Hello,
I have been admitted into the University Honors program at the University of Kansas and the Honors College at the University of Alabama. I’ve seen some rankings that deem Kansas Honors as a “top five Honors program” - what does this exactly mean? While I’m assuming that there would be smaller classes, more faculty interaction, and class selection priority, this is also available at Alabama as well. Is there anything that would distinguish between the two programs?
I’m planning to major in Anthropology with the intent of later getting a graduate degree or going to law school. Kansas is about $10k more than Alabama, and while it is decently affordable for my family, any money saved would be still be beneficial.
In terms of the schools and campuses, I do like them just about evenly, though perhaps UA has the slight edge in this regard. Alabama seemingly has burgeoning resources, but I do worry a bit about the rather large size of their Honors College; I know the school hopes to provide for the type of students that they are attracting, yet I wonder how much personal interaction they will have with the enrollment rapidly increasing. As I have mentioned, KU’s University Honors is still somewhat enigmatic. The school itself is attractive enough and I was impressed with their wide range of course selections.
However, with my fairly uncommon major, I still am somewhat concerned about the major-specific opportunities at these schools. UA does have a fantastic presence here at CC and I have read many success stories, though I remain unsure in my scenario. Would University Honors at KU be worth the extra 10k?
Thank you!
Any thoughts? All feedback is greatly appreciated!
Where are you from? Is one school closer than the other?
This is probably a silly factor, but I would rarely choose Kansas over UA mainly because of the winters in Kansas. I left the south to go to school in the midwest and almost 30 years later I can still remember the winters (!!!). Full disclosure: for the last 16 years I seldom leave Florida from October - April. 
Is there some advantage to anthropology at Kansas? Will you be interested in greek life, football?
If law school is on the horizon, UA has a good law school. Did you get the Presidential at UA? Do you have credits from high school coming in?
ETA: regarding honors programs, did you get CBH or UFE by any chance?
KU is $10K more per year? If so, then it’s “$40K more”.
Do you think it’s worth that much more? What else could you and your family do with that money?
@SouthFloridaMom9 I am from the Chicago area, so a Kansas winter might be like a vacation! For me, the weather isn’t too much of a factor, but I can definitely see the perspective from a Floridian!
Honestly, I am not too familiar with how the the anthropology programs compare. Information and personal perspectives for anthropology at these schools are not that common, unfortunately, and especially with regards to the Honors programs. Greek life is not really appealing to me, but I don’t have too many concerns with it having a large campus presence (like at UA). Sports are nice, though not a deciding factor; both schools are highly competitive at least one sport - football for Alabama and basketball for Kansas, so I view it pretty evenly for sports.
If I were to attend grad/law school, it might be helpful to chase prestige for that, correct? I did get the Presidential at UA, and I was maybe hoping to be economical for undergrad and then try to attend somewhere highly respected for grad/law school. I should be getting a fair amount of credits for AP classes at either school. I wish I had known about CBH or UFE, but unfortunately I was not and did not apply.
@Midwest67 Yes, it would be about $10k more yearly. It’s not horrible for my family, and I would be able to graduate about debt-free at either school, but the extra money would certainly help in paying for grad/law school. I am just rather unsure weather KU’s “top-five” Honors program is worth the extra money over Alabama.
Thank you both!