<p>I got accepted in December and got a letter stating I had qualified to be a James Scholar in early February, but I couldn't find any helpful information online when I searched. (And I just discovered this forum!) Does anyone know anything about this?</p>
<p>I was just accepted to UIUC two weeks ago and got a letter saying I got in there too. It came with some brochures, which pretty much repeat verbatim what I saw on the UIUC website about it. Some of the key differences between this program and others is that it does not lower class sizes or allow you to stay in an honors dorm.</p>
<p>Do you just have to meet the requirements to get into the James Scholars program? I didn't get a letter with my brochure but I have a 1450 SAT.</p>
<p>Each college has different requirements and processes for determining James Scholars. I know in DGS you have to be in the top 10% of their accepted students. For engineering you have to have at least a 33 ACT or comparable SAT score. In communications they use the top 20%. Some colleges then do a manual review after meeting requirements and at others it is automatic. Check with the website of the college you applied to.</p>
<p>I graduated from UIUC as a James Scholar. What do you want to know about it?</p>
<p>Oh, that's awesome!</p>
<p>I would like to know what incentives/benefits there are- do you get preference in choosing classes, smaller classes, etc.?</p>
<p>The most significant perk for me was the priority class registration. Every semester, you get a certain date and time when you can start signing up for classes. Like most large public schools, UIUC has many classes and sections that fill up early. Non-honors students have to plan out their schedules ahead of time and frantically type in all the course codes exactly when their registration time starts, while honors students get priority registration times days before everyone else (except maybe the athletes). My friends who were desperate to get into popular classes would often ask me to hold their place in the class until their time slot came.</p>
<p>There are a few honors sections of classes in each major that you could take to satisfy the honors requirements, but I don't recall that they were necessarily smaller. I suppose the honors discussions may be better due to having smarter classmates.</p>
<p>You're also assigned an honors advisor in your department, so you get more personalized attention. Another perk is that you can get a stacks pass from the library, meaning you can browse through the collection by yourself without having to request it from a librarian (I never used this myself).</p>
<p>So the honors advisers handle less students? The information I keep getting from UIUC is that students have a stronger relationship with professors because of research opportunities etc. Is this real, or a stretch for advertisement?</p>
<p>I'm kind of surprised the honors classes aren't any smaller than the normal ones. What would be the size though for a typical honors course. 50 students? 100 students?</p>
<p>There aren't necessarily always honors "classes" just for James Scholars, rather there are sections within larger lecture courses that are reserved for James Scholar. For example, Sociology 100. The lecture meets twice a week where the professor dishes out the basic material and content to say, 200 students. The discussion sections meet once a week with 25-30 students in each section, usually headed by a graduate student (either masters or PhD candidates). </p>
<p>Depending on the professor, they may or may not care about your honors project. There are some who see it as just more work for themselves, and others who actually think it has great educational purpose.</p>
<p>Also, you don't always have to do your honors project through James Scholar-reserved sections. You can try to arrange to do an honors project with the professor of pretty much any course. But talk with the professor beforehand since he or she might not be willing to arrange a project for you.</p>
<p>So the honors advisers handle less students?</p>
<p>Honors advisors handle regular students as well, but some may give honors students more attention just because they're perceived as more serious and ambitious students.</p>
<p>The information I keep getting from UIUC is that students have a stronger relationship with professors because of research opportunities etc. Is this real, or a stretch for advertisement?</p>
<p>I don't think there's much tangible difference. The honors program forces you to complete honors opportunities, but anyone can approach a professor, especially one whose class you aced, and ask for a research opportunity. They might be more likely to say yes if you're an honors student, but I didn't see any major boost in my experience. It all depends if the professor you ask is willing to take on an undergrad student for research.</p>
<p>The one major difference of James Scholar is priority class registration, in my experience.</p>
<p>Alright. Because only a fraction of each class is going to be in the extra honors discussion sessions, these meetings are generally to enhance an honors student's understanding of the subject, right? Is it the kind of meeting where maybe something you at first didn't understand during the initial class can happen to be clarified for you during the discussion because the class is more involved?</p>
<p>Sorry I'm asking all these questions, but basically I'm choosing between two honors programs at two colleges right now, and I can't travel to UIUC yet to ask them because I have to wait and see if I get a scholarship.</p>
<p>It's not just the honors kids that get a discussion section in many of the large lecture classes. Everyone has to sign up for both the lecture and a discussion section in those types of classes. The objective of the discussion section can vary class to class, but the general idea is to analyze the assigned course readings while integrating and applying information presented in lecture. Depending on who teaches your section, they may try to tell you what to think whereas others will try to encourage you to put forth your own ideas and interpretations to discuss and develop for the greater understanding of all students. An honors-specific section may have more of a focus on the honors project required for James Scholars or perhaps even try to encourage to "take it to the next level" so to speak. During discussion section, you can also try to clarify something you didn't understand in lecture, though there are professors who encourage you to stop them during lecture if you don't understand them...depends on the professor.</p>
<p>Keep in mind, this is not the only way to go about meeting the requirements of being a James Scholar. Not every class will have an honors-specific section if it is a lecture-discussion-type class.</p>
<p>As has been mentioned, many people see the priority class registration as the biggest perk of the program. In a university with an undergraduate population of about 28,000 being among the first to register is a huge bonus.</p>
<p>I like the sound of the priority registration!</p>
<p>question! does the letter come with the admission packet? or does it come separately?</p>
<p>It comes separately if you meet the SAT/ACT requirement for James Scholar. I believe it's 1450 SAT (Math + Verbal) or 33 ACT.</p>
<p>The requidrements are different depending on the department. For example, if you're in DGS you need to be in the top 10% of admitted students.</p>