What are the advantages in being admitted to this program. Is is worth it
Because I’m lazy I’m just copying and pasting my pros and cons list from another post about the honors college. I’m a sophomore in elementary education. I spent two semesters in the honors college, but have recently dropped it.
Pros:
*Priority registration after first semester if you keep your GPA at 3.5 or above
*Some networking opportunities if you’re really motivated about taking advantage of them (I’m not.)
*You get a “gold star” so to speak on your diploma
*Chances to take classes from the best professors at Purdue
*With the right professor, honors public speaking (COM 114H) is super easy!
*Research opportunities (at least for education majors)
*You get to live in Shreve. I’m a commuter students so I don’t know exactly how wonderful this is, but the impression I get from other students is that it’s a tightly knit community.
Cons:
*The vague senior thesis/scholarly project that no one knows anything about (including advisers)
*The HONR designated courses you have to take really don’t contribute much to your college experience
*Lots of people in the honors college are intellectual snobs (I may get this impression simply because they look down on my particular major.)
*I’ve heard that honors engineering can kill you
*The honors courses clutter up your schedule when you could be taking classes to work toward your major or ones that you just enjoy.
*Many majors don’t have enough “H denoted” classes to meet the honors college’s requirements, so you have to sign honors contracts with professors for some classes. I haven’t done one of these yet but it sounds like more work, not more meaningful work.
Ultimately I decided to quit the honors college because of the cons listed and because the College of Education kept adding new classes that were required on top of all my other requirements just because I was an honors student. I disliked the honors education courses strongly so I dropped the college. It wasn’t worth it for me, but that doesn’t mean it won’t be worth it for you. I have a good friend who is very happy in the honors college. You might as well try it, and just see if it works out for you. It doesn’t hurt to give it a go. If nothing else, it does give you one leg up on jobs if someone else has an identical resume except for honors college vs. not.