<p>I'm trying to help my son decide whether to live in an Honors dorm and to accept his honors invitation. </p>
<p>He will be a freshman and has been admitted direct to Smith. While a great student, he has struggled socially in high school and is socially anxious. We are hoping he will come out of his shell in college, so we consider his social education to be almost as important as his academic education..</p>
<p>For some perspective, my brothers and I were similar to him in high school and we all blossomed in college socially. So there is reason for optimism about this. Seems to run in the family and we mature socially a bit later than others.</p>
<p>He loves sports and will want to attend football/basketball games, and play intramurals.</p>
<p>I'd like some input as to the social environment in the honors dorms versus the other freshman dorms. My concern is he might end up in an honors dorm with a bunch of kids who do not want to go out and socialize. Is this the case? While he would likely feel comfortable around kids who are very smart and strong students, I want to make sure he will be encouraged to be social by his peer group.</p>
<p>I was thinking it might be good for him to be surrounded by peers in a regular dorm who want to go out and socialize; hopefully they will encourage him to come along. Or he might feel out of place and revert, which would be worse.</p>
<p>Also, I'm not sure how much value there is in being in the Honors program. Seems to be some extra work and more challenging courses. He might learn a bit more, but my concern is it might harm his GPA, and limit his ability to socialize.</p>
<p>He and I are really on the fence about this, so any insight would be much appreciated! Thanks </p>
<p>I would not turn down the chance to be in honors. Our son will graduate this May and is in honors. He did all the stuff your son wants to do. With the honors dorm I would think you are going to get a better mix of studying and socializing. He has done plenty of socializing during his college career and some of his best friends are kids he met that first year.</p>
<p>Would it be possible for your son to do an overnight that precedes one of the admitted students’ days? My son just stayed over with an honors student in La Plata and really enjoyed it. There was an ice cream social/trivia contest going on and my son felt like he would definitely find friends among the honors students. An overnight might give your son a better idea of the atmosphere in the honors dorms. </p>
<p>Additionally, the honors program has “TENTS” trips during the summer before college with either backpacking on the AT or kayaking. My son talked to some honors students who did these programs and say they’re still good friends with the people they met on the trip. </p>
<p>Have you and your son attended an Admitted Students Day yet? My D will be a freshman in the Honors College in the Fall and we were VERY impressed with the University Honors session at the Feb 28 Admitted Students. There are 7 different Honors programs in the Honors College and I can’t speak about the other Programs. There was a panel of 4 students from the Honors University program and they all seemed very social and involved with school activities. Two of them were in Sororities. My D’s Honors Dorm is pretty much just across the street from the Football Stadium, and very close to the Diner and the Rec Hall. I think there will be ample social interaction and opportunities there. But, in general, the Honors dorms may be a bit quieter than the other dorms. This can be a benefit for studying and working on assignments. A full up party dorm is not conducive to academic success.</p>
<p>Honors students can take special Honors versions of regular courses and have access to some amazing seminars,</p>
<p>I think the benefits out weigh any perceived disadvantages.</p>