<p>For those of you who are not familiar with the Schreyer Honors College at Penn State: <a href=“http://www.scholars.psu.edu%5B/url%5D”>www.scholars.psu.edu</a> OR en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Schreyer<em>Honors</em>College</p>
<p>I am having a very difficult time deciding between these two programs, so if anyone has any insight as to which is better please let me know.</p>
<p>i faced a similar decision several years ago before choosing bucknell and have several very good friends who chose shc at psu.</p>
<p>what i can say... and my friends at shc would agree... is that the schreyer experience is fundamentally NOT much different than penn state at large. it doesnt really make the school smaller and there arent many honors classes to take. but there are perks over the regular psu experience: honors housing, easier access to research, registering early for classes, a few honors courses with profs who care, more academic flexibility, etc.</p>
<p>what i can also say, having taken quite a few classes at penn state (from intro to graduate-level), is that the academics at bucknell are, on average, much superior to those at penn state. i had courses at bucknell that would have passed for courses at penn state and have had courses at penn state that would have passed for courses at bucknell ... but on average there was most definitely a noticable difference in both rigor and expectations.</p>
<p>that said, theres more to a college experience than academics. and therefore my recommendation is this: if you like the idea of penn state without the honors college, shc provides great opportunity make that experience better. however, if youre not otherwise sold on the school, shc probably isnt going to provide enough to make it work.</p>
<p>I think it depends on your major. PSU has some strong programs and some not so strong. Business and Engineering are highly ranked for example. I know students in both majors. Regular classes are NOT easy across the board and honors courses can be extremely rigorous. Other areas such as Economics or Social Sciences may not be as strong and I've heard the classes are easy. I do not agree that Bucknell classes are more rigorous across the board - I'd say it depends on the program. A sampling of classes at both places is not enough to make a broad generalization.
Overall, I agree that liking PSU is impt to making a decision to attend Schreyer. But again, the experience varies. Those who connect with the Schreyer community through joining the honors council and other honors groups DO report that the school seems smaller. The key is that it is what you make of it. Some kids take lots of honors courses, study abroad multiple times, and pursue research opportunities. Other do the minimum to get by. It's up to you...
Both are good opportunities - go with your heart.</p>
<p>Rath500,</p>
<p>I have a freshman at Bucknell and I had a freshman at the Penn State Schreyer Honors College (before transferring out). EricatBucknell is exactly right in telling you that PSU Honors will not feel like a small college. If you attend PSU Honors, just know that you will feel like you are attending a college of over 40,000 students, and then live in a dorm with some high acheiving students who although smart, still love the big football, big party scene at Penn State. Bucknell is an intimate atmosphere with wonderful opportunites that are not as intimidating, or as large as at Penn State. The personal touch is prevalent and one professor called my daughter just to see how she was doing this semester. We have always found students and staff to be friendly and supportive at Bucknell, unlike the conversations I had with the president of Schreyer Honors College. There is very little red tape at Bucknell, again unlike Penn State. Bucknell feels like a class act where as Penn State Honors felt like it is trying, but just can't get it together.</p>
<p>By the way, I am a Penn State grad and since I still visit family in the area 2-3 times a year, I know that campus as well as Bucknell. You can private messaage me if you have any other questions. Good luck in the decision.</p>