<p>Any positive or negitive experiences with a Big State Uni Honors College? Are bright, studious, inquistive students able to find thier niche?</p>
<p>After the Bataan Death March, opps I mean the Spring Break Midwest Engineering Tour, it seems that a big state uni could be a viable choice for my son. I am wondering if it is possible to find happiness and fulfillment at a big to medium state school.</p>
<p>It depends on the state and the college. Some of them are wonderful.</p>
<p>i have known students who attended the honors program at the university of washington
Not only did they get a free ride for 4 years- they got the perks of a large u with a smaller focus
One student actually skipped high school to enter the UW early entrance program- ( which she dropped out of Lakeside to attend), part of that was doing college at UW instead of an Ivy someplace-
it worked for her- ( she graduated last year at age of 20 with degrees in astronmy and physics and minor in Russian) she is now working abroad with "freedom corps"</p>
<p>Here is the thread for the Scheyer Honors College at Penn State. The school has a well regarded engineering program.
<a href="http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/showthread.php?t=30414%5B/url%5D">http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/showthread.php?t=30414</a></p>
<p>There was an interesting article in the Sunday Washington Post magazine about honors programs at state universities, titled The Price is Right. In summary, the pros are a great education with small classes and skilled professors at a low cost (or no cost since the state schools use merit money to lure qualified kids to their programs.) The cons are that it creates a two-tiered elitist educational system at schools with a public charter to educate the public (so the less brilliant kids get short-changed by getting larger classes and not the cream of the crop teaching.) Here's the link for it: <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A11195-2005Mar29.html%5B/url%5D">http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A11195-2005Mar29.html</a></p>
<p>This has been the focus of the college search for my son. This fall he will be attending a state university, that has never been mentioned on CC, as part of the Honors Program. His stats put him in the top 5% of this university's admits and a lot of people we know are a little surprised when I name the school and they ask me if he will be challenged. He will be in small seminar classes with other honors students who have similiar stats to his and will be taught by profs who have been selected to staff these classes. And yes the price is right. This acceptance comes with full tuition, fees, private room in the honors wing, meal card, books, and a campus job for 4 years. It is no Ivy League but he will be free to explore and enjoy his undergraduate years debt free.</p>
<p>Thanks dcmom3 for the link to the article from the Washington Post. Very informative. Also thanks 1moremom about the thread on Penn State. I haven't read it yet but I plan to soon.</p>
<p>Any negitive stories about life at a big university. My hope for my S is for him to find a place that he could have an active social life and still be able to study.</p>
<p>momfromtexas,would you be willing to share the name of that honors program and regional university?</p>
<p>I want to leave the school unnamed as I now have an 11th grade son to assist with a college list and this school will be on it. But when my 12th grade son began complaining about having his younger brother show up at "his" college in 06 I started checking around. I found that there really are hundreds of programs like this available in the US. I'll learn more about the pros and cons of this choice in the next year, but I am an educator and I think all will be well. The trade off is that my son could have attended a tier one school with name recognition, but with a different price of course.</p>
<p>I too believe the State Honors College programs have much to offer. Of course, some are much better & more selective than others. I agree with momfromtexas "It is no Ivy League but he will be free to explore and enjoy his undergraduate years debt free." I highly recommend taking a serious look at such programs.</p>
<p>I can't even express how happy I am with my son's acceptance into the Honors Tutorial College at Ohio University. It was unbelievably competitive and a lot of work preparing the essays and portfolios required. And then the finalists had to complete interviews for only 2 slots per department! But the benefits and the nurturing environment that it will provide go such a long way toward ensuring successs. Plus, I'm grateful for the merit $$$$ that came with the acceptance.</p>
<p>Thought provoking thread and it just so happens to be about the subject that's been on my mind for the past few days, too! :) Many thanks for the link to that article. I hope if others spot some good ones that they'll post them, too.</p>
<p>Nearly all states already have tiered higher ed systems so there is no "fairness" in the status quo. The addition of a tiered system within a larger school is no worse than having a UCLA and Cal State Sacramento in the same state.</p>
<p>
[quote]
I want to leave the school unnamed as I now have an 11th grade son to assist with a college list and this school will be on it. But when my 12th grade son began complaining about having his younger brother show up at "his" college in 06 I started checking around. I found that there really are hundreds of programs like this available in the US.
[/quote]
?????????????</p>
<p>mudge -</p>
<p>Actually, I can understand this. When we found what seemed like the perfect program for my son and then realized how competitive it was (only 2 slots per major), I had this strange feeling within. On the one hand, I wanted to shout it to all of CC: "Look how great THIS is!!" But OTOH, I thought: "There's competition enough already!!!"</p>
<p>So I decided to shout how great it is ..... for the NEXT crop of seniors. I know that sounds petty and selfish, but there are a lot of smart, competitive kids in the households of the CCers. </p>
<p>Was that a terrible thing to do?</p>
<p>dig, as most who read this board know my D although highly accomplished is limited financially in her college opportunities. I know several veteran posters whose children have the same constraints. I'm not picking on or at anybody. Everybody gets to make their own value judgments. I doubt that the specific school would have been appropriate for my kid in any event. I was ,however, curious. I do wonder though, how much specific and timely info would be on the board if everyone felt this way?</p>
<p>BTW,dig, coincidentally I did look at HTC on-line early this morning. Thanks for the tip.</p>
<p>Honors colleges offer some very valuable perks and let you meet some of the top students at your college. But when you're thinking of honors colleges the pitch is often that you're getting an elite private education at the public school price. Sadly, this isn't true.</p>
<p>No honors college that I know of is an honors college in the true sense; having its own faculty and giving its own degrees. Typically offerings cover your 1st 2 years, and range from one class per semester to all your classes. These are indeed in the honors college with the hand-picked profs and bright fellow students.</p>
<p>But after the first 2 years you complete your degree by taking upper-division classes with the regular students in the regular university. Often there are supplementary honors classes available, but in the end the majority (or even all) of the classes you take upper-division are the same ones everyone else takes. And class sizes may balloon, too, if your in a larger public U and a popular major. At the elites, of course, you continue in smaller classes with the same bright students around you that were there the 1st 2 years.</p>
<p>Honors colleges DO offer some valuable perks for those who can't attend a true elite for whatever reason. Typical ones include registering for classes before everyone else so you get the classes you want (a perk worth its weight in gold!), special counselors, guaranteed housing, special library privileges. They will stamp your diploma with some indication of honors college or make a note on your transcript.</p>
<p>But if you think its just like going to Williams or Dartmouth or whatever at 1/5 the cost, it just 'aint so.</p>
<p>mikemac - not true.</p>
<p>The Honors Tutorial College at Ohio University does grant its own degree and the program there is for the full four years. Many of the classes are taken "tutorial" style one-on-one with the professor. Others are in very small seminars with only a few students. This is why they can only take about 2 new students per year in each of the 25 majors. Some of the university faculty are designated as special faculty of the HTC.</p>
<p>The HTC programs can be completely different than the regular majors, with each program individually designed around the student needs. For example, in the University's film department, there is no undergraduate film production major (only graduate level). But there IS an undergrad film production major in the HTC.</p>
<p>From the HTC web site: <a href="http://www.ouhtc.org%5B/url%5D">http://www.ouhtc.org</a></p>
<p>"The Honors Tutorial College offers 25 challenging programs of study that provide a unique undergraduate educational experience to a select number of qualified students. Students admitted to the College undertake a substantial portion of the core curriculum in their respective disciplines through a series of tutorials. A tutorial consists of a full-time faculty member meeting with students either singly or in small seminars. In pursuing this method of instruction the College draws upon the rich educational traditions of British universities such as Cambridge and Oxford. Although other colleges and universities have adopted some aspects of the tutorial model, Ohio University remains the only institution in the United States with a degree-granting college incorporating all the essential features of a tutorial-based education."</p>
<p>And now you can see why we were so attracted to the program. And when you actually visit and see what those students are accomplishing, it's incredible. And if you're a candidate for the HTC, you certainly have the stats for their top-level merit scholarships which make the cost extremely reasonable. Besides, what other college do you know that sends candy on Valentine's Day to it's admittees.</p>
<p>This must be a timely topic. The April 4 issue of Time has an article on page 61 titled "An Ivy Stepladder." It focuses on Honors Programs at 2 year colleges and guaranteed acceptance plans to top 4 year colleges.</p>
<p>digmedia, congratulations on your son's acceptance into a fine and very selective program. Its something he can justifiably be proud of.</p>
<p>However lets not over-sell the program. Looking at the description of the Anthropology program, for example, they suggest 1 tutorial per quarter. The rest of the classes are regular 'ol OU classes. See <a href="http://www.ouhtc.org/programs.php%5B/url%5D">http://www.ouhtc.org/programs.php</a> Next down on the list, Biological Sciences. Looks like 1 tutorial a quarter there, too. Next on the list is Business Administration. Only 9 tutorials for that one -- those kids must be slackers :-) </p>
<p>Also you write "Some of the university faculty are designated as special faculty of the HTC." True, but I hope you don't have the impression that HTC has its own faculty, assisted by others in the larger U. All of the faculty teaching the HTC are from the larger U; the "some" comes about because only some of the larger U faculty are involved in HTC, not all of them. On the faculty page for HTC they say "Each HTC program has a director of studies, a faculty member in that program's respective department who oversees HTC-related activies in the department." That respective department lives in the larger U, not HTC. Look them up -- I did. Their appointments are in a department of the larger U, not HTC.</p>
<p>I don't mean to quibble here or detract from HTC. It sounds like a great program for those fortunate enough to be accepted. But its 200 students taking some of their classes in an incredible setting of close contact with a faculty member, not 2000 students taking ALL of their classes in a great setting of 10-20 students.</p>