<p>My DS is junior and I am trying to help put together a list of schools that he should. He's a good student and probably in top 10 of his class with weighted GPA of 4+. Looking for some help in identifying what universities are out there that are highly competitive (non-IVY) but do offer honors programs. While we are sure to be applying to a coupleof Ivies, I think that it would be good for him to also look at some schools that also have a good reputation and offer the added benefits of honors program. He is interested in math and possible business.</p>
<p>You'll need to look at the details of the honors programs offered; in some cases, it's really in name only. That said, most of the top public U's have honors programs. The most competitive private U's do not have honors....nearly all the admitted students have the GPA and SAT #'s to be in the honors programs elsewhere.</p>
<p>UVA and UNC are both highly competitive (especially for OOS students) and offer honors programs.
PSU is not as selective overall, but offers a highly selective and well respected Honors Program for only 300 entering students. I know kids who were accepted at lower Ivies and rejected at Schreyer Honors. It's a good program...more than a name. Requires a separate application, essays and recommendations. Check out their website...
Maryland and UDel also offer honors programs. I've heard good things about both.
Pitt has an honors program and I believe they also offer full tuition scholarships to students. Good business program too. And an urban environment if that's what you're looking for.<br>
Lehigh as an honors program but it seems more like just a name.<br>
The really top schools don't usually have an honors program...no need really.</p>
<p>with an Honors program is University of Michigan. Kids are invited to apply following acceptance to the university.</p>
<p>Well, I know that Notre Dame, Duke, Vanderbilit, & Rice all have honors programs. Njmmmom, why don't you google it and see what colleges pop up as a start?</p>
<p>Boston College has an honors program, but I don't know anything about it.</p>
<p>USC [University of Southern Calif] has the Thematic Options program [Humanities Honors], and the Science and Math Honors Programs for top students. Both offer small class sizes taught by the best professors at the university. They also have a very good UG Business Program [Marshall]. If you son is a NMF he would also qualify for their 1/2 tuition scholarship.</p>
<p>You should discover the best honors program in the country, with all of the usual perks (first choice in classes, private dorm rooms, etc etc), but also one-on-one (or extremely small) classes with professors, intense personal attention from the Honors College staff, great support for out-of-curricula projects, great associations with fellow honors college students, and on and on and on.</p>
<p>While the university itself is not necessarily that competitive, the Honors College is, involving extra application submissions, extra essays, portfolios (if the major requires it), and personal interviews. But they only bring in about 60 students a year across 26 majors - an average of only TWO students per major.</p>
<p>Best part... if you qualify, you will probably also qualify for an automatic full- or almost-full tuition scholarship.</p>
<p>My son is in the program and I cannot say enough great things about it. It truly is different than most, which you will discover if you take time to check it out at Ohio</a> University: Honors Tutorial College:Home Listen to my son talking about the program: He is 4th from the left in the video testimonials.</p>
<p>If you can get accepted, your search for the perfect program is over.</p>
<p>There are well over 1,500 honors programs in the U.S. Some large state universities have three or four different honors programs. Some are research oriented, most are not. Swarthmore College Honors is one of the best academically & intellectually.</p>
<p>My son is in the honors program at Michigan and is very happy. He is taking an honors math analysis sequence which is very demanding and, if he completes the four course series, he will be able to take graduate level math classes his junior and senior years. fyi</p>
<p>South Carolina has an honors program and offers instate tuition and scholarships to top students. They have a competitive international business program.</p>
<p>University of Florida has a two yr. honors program and the school is pretty strong in business.</p>
<p>Boston College and Fordham offer an honors program for the liberal arts and a seperate business honors program. Fordham offers scholarship money to top students, BC's merit scholarships are very limited.</p>
<p>I bet most of these schools have solid math honors courses.</p>
<p>Wisconsin (Madison) can be added to the list. Be sure to consider the overall caliber of the student body, integrated versus isolated honors students, overall caliber of the university...</p>
<p>UMD has a great honors program (with several offshoots), and several Scholars living/learning communities. From what we've seen this year, it is a really strong program. Thumbs up here on these.</p>
<p>University of Washington has an Honors program, too.</p>
<p>UT Plan II Honors is considered one of the best, if not the best honors program. It has served as a model for many of the honors programs throughout the US. In addition to Plan II, your child could also simultaneously be in the Business Honors Program, too. UT Business is a perennial Top 10 undergrad Business program.</p>
<p>There is a Peterson's Guide to Honors Programs and Colleges which might be helpful to you.</p>
<p>As I think someone said above, the name "program" and "college" is fairly interchangeable in MOST cases (some Honors Colleges are truly colleges with their own faculty, confer degress but they are rare). And programs/colleges vary a great deal. You need to do your homework, just like in selecting a university, to find the right fit.</p>
<p>Good luck!</p>
<p>Can't comment yet on the experience, because my son's a HS senior, but we're hoping it will be a good one for him. When looking at honors programs/colleges, we wanted to be sure that there were honors sections of regular, core courses with smaller class size and top professors, not just special honors seminars.</p>
<p>If anyone has knowledge of Clark Honors College at the University of Oregon I'd love to hear anything about it. I tried posting on the UO board, but it doesn't get much traffic so I haven't been able to glean much. I read the info and watched the videos available on the school's website, but it would be great to hear from people with some information or experience with it.</p>