Hello to everybody who is reading this!
I’m currently a senior and was accepted to SDSU and the Honors College (Weber Honor College) and was also accepted into UCSB, Pitt, PSU, and some other safety schools. I was wondering if joining the Honors College is worth joining. I have read that students who join get a minor in Interdisciplinary Studies (which not going to lie sounds kind of useless if you are not allowed to get another minor to pair with your major) and that spaces for certain class options within the get filled up quickly. I realize that job hirers won’t really care that much if you were in an honors college, so that is also somewhat a downsize of joining.
However, there are some positives to joining it such as small class sizes, a private study library, study abroad, and a nice residence hall among some other things (Zura Hall).
I’m still waiting on decisions from UCLA, Berkley, UCSD, NYU, and the University of Houston: but as of right now my top choices are SDSU and UCSB. So like, I don’t know going to SDSU and joining the Honors College would be worth it rather than going to UCSB.
Please give some info lol!
I applied and got in, I’ve heard mixed things about it on the internet that a lot of people don’t like it bc the classes are unnecessary and they would rather do something else than have an extra minor. They drop it after sophomore year so they can live in the honors housing. Some people said they like the classes though. I dunno if employers care about the honors college at all, some colleges like UO and ASU have really good honors programs that are nationally known but I’ve never really heard about SDSU’s program that much before. Idk if I will do it, i’ll follow this thread and see what people say. I dunno if I’ll go to SDSU anyway. If you’re concerned about prestige, pick UCSB hands down.
Thank you for the response. I am kind of stuck between UCSB and SDSU, but leaning more towards UCSB.
Accepting it for freshman year will yield benefits: study space in the library and priority registration are really worth it, saving you a lot of hassles. The dorms and special classes (with more contact with professors, useful for recommendations and to hear about special opportunities) are also a nice perk.
You can reassess at the end of the year. Accepting for freshman year doesn’t mean you have to stay all four years (many don’t, but it’s beneficial for the 1st two years.)
And while employers don’t really care that you attended an honors college, they do care about specific achievements that the honors college facilitates (but if you don’t take advantage of the special opportunities, it doesn’t really matter to them).
So, SDSU honors >> SDSU.
Whether it’s worth it v. UCSB is another matter.
What major were you admitted to?
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I was admitted as an “Pre-economics” major into both UCSB and SDSU
My daughter really wants to pursue a minor outside of her major (liberal studies) from what I’ve read it sounds like the Honors College imposes restrictions on what minors you can obtain. Are you able to help me understand that aspect better.
Compare the required classes, the specializations/emphases/concentrations, the size of classes.
Email the SDSU Economics dept, explain you’ve been admitted to Weber Honors College and were wondering if there are Honors sections for intro Econ classes or if there are special Honors Economics classes. In addition, ask about study abroad terms for Economics majors. You can also ask if there is a more math/less math option.
Then email UCSB’s undergraduate program, too.
https://economics.sdsu.edu/undergraduate/index.html
https://economics.sdsu.edu/undergraduate/major.html
You can also count how many Econ classes you’ll take each year 1st/2nd years, how many jr/sr years.
What other requirements are there?
Here is an article that I read about the honors college
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they got rid of priority registration awhile ago 
That’s really too bad, because that was a great perk.
Still, for freshmen, personal advising+smaller classes+academic community would matter.
After sophomore year in particular I can see why students wouldn’t necessarily stay but it’d make a lot of difference for freshmen (and would continue that support for sophomores, although it wouldn’t be as crucial).
Other questions I’d ask each Department would relate to the career center.
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Just watched a good YouTube video for honors
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Looks like it’s a good overall description.
You’d know if it’s a good fit for you. But I don’t see a downside to trying your first year, then reassess.
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