<p>I encourage anyone who is interested to apply. They're very receptive of interested students, even if you've missed the application deadline. If I can remember correctly, the minimum criteria for getting into the UHP is EITHER a 3.5 high school GPA or attaining a certain score on the SATs. </p>
<p>If you have time, read the annual reports the honors program publishes on their website. The most recent one is from the year 2005-2006. Those documents reveal some very startling facts... Only a little over 35% of admitted UHP students successfully complete the program in two years. So many students from my year were dismissed or voluntarily quit (one inside source told me 60% of our incoming class of 300 were gone after just 3 quarters), that I think the UHP staff is embarrassed to make public the statistics for our year (incoming class of 2006). The annual drop-out rate for lower-division honors students is quite high and mostly biased towards science/engineering students. After my freshman year, I think there were 5 engineering majors left in the UHP from my incoming class...and at least one of the five was on UHP's academic probation. Heading into your sophomore year, you'll notice the composition of your year's incoming honors class to be significantly different. One can expect 90% of the survivors to be CHASS students, while a good number of COE and CNAS folks fall casualty to the GPA requirement.</p>
<p>I don't say many good things about UCR, but I will openly support the UHP. For those who are serious about education, the honors program is a must. The staff members of the honors office are very supportive and care deepy for each students' interests and concerns. They help to create a learning environment that fosters personal growth and champions the spirit of research. UHP coordinators make it their mission to satisfy honors students' academic endeavors by referring you to undergraduate research projects, various speaker series on campus, and make life in Riverside more tolerable by constantly emailing you a plethora of scholarship/community service opportunities plus UHP exclusive trips/socials events. The four lower-division honors classes I took have definitely been the highlight of my education at UCR. If you're undecided as to whether or not the honors program is something you truly want to be involved, I would advise you to apply so you may keep your options open. Should you decide that you don't like the UHP (and many many people don't), you still walk away with priority registration until the quarter after you terminate your membership...unless, of course, the student quits the honors program in the first few weeks of a quarter before registering for next quarter's classes (haha, the brazen stupidity found on this campus will amaze you!). </p>
<p>Unfortunately, I did not reside in Pentland Hills. In my freshman year, I lived in A-I, where living conditions were sometimes worse than that of the military. The showers would not have hot water for as long as 10 days at a time, theft was at an all-time historical high, we once experienced 4 fire drills in a two-day period (two real fires: one burned down an entire lounge on the third floor and the other was a blatant act of arson from an upset student living in the hall across from mine, which incidentally was the second honors hall in the building), and the food is just awful! Dorm halls in AI are serviced by an unified air system, so if one person gets sick... Oh, and the walls are EXTREMELY thin. If you have sexually active dorm neighbors (especially if the girl is contumeliously vocal leading up to the climax), even the world's most expensive ear plugs won't help you out much.</p>