<p>edit, top not tip...</p>
<p>to NonAbsolute:
Be sure and look into what your in-state honors college offers. Some just offer the top kids a spot and I am not sure how the degree compares with a non-honors program. Others require a separate application and offer an elite education.</p>
<p>Senior in H.S.,</p>
<p>if you read other threads on this matter you'll see a poster with hard data on law, medical, and grad school admisisons that shows a steep decline in the Ivys and huge increase from state and lesser known universities. I think you should look at the whole picture and not get caught up on the prestige factor...a pet peeve of mine on many of my posts. can you see yourself happy and successful at all of these schools? If you attend the state school will the savings allow you to more easily cover the costs of grad school or a summer or semester abroad program? Are the state school programs Honors Programs? As such, what do their graduates look like compared to where you see yourself?</p>
<p>Honors programs can require separate applications and can be very selective. I know of students accepted at Ivies and turned down by the University of Washington honors program (the good news is that one can be turned down for the honors program and accepted as a regular student).</p>
<p>Hey, I would say, attend the Ivy of yoru choice if you can afford it. Even though the state honors colleges are very good, there are a litany fo reasons to go to an Ivy if it is affordable. you can email or IM me if you want more info.</p>
<p>S was recruited by an OOS school's honors program and given all sorts of merit aid and attention and lots of alumuni letters and occasional little gifts and made to feel like the place really, REALLY wanted him. The school is a public university. But in his HOME state, he applied to our flagship Univ. and, while he was accepted immediately, there has been no other communication with them until Friday's letter saying "we haven't heard from you yet." No honors letters, no scholarship letters, no letters period until Friday. Hmmmm. Why such discrepancy between the two public schools?</p>
<p>This is a great thread!</p>
<p>I have always told my kids you get out of your college education what you put into it. You can get a great education at a non-ranked school if that is your focus. Or you can go Ivy and totally waste your time. Obviously, not many people do that, but it is possible.</p>
<p>My dd is a sophomore at a state school honors program. She is thriving! Loves the school, the program, etc. While there are still some things she'd like to change, this has been a great choice for her. The honors dorm is a smaller, more intimate dorm than many on campus. It also houses the administrative offices for the honors program, so they are very accessible to students. </p>
<p>We are from a VERY small town (less than 2500!) and the large school has not been a problem. She is quick to point out that you can get lost there IF YOU WANT TO. To avoid the "lost" feeling, find your own community, whether it's a sorority, club for your major, your dorm floor, a campus ministry, or volunteering for a local cause. Involvement is a major key to college satisfaction. Smaller schools make "getting lost at a large university" a selling point for themselves, but smaller does not necessarily mean more involved. Getting to know your professors at a larger school does sometimes take more initiative on the student's part, but it still happens. And the mix of people is wonderful!
fm</p>
<p>I am another huge advocate of state honors colleges for many bright, capable students as an alternative to the "high priced spread" (my age is showing). My son is currently a freshman at Texas Tech Honors College (Texas Tech is little known outside of Texas except for having Bobby Knight as its basketball coach. However, two juniors were also just named Goldwater Scholars for their math/science achievements) </p>
<p>With the nurturing environment of a small honors college, "Big State U" can be a quality alternative. My son is a sports enthusiast (both viewing and playing) so a university with good Division I sports was high on his list. I graduated from the University of Chicago eons ago when Division III football had just been brought back, so U of C and similar liberal arts colleges/universities were not on his list. I balked at "big Stat U" for the often mentioned reasons of huge lecture classes taught by TAs where kids can get lost in the crowd. However, with the honors college alternative the stock of "Big State U' rose.</p>
<p>So far, Texas Tech Honors College has proved to be an excellent fit for my son. The average SAT of entering freshmen is 1340 with many "vals/saluts" so the serious student, intellectual stimulation is there. </p>
<p>Also, the trend at state honors colleges is toward having faculty whose only appointment is in the honors college (several at "Tech"); bachelors degrees only offered by the honors college (two so far at Tech including a generalist liberal arts degree); and special graduate admissions criteria for honors college students into the university's medical and law schools (both at Tech).</p>
<p>My son is a shy, introspective young man who needs "strokes" for when he produces good work (i.e. a nurturing environment with caring, accessible professors). And - as at numerous state honors colleges - he has gotten this supportive treatment at Tech which has allowed him to blossom. (He is president of his honors dorm council and doing very well academically.)</p>
<p>I had an inkling that Tech's honors college was the right choice for my son when we chatted with a very interesting, inquisitive humanities professior (who is one of the "honors college only" faculty). This professor had the usual Phd. but had recently also gotten a "refresher" master's degree from St. Johns College - Annapolis/Sante Fe (known for their rigorous classic liberal arts education). Now this humanities professor is one of my son's favorite teachers/mentors.</p>
<p>State honors colleges are obviously not everyone's cup of tea, but they can present a challenging, rigorous educational alternative to many capable students (and their patrents) who are at times too enamoured of the prestige (at $40 K a head).</p>
<p>Does anyone know anything in particular about the Honors Program at the University of Georgia (Athens, GA)??</p>
<p>My D was accepted into the UGA honors program this year. We attended a program in November for potential members. The avg SAT is 1438 - avg gpa 4.05 (only weighted classes are AP). It is by all accounts an excellent program. I think it is dicussed earlier in this thread. Look up VIG180 on this board who is attending with a top all expenses paid scholarship this fall.</p>
<p>Orangemom,</p>
<p>Thanks for pointing this out. Although we didn't choose a state honors program I did note that most of them had average SAT/ACT scores and GPAs that were comparable to the 50-75% range at almost all the Ivy league schools so they certainly attract an excellent student body. </p>
<p>For the newer parents, while some require a specific application most do not or if they do its just an added essay about the Honors experience for them. The range goes from a Penn State Schreyers Scholars applicatin that appeared to me to be more intense than Columbia's application while others are minimal. (Delaware) Also, many private universities that are not state schools have Honors Programs and often they provide merit scholarships to kids who do not qualify for need based aid or in some cases they look at need too when awarding merit money. Most do not require a special process to be considered for these scholarships (like Delaware, Lehigh, or most at BU) while others do.There is a whole thread listing some of these high qulaity LACS or university that offer merit money typically to the top 10% of their applicant pool. The consensus seems to be that many State Honors Program are an excellent choice for many students. Thanks for sharing and keeping this topic alive since I think few of us were aware of these program until now.</p>
<p>Lonestardad- welcome. I also went to U of Chicago eons ago (law school) and am now a Texan. Thanks for the report on Tech. I transferred my basketball loyalty to Tech when Bobby moved from IU (my alma mater). H went to Tech undergrad and has always maintained that it is a preferable undergrad experience than it's bigger brothers UT and A&M. Great that your son has found a niche in the honors college. All we hear about in Texas is UT Plan II. Unfortunately, Lubbock just does not appeal to S so we continue the search.</p>
<p>Has anyone seen a summary analysis of state university honors colleges with comparative details like honors dorms, priority registration, undergraduate research, international classes, average SAT scores, average number of honors classes taken, honors class size, etc?</p>
<p>It seems a list should exist somewhere for comparison purposes, but I have not seen it yet. I'd love to see a "top 20" list or similar.</p>
<p>MomofWildChild - Thanks so much for your comments. Given this was my first CC post of any kind (this one on "state honors colleges"), I wandered if anyone actually read it. Good luck on the college quest for your son! As an aside, in the college search last year with my son, I became a big fan of University of Tulsa. It quietly does the educational work for its students (2800 undergrads) extraordinarily well (the most Goldwater Scholars in the country since 1998 along with Princeton and Duke and two Truman Scholars this year) and gets very little notice outside Oklahoma.</p>
<p>reasonabledad: It would be great to have info on honors colleges. I think they remain secret because of the argument against providing an elite education at a public school.
Interesting that by federal law, public K-12s must now provide gifted and special ed programs. Maybe this has helped fuel the growth of honors programs at pulic Universities.
A few schools market themselves as the "honors colleges" for their state, like St. Mary's in MD and Wm & Mary; (although I don't know what the Wahoos at UVA think about that).</p>
<p>This has been a good thread...I read all 6 pages.</p>
<p>Does anyone know anything about the University of Arizona's Honors College? My D is about 99% on going there this fall to major in physics and astronomy. Would like to hear some informed opinions.</p>
<p>from "<a href="http://www.honors.arizona.edu/prospective.html">http://www.honors.arizona.edu/prospective.html</a>"</p>
<p>"Among the students enrolled from high school, the average SAT was 1275 and ACT was 28. The average high school GPA (unweighted) was 3.88. UA continues to be the school of choice for Arizona's best and brightest high school students. 10 of 20 prestigious Flinn scholars chose UA (continuing a 15-year tradition); and 76 National Merit Scholars enrolled at UA as well. Seventy-seven percent of Honors freshmen are Arizona residents."</p>
<p>Penn State's Honors has an average SAT higher than most, about 1430, so it compares with even the I League. I am going to BU Honors program in Sept. with a half tuition merit scholarship. A classmate is going to BU's Engineering Honors BME program. I looked at state schools for Honors but want to be in a city. Several classmates, including many in the top 5%, are going to Honors Programs at Maryland, Delaware and others. Even though they are OOS, Delaware gives them half tuition scholarships for merit.
Now with the money our parents are saving...how about a car upon graduation or at least pay for grad school, huh?</p>
<p>You think you are joking....I know multiple people who got their parents to offer them such a thing. They were offered to have all the money saved by getting a free ride at their state school over private tuition put into an investment account for them for when they graduated.....talk about a chunk of change!</p>
<p>Yeah I heard that about the car but don't know anyone yet that had that actually happen. I am interested in eventually getting an M.B.A. so my parents will save about 75,000 this way. I'll get an excellent education. The huge size of the Honrs Program at BU means I'll be with kids like me, stats in the 1400 and 1500s, high GPAs, but who are not overly concerned about having to attend Harvard. (and be on their unhappy student list) I visited three Honors state schools though and may have gone to one but I see myself in Boston.</p>