<p>I've started my college search and have been looking at the benefits of going to my local state schools' (U of Oregon or Oregon State) and their respective honors colleges. </p>
<p>One thing I have been wondering is: if I want to be able to have intelligent conversations with people that genuinely like learning, is a state school right for me? I don't generally like huge parties; I would rather sit around with a small group of friends and hang out. Is this possible at a state school? </p>
<p>Also, though the answer may differ a lot from school to school, how good are the honors programs at state schools? Are they just a name, or do the honors college students form their own tight-knit community?</p>
<p>Any advice would be incredibly helpful</p>
<p>I think a lot of this depends on which state school you're talking about. I don't know much about either of those school in OR, but in general from what I have seen at Illinois and Michign, the nice thing about big state schools is that there's usually something for everyone, so you'll find your nerdy niche.</p>
<p>Honors colleges are not substantially different from the rest of the university. If you qualify for the honors college, you will probably qualify for a better college elsewhere.</p>
<p>Does anyone else have opinions/comments on state schools' honors colleges?</p>
<p>Some honors colleges can be VERY different. Check out the Honors Tutorial College at Ohio University (where my son is): <a href="http://ouhtc.org%5B/url%5D">http://ouhtc.org</a></p>
<p>This is a very tight-knit, great, diverse group of people. And if you're good enough to get into that program, you'll probably qualify for some good merit money that will bring the cost down to in-state levels.</p>