<p>So who here is doing the honors program?
If so, what are the benefits of doing it?
Would it be advantageous for one who is applying to law schools?
Discuss.</p>
<p>here is an intresting article</p>
<p>By Daniel Miller
DAILY BRUIN SENIOR STAFF
<a href="mailto:dmiller@media.ucla.edu">dmiller@media.ucla.edu</a></p>
<p>Students take part in the College Honors Program at UCLA for a variety of reasons. Some students participate in it because it gives them priority enrollment. Others do it because it gives them access to honors counselors, while some take part in the program because they think it is prestigious and will pad their resumes.</p>
<p>"I originally thought it would get me more honor from people," fourth-year mathematics student Adam Hirsch said.</p>
<p>There's that too.</p>
<p>It's noteworthy that when I asked several College Honors Program students why they labored in Honors Collegium classes, Honors designated courses or Departmental Honors Program courses, a scant few mentioned that they took part in the program because they wanted a challenging academic experience.</p>
<p>Or specifically, "the most challenging educational experience possible to students at UCLA drawn from the most representative and diverse populations as possible in an environment that nurtures the whole student academically, socially, emotionally and intellectually."</p>
<p>That's the mission statement for the Honors Programs at UCLA. Professors who teach Honors Collegium courses think this challenging academic experience is the motivation for students to take their classes.</p>
<p>"These are the top students in university; they are challenging themselves by taking something interdisciplinary, and I think it takes a special kind of student to do that," visiting chemistry and biochemistry Professor Eric Scerri said.</p>
<p>"They are certainly more active students," sociology Professor William Roy said. "I get good students in all my classes. It's not that I think students in other classes aren't good enough. (But) the honors students tend to be more active."</p>
<p>Despite professors' best intentions, I think that students and professors' goals in the program are at odds. That is not to say that there aren't students who take part in the program because they love to learn. But certainly there is a sizeable group of students who take part in it because of the aforementioned non-academic benefits.</p>
<p>While students in the College Honors Program get credit through Honors Contracts or through Honors designated courses, they are required to take Honors Collegium courses. These courses are the cornerstone of the College Honors Program they take an interdisciplinary approach to learning and allow for close student-faculty relations. Many professors love to teach these classes.</p>
<p>"I like teaching my honors class for several reasons: First, the students are highly motivated to learn new ideas ... Second, yes, teaching an honors class definitely provides more academic freedom in the sense that I can approach specific topics from interdisciplinary perspectives," said psychology adjunct Professor Dahlia Zaidel in an e-mail interview.</p>
<p>In Zaidel's course, Honors Collegium 64: Neuroscience and Psychology of Art and Biology of Aesthetics, students learn about art and the brain from neuroscientific and biological viewpoints. Archaeology, anthropology and art history are all incorporated into the class. Surely some students take the class because it truly interests them. Yet, for many College Honors Program students, the classes, however interesting, are simply taken to fulfill requirements.</p>
<p>"I've taken two Honors Collegium classes," Hirsch said. "They were so easy. Ridiculously easy I barely learned anything. One of them had five books and the paper topic was on a chapter from one book and that's all I read."</p>
<p>Hirsch said he looks at his participation in the College Honors Program as a resume builder.</p>
<p>"I don't think its going to get me a job, but it's on my resume," Hirsch said.</p>
<p>Elizabeth Berman, a former political science student who graduated in 2004 from UCLA with the College Honors designation on her diploma, said she does not think being in the program will help her get a job after she graduates from the USC School of Law, and she does not think being in the program helped her get into law school.</p>
<p>"It's noted on my resume, but no one outside of academia knows what it is unless you explain it," she said.</p>
<p>Second-year psychobiology student Annie Postolov, who is taking part in the College Honors Program, will also note her participation in the program on her resume and graduate school applications, yet is unsure of any effect that might have.</p>
<p>"I did it because I thought it would look better when it came to applications for medical school," Postolov said. "I've heard that's not true, but I figured if you are in the program it could be helpful."</p>
<p>So if being in the College Honors Program doesn't help you get into graduate school or a job, maybe the priority enrollment is the real plus. After all, that is why several students said they wanted to participate in the program.</p>
<p>"The original main benefit was priority enrollment," Hirsch said. "That never came in handy because they have a cap during priority and your time is random. By the time I had priority the classes were half full."</p>
<p>Some professors who teach Honors Collegium classes are realistic about their students' goals.</p>
<p>"There are some ... normal cases and some who couldn't spell names of authors we had," Germanic languages professor Robert Kirsner said.</p>
<p>Assistant Vice Provost for Honors G. Jennifer Wilson said that around 500 students graduate with the diploma seal each year. Overall there are about 5,000 students in the program.</p>
<p>"The biggest attrition is at the end of the first year," said Wilson, who directs the Honors Program. "Students find it harder than they anticipated or they get pulled away."</p>
<p>Or maybe many students decide that despite offering a rich academic opportunity, the College Honors Program hasn't allowed them to reap the benefits that they expected from the program in the first place.</p>
<p>Since I want to keep my GPA up, I guess I should pass on this opportunity. As you know, law schools are numbers driven and b-school is work experience driven, thus taking honors classes will have no effect on my career.</p>
<p>i am still considering it, but i would apply after a quarter or two at ucla, just to see what the coarse load is like, also based on the course list i saw they have some very intresting classes.</p>
<p>im doing the honors program at my community college as part of the transfer alliance program with ucla</p>
<p>can't do it...no honors program for engineering majors</p>
<p>how else can I get the priority enrollment? this ain't fair</p>
<p>nikkei,</p>
<p>Honors classes are very unlikely to negatively affect your GPA.</p>
<p>^ How is that?</p>
<p>they will increase the workload.. so i would imagine it would lower the time you have for each class and lower the gpa</p>
<p>The way I look at it, Honor professors know that you need a 3.5 or something (I'm not sure exactly what) in order to stay in the program so perhaps the professors will try to keep the average in the class to a B so that students will not fall below the mininum GPA to stay in. </p>
<p>At least this is the case at my CCC. The professor are all helpful and wishes for the student to succeed. Maybe this goes for UCLA too? Actually, I'm just guessing so if UCLAri is more knowledgable on this topic please give some more info. I am very interested in joining too</p>
<p>The Honors classes weren't significantly more difficult than standard classes. Plus, any additional marginal difficulty was usually mitigated by the increase of professor attention, better classmates to work with, and oftentimes more "fun" topics. </p>
<p>The additional papers to get the honors credit, while sometimes a pain, were always pass/no pass for me, and usually let me explore things that I'd be tested on during the final anyway, so it actually helped my grades.</p>
<p>well in my community college as part of the transfer alliance progragram with UCLA, to get honors credit we can take a normal class, and then collaborate with the professor to do additional work in addition to the normal workload, not for extra credit, and sign a form outlining this, and apply for honors credit for the class.</p>
<p>because of this system, my understanding is that the main difference between honors and non honors classes was that honors classes assigned more work.</p>
<p>I think the Honors Program in some California community colleges is called "Scholar Program" in some other California community college. It helps you to get in UCLA but it is not the Honors Program in which if you finish, you will have "honors" on your transcript at UCLA.
In summary, the community one (also referred as TAP) let you get in, the UCLA one let you finish with honors. These are two different programs, indeed. </p>
<p>Any thought from current UCLA students about this?</p>
<p>Is the UCLA Honors Program the same as graduating with Summa Cum Laude, Magma Cum Laude, and Cum Laude? Or are the latter 3 distinctions totally based on GPA at the time of graduation?</p>
<p>Is the Honors program the same as departmental honors?</p>
<p>Speaking of that....I read some place that transfer students can apply to receive latin honors (Summa, Magna, and Cum Laude). Anyone know the requirements for a transfer student?</p>
<p>Okay guys...first of all, UCs abolished the use of Latin honors. Silly as it may sound, it's only "highest honors," "high honors," and "honors." Transfer students don't "apply" to receive honors. As long as they take enough units at the university to be considered, and maintain the minimum GPA, conferrment of honors is automatic, and the same as any other student.</p>
<p>The UCLA Honors Program has nothing to do with standard honors, and is a totally seperate distinction.</p>
<p>Departmental honors, by the way, is for most departments conferred for the completion of original research or a significant project of some sort, and is altogether distinct.</p>