<p>What do you think of, or know about, Honors Colleges in large-possibly undistiguished-public universities? Do they generally offer a good academic experience? Let's say you earned a degree from Texas Tech. Would a grad school look more favorably on such a degree if you were in the Honors College?</p>
<p>They are ok if you are destined to go to that school, perhaps for financial reasons. Otherwise, you should definitely try to simply get into a better school. If you qualify for an honors college, you would qualify for a better school. The advantages of honors colleges are negligible.</p>
<p>I'd like to hear about this too. I THINK (but I'm still checking to make sure) that our state's flagship university honors program would be a good "safety" possibility for my oldest son. What's less clear is exactly what the experience of studying in that program would be like. What do you hear from current students about public university honors programs? Is that your first choice?</p>
<p>What's pretty ridiculous is that quite a few them seem to require the student to be in the top 10% of the class, which is a great disadvantage to those in good private schools or very competitive publics. Doesn't make a whole lot of sense....my son's test scores will be hundreds of points over their average SAT score, but he won't be in the top 10%. Ah, even less motivation to investigate the honors programs.</p>
<p>Honors colleges and similar programs are very different from school to school, so it's hard to generalize. My feeling is that the biggest advantage of them is that you might get a better education in one than in another college opportunity which is available to you. If so, that might pay off down the road in more significant ways than grad school or job placement. My son is in an honors program, and I'm glad of it, but I don't think it will make much difference in terms of "credentials"; more in terms of the experience itself.</p>
<p>I agree with Kluge - it's the experience that will be enhanced by Honors, not the prestige for grad school admissions. The ones I've researched give motivated, talented students a cohort of similarly talented students in Honors classes, as well as to hang out with, study with, and live with, in some cases. Having a peer group like this is a huge benefit, I think. There can be other benefits such as priority registration, better academic advising, access to research opportunities, and access to faculty. Not all observe the strict cut-offs: if your son's at a highly competitive high school, top test scores might make up for being out of the top 10%.</p>
<p>One main reason for students to go to Honors College rather than a better known school is finance. Many of the highly selective schools offer no merit scholarship. So for a kid from middle or upper middle income family will have to pay most of the college expense out of the family budget. On the other hand many public universities do offer big merit scholarships to students with top credential and have them enrolled in their Honors College. The many benefits of an Honors College are registration priority, special honors classes that are taught by the best professors, special mentorship and research opportunities, honors dorm, scholarships for study abroad, graduation with the distinction of honor, etc. At the end of the day, it is still how the individual himself/herself that counts.</p>
<p>Agree with leungpy1:
1. Finance - privates are expensive even at 10-15K off 45+K
2. Honors makes a large university seem smaller and students get to know profs.
3. It's how the individual views him/herself. Most important! </p>
<p>1st kid was not in honors. Very driven and into his major. Went to a medium in-state public university with not many others in his major. Ended up going to OOS big 10 grad school for masters and got a great job.</p>
<p>I think having Honors on a transcript and diploma is a BIG plus in job hunting.</p>
<p>Agree that Honors on a transcript is a big plus for jobs and for grad school. There are other ways to get honors distinction than being admitted into an Honors program as a freshman.</p>
<p>My experience is quite old, but I went to an honors college inside a large, undistiguished university and found it to be a huge step up in quality of experience compared to the non honors experience. </p>
<p>None of my classes, even in freshman year, had more than 20 students. Freshman English, for example, was 7 students and taught by the head of the English department. The honors college sponsored weekly informal lectures with distiguished visiting faculty, authors, etc. The lecture would consist of the lecturer and perhaps 20 students with prolonged discussion afterwards. There was higher quality housing available for honors students (I passed in favor of a mixed dorm). There were special social events, like receptions at the university president's home, where we were introduced to the pres, heads of departments, etc. At every point we were treated as intelligent young adults who would be future leaders (little did they know I would amount to so little!).</p>
<p>By comparison, many non honors classes had hundreds of students, were taught by grad students and were boring.</p>
<p>What does it mean when an institution offers "honors" classes at any level of instruction?
- We do not teach what we should and as we ought to all students.
- We only teach what we should and as we ought to very few students.
Try for a school where "honors" are the norm.</p>
<p>The honors program at my son's school only involves a few classes a year separate from the normal curriculum. You can get tabbed for it on entrance, or earn your way in (as my son did). You can also earn your way out, by failing to maintain a required GPA or taking enough honors classes.</p>
<p>Hifi, I disagree. At a large university there will be a wide range of learning abilities. Having a "normal" track and an "accelerated" track is a way to provide the best quality education for students of varying academic talents. I'm a firm believer that good profs teach to the level of their students. When you have a wide variation in the learning abilities of the students you necessarily have to strike an average approach which may shortchange your best students. Remember, we're talking about "large public universities" here. Not all students at such schools are "honors" level students; that doesn't mean there's no place for them at a given university, only that they may be best served by a less intense approach to their studies.</p>
<p>Any suggestions of a good honors program? Looking for as many classes in the honors program and honors dorm.</p>
<p>Hi, kimfred, your location is Wisconsin. You could go to the U of MN Twin Cities to have an honors program with program-specific classes and an honors dorm. I'm still trying to find out more details about that program.</p>
<p>anyone knon anything bout pitt's honors program</p>
<p>What about ASU Barrett Honors College? It sounds interesting, but I wonder about being so far ahead academically of the rest of the student body at a place like Arizona state. </p>
<p>Does anyone have specific honors program experience?</p>
<p>I think generally they are a ruse to gull unsuspecting students to good ol' state u (or lesser private, etc.) when that student could do better. Our state u, Texas, is a fine school and has a variety of honors colleges/programs, but many who go to those do so only after they fail to gain admission to a nationally recognized private, or whose parents use it to urge declining that other school for real or imagined financial reasons. The education is "better" than the run of the mill offerings in that classes tend to be smaller and some are different (seminars, etc.) but mostly it's the same education with more flexibility, as well as the opportunity to crow you are in the honors program before and after. It is, in the end, the same degree and only a better education if you as a student work to make it so, the same opportunity everyone within the university has.</p>
<p>redcrimblue-
I agree. Honors colleges are a ploy by lesser schools to enroll better students. Honors students should simply go to a better school, unless they must go to the state u anyway for financial reasons.</p>
<p>If you're set on going to a public university either for financial, geographic, or social reasons, then you should do the honors program. just beware that honors housing is usually (stereotypically) filled with arrogant nerds. & know that even though you'll have more challenging classes than your non-honors classmates, the intellectual experience can't compete with going to a better college where everyone around you is at your level and you can actually learn outside of the classroom. intelligence is contagious, in my opinion.</p>