<p>Honors programs at research universities aren’t that special. If you enroll in the honors program, you will be required to take extra honors courses while taking classes for your major. If you prefer going to a small school with more specialized guidance from professors, I would suggest going to a top LAC. If you want to go to a top grad program, LACs do an excellent job of preparing their students for grad schools. I can guarantee you that you won’t be going to a top grad school if you end up at UCB or Cornell because of their competitiveness and their grade deflation in most classes involving premed.</p>