Should I apply and what are the benefits of applying for the honors college? Is it a lot of extra work? I know you’re in different housing from the other students, so does it separate you at all from the rest of the school?
You don’t have to separately apply for honors college, just apply to the university for your selected major by the early deadline and you will be automatically considered for it along with some of the scholarships. If they offer you honors college, you can then consider if it is for you or not.
If you accept honors college, you will live together with other honors students. They are building a new dorm for honors and it is going to be very nice. You are also priority for registration which is convenient for scheduling. The downside for some is that you are required to take certain honors classes in addition to the standard curriculum for your major. The opinions on the benefit are mixed. Some people in more demanding majors like engineering or med/vet/pharmacy programs feel it is too much with their already difficult and heavy class loads. Not everyone offered accepts. If you are offered, you will have to decide if it is for you.
The different academic areas also offer learning communities if the idea of being clustered with those in a similar major appeals. My son is in the CS learning community this year and loves it. There are a lot of options. My advice is to visit the school and ask lots of questions. The students on campus are really friendly and we found were more than willing to give their honest opinion on programs etc.
A thing to keep in mind is that almost no one actually fulfills the Honors College’s requirements. Pretty much everyone drops out of the Honors College prior to graduation. The only true perk is the priority registration (which you won’t receive until it’s time to register for the Spring 2017 semester).
I’m a CS major with mostly CS and FYE friends. We all agree it’s a waste of our time. The seminar class is only one credit hour but meets for two hours weekly and end after the eighth week. As you can imagine, this makes scheduling it alongside other classes tricky.
It’s honestly not difficult to get into the Honors College.