students and an array of enriching opportunities to grow and develop as a person.*</p>
<p>Most schools limit how many students can be in the Honors Program; I like the fact that UA lets anyone into UHP that qualifies. UHP classes cost the school a decent amount of money because of their small size (15 students), but Dr. Witt is committed to not raising the standards for admission to UHP.</p>
<p>MY OOS daughter qualifies for the Honors College, however I don’t think she’s going to apply.(Part of that is she admits she doesn’t want to challenge herself with too many HARD classes.) I think she’s tired of the rigorous track of h.s. She really just likes being a “regular kid”. Not one of those “brainiac types”. :)</p>
<p>Also, as much as she thinks Alabama looks like a wonderful school, I’m not sure how high it is on her list right now. Sure, with the UA Scholarship, it will definitely cost the same or less than many of our in-state schools. But, so far she only has one OOS school on her radar. She’s going to wait to see which CA schools accept her before making any decisions. In fact, she still needs to apply to one more before January 1. I’m sure if we had the chance to visit UA, she might put it right there at the top of her list! </p>
<p>Your daughter will do great no matter what! Maybe she can apply after she’s been there for a semester?</p>
<p>I would recommend that any student that qualifies for the Honors Program apply. As mentioned before in several threads, Honors sections are much smaller (15 or 20 students versus 50,60,70 or more) and many are largely discussion based. If I’m not mistaken, the content is basically the same. It’s not at all like some high-school honors courses (lots of stress and “brainiac” kids). The majority of the UA honors students are “regular kids”…20% of the student population, I think? </p>
<p>My UHP and IHP daughter thinks that the honors courses are many times easier than the non-honors counterpart due to the individual attention and the format of the class, which is only possible with a small size. Also, UA provides honors sections of a majority of the courses that freshmen are taking (so not true at other colleges), along with some very interesting seminars. </p>
<p>So, if you qualify, you should apply. What a great “leg up” for the beginning of your college career; individual attention and small class size!</p>
<p>*however I don’t think she’s going to apply.(Part of that is she admits she doesn’t want to challenge herself with too many HARD classes.) *</p>
<p>Honors classes are NOT harder - that is a misconception. Anyone who qualifies should apply. Honors classes are smaller, more discussion-based, etc. They don’t require more homework. This isn’t like honors in high school where there is more homework, etc.</p>
<p>The honors classes are often “non-traditional” - covering topics that aren’t found in a typical course catalog. Have your D look at some of the courses in the thread that I created about interesting courses. She should apply, she can always later decide not to do honors. But, she should apply.</p>
<p>*My UHP and IHP daughter thinks that the honors courses are many times easier than the non-honors counterpart due to the individual attention and the format of the class, which is only possible with a small size. *</p>
<p>This is very true - very true.</p>
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<p>I’ll third this. Honors at UA does not have the “nerdy” stereotype I’ve seen at other universities. Honors classes are generally smaller and taught by the better professors. Even with AP credit, UHP and IHP requirements are very easy to satisfy along with the UA Core Curriculum. Considering the benefits of honors, I’d suggest your daughter apply, take a few courses, and see how she likes honors. It is perfectly acceptable to drop out of honors during a later semester if she discovers that honors is not for her.</p>
<p>Honors at UA does not have the “nerdy” stereotype I’ve seen at other universities.</p>
<p>Very true. I’ve sat in on several UA honors classes during campus visits, and the kids are very normal and fashionable…not nerdy types lacking social skills. lol</p>