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<p>I had to laugh when I read your assessment of the course requirements.</p>
<p>This is precisely why my D turned down one of her acceptances.</p>
<p>Well the honors program from UMD is attracting me because the particular program I got into is a Cybersecurity program, which is relatively close to my planned major (ECE) and has lots of potential job opportunities.
Generally, honors colleges should be a bit of an afterthought, but this seems to be an exception.</p>
<p>I think the OP is questioning the benefit of the “honors” distinction relative to what it is in high school where there are fewer options to distinguish a student academically, and where honors affects weighted GPA and class rank.
In college, honors is less of an “all or none” choice and is one of many options for a student to distinguish him/herself. An honors class may be designated on a transcript but the college GPA’s that I’ve seen are not weighted and there is no class rank. Also, two college grads won’t likely take the same core classes or be in the same applicant pool (unless they are the same major applying to the same graduate program or job). A STEM student may be more benefitted by doing research than taking an honors literature class, but that class could benefit an English major. If a student does not want to participate in honors- research, internships, grades, GRE scores and letters of recommendation are some of the other ways to stand out.
In high school, the honors class concept is fairly uniform, but college honors programs are varied.
It is the student’s choice as to the weight of the benefits of any honors program to his or her academic goals.</p>
<p>The OP was questioning what was great about Honors College, not honors distinction, but did compare it to HS where it’s course dependent. This all falls under YMMV. Each school handles an Honors College differently. The OP should investigate what advantages and disadvantages come with that option. IMO people here have been mixing the terms Honors College and Honors Diploma. Perhaps at their schools the two are inextricably tied. That was not the case at my DD’s schools.</p>
<p>Honors College</p>
<p>My HS senior son has learned each one differs.</p>
<p>some of the LACs do not have an Honors element because all the students are assumed to be in that level.</p>
<p>some Honors programs just seemed like extra work with no gain for a kid who doesn’t enjoy writing - a lot of reading/depth discussion/writing assignments</p>
<p>others made a large U seem to have a LAC within the U. Many interesting and varied courses open to Honors Kids, housing, priority registration. This alleviated our “perception” (real or imaginary) that DS could grad in 4 yrs, could find a “fit” in a peer group and could get an education that would rival the LACs he was drawn to.</p>
<p>There were schools DS applied and if he attended he would NOT have taken part in Honors; other schools he would not even have applied to if the Honors College was not an option.</p>
<p>Though there is some level of prestige in being invited to an Honors college but it isn’t the most important selling factor.</p>
<p>Our experience has shown that the advantages include - </p>
<p>Better housing - larger rooms, usually the newest or recently renovated dorms. Dorms are quieter and not party dorms.
Classes - Priority class placement, smaller classes, classes taught by Ph D’s and not TA’s
Advisors - More accessible. Smaller population of students = more time available per student
Students - As a group more focused, studious, and respectful of peers. Smaller classes creates a good group learning environment. Active study groups. Students more aware of need for quiet and study time.
Access. To scholarships, professors, alumni networks, and learning experiences unique to the Honors College</p>
<p>Not sure how it will all pan out but it was enough to sway us from one university to another especially when merit scholarship was also attached.</p>
<p>My daughter is starting at our directional regional public university this fall (as opposed to the highly regarded flagship). The school has what seems to be a wonderful Honors program for its 14,000 undergraduate student population, accounting for 10% of that population. which provides the students with smaller classes, research opportunities, mentoring, overseas opportunities, etc. I also believe this honors program has increased the average SAT for the school to over 1200 (writing not included) whereas a few years back it was only about 1120 or so. Unfortunately, my daughter coming from a hyper competitive public high school (ranked in the top 50 of more than 20,000 by US News) wants nothing to do with it. She says she is tired of all of the ultra competitive students from her highschool (one reason she had no interest in the Flagship, including its larger size) and wants a more average college life. I’m not sure I blame her but wish she was a little more motivated.</p>
<p>And yes, the University tries to sell the Honors Program by describing it as a small private LAC education for public school prices.</p>
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A little off topic for the thread, but perhaps she is burned out? Has she thought about taking a gap year to rest and recharge? From what I’ve read about workloads they give HS students in AP classes these days, those classes which are supposed to merely replicate frosh-level college classes end up being more challenging than practically any actual college class. Point being her experience in HS may not be a good predictor of what life at a flagship public or honors program would be like.</p>
<p>I think the issue here that is running through many posts is that honors colleges and/or honors programs are so vastly different across the board it is impossible to not only compare them to each other but also to hold them up again top 5 or top 10 Universities. As I stated before the program my daughter is in (Plan II) although “Liberal Arts” based, is not an “English” major. </p>
<p>People need to wrap their heads around what a true Liberal Arts education is before they say they are a mis-match for STEM students, since math and science fall under Liberal Arts. TRUE Liberal Arts programs are very balanced and give students exposure and knowledge in everything from higher level science and mathematics to world literature and languages. The biggest complaint from employers (per the job placement office) is that students that may be brilliant in sciences and tech worlds, have NO communication skills, poor writing skills and really lack problem solving theory. They can fix a widget and code computer language but if they have no clue who their customer is because they never took the time to educate themselves on psychology or culture, they are SOL.</p>
<p>So if honors colleges are on your radar all you can do is do your homework and see if it is match for you.</p>
<p>My son is in an honors college at a big university and feels that it has made a significant difference in the quality of his college experience and education. The #1 benefit is priority registration - this is a huge as it gives you access (even as a lowly freshman) to your choice of classes and professors - which could make the difference in gaining access to that dream professor or taking that hard-to-get-into class. Plus it allows you more freedom in building your schedule, which can mean being able to take on a job or internship or graduate early. My son enjoys his honors dorm (which is beautiful inside) and being in the honors LLC (living learning community) while taking honors classes with a smaller group of students has given him a more intimate sense of community within a large university. Often the top professors are recruited to teach the honors classes. In contrast, when I was a freshman at a small expensive private college I remember being shocked at how few elective classes I had to choose from after the upper classmen had their choice… I couldn’t believe my parents were spending so much money to send me to a top school and I couldn’t even get the classes I wanted! I even complained to the Dean, haha, but that’s another story… In contrast my son is at a big state university and has more choices than I did at a small elite college. He feels it was worth it and that he made the right choice.</p>
<p>I am still trying to figure out if the blend of Honors College and Mech Engineering is the correct choice for my son. I am not sure one supports the other. But then on the other hand, I also think that it might add new dimension to the typical MechE crriculum and broaden the educational experience. It does satisfy all the English and Humanities requirements and the capstone for both can be combined.</p>
<p>If you have the credentials to get into an honors college, then you certainly could get into a much more selective school and reap the benefits of better classmates and faculty. The advantages of honors colleges are trivial compared with the benefits of a more selective school. Honors colleges are marketing ploys. If you can afford a better school, go to a better school.</p>
<p>College help, you have any data to back up this opinion? The data i’ve seen says the opposite. Additionally, you fail to mention cost of that more selective college, or fit, etc. See annasdad posts for his reference to thirty years of studies establishing your opinion as wrong.</p>
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<p>collegehelp, surely you understand that it’s not just about “getting into” a more selective school but about how much a family is willing and able to spend on nebulous criteria like “better” classmates and faculty? Very few families find themselves in the enviable position of price being no consideration, so most need to weigh the relative value of one school over another and what exactly they’re getting for the $$.</p>
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<p>USNChief, not sure which school you’re referring to, but we visited UDel with our son a few weeks ago and spoke with a biomedical engineering major there. He told us he dropped out of the honors program because it just added a lot of work to an already demanding major. It sounded like it had real benefits for students in some of the other colleges, though, because it allowed them to take more rigorous courses than they might find otherwise. </p>
<p>Answering the honors college question is like adding an exhausting detour on to an already overwhelming search! Is there a good thread here on CC that summarizes some of the better known ones? I can wrap my head pretty easily around the stand-alones like New College of Florida, St. Mary’s of MD, and SUNY-Geneseo, but trying to sort through the rest makes my head hurt. Is a good general rule of thumb to limit yourself to schools where you’d be happy if you weren’t admitted to the honors program?</p>
<p>An honors college allows a bright student who may not be able to afford the sticker price of a “Ivy League” school to be able to get a similar experience at a MUCH lower price tag. Even those who can afford it, many times, opt to save those funds to put towards grad/law/med school. Why pay more?? You’re paying for a name that can’t guarantee you anything after graduation.</p>
<p>I have worked with an Honors College that has provided experiences to students that no Ivy League school could. In fact, I have had parents of younger siblings of students who are at more “prestigious” institutions say they wish their student would have gone to our Honors College. 1) They wouldn’t be in debt 2) They would have had a much better overall experience 3) They would have much more personalized attention through Honors</p>
<p>So, I think that many folks are misunderstanding the idea behind creating an Honors College. Why pay more for the same experience? An honors college provides the best of both worlds. </p>
<p>One program that gets attention is the Sally McDonnell Barksdale Honors College at the University of Mississippi. Go to [honors.olemiss.edu[/url</a>] and check it out.</p>
<p>[url=<a href=“http://www.honors.olemiss.edu/world-cup-2014-smbhc-campus]World”>http://www.honors.olemiss.edu/world-cup-2014-smbhc-campus]World</a> Cup 2014 ? SMBHC Campus | honors.olemiss.edu](<a href=“http://www.honors.olemiss.edu%5Dhonors.olemiss.edu%5B/url”>http://www.honors.olemiss.edu)</p>
<p>[SMBHC</a> and Medicine | honors.olemiss.edu](<a href=“http://www.honors.olemiss.edu/smbhc-and-medicine]SMBHC”>http://www.honors.olemiss.edu/smbhc-and-medicine)</p>
<p>[Lazarus</a> Project | honors.olemiss.edu](<a href=“http://www.honors.olemiss.edu/lazarus-project]Lazarus”>http://www.honors.olemiss.edu/lazarus-project)</p>
<p>Penn State, Arizona State, South Carolina also have strong programs.</p>
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<p>That AND it gives a capable kid a chance to be a great student at a good school, instead of being a good student at a great school. Big difference.</p>
<p>“I can wrap my head pretty easily around the stand-alones like New College of Florida, St. Mary’s of MD, and SUNY-Geneseo”</p>
<p>Just want to clarify that SUNY Geneseo is NOT a stand-alone honors college. It happens to be the most selective SUNY comprehensive college, but that doesn’t make it an honors college.</p>
<p>I am one month from graduating from an Honors College (HC) at a state university. In order to graduate from the HC, I had to conduct research as an undergrad and write a thesis based on that research. Then I had to defend the thesis to a committee of professors who asked a lot of questions about it and the research behind it. Many kids start out in the HC, but far fewer actually graduate from it due to the rigorous research-thesis requirement. </p>
<p>So how could this huge undertaking ever help a person? Well, if you’re like me, you will go to graduate school. Most grad programs will either require or offer a thesis option. Generally, the more difficult or prestigious programs require a thesis. By staying in the HC at my university and meeting their research-thesis requirement, I already have experience researching, writing a thesis based on that research, and defending the thesis. This experience will be extremely beneficial to me in a couple of years when I have to do the same thing in grad school. </p>
<p>My diploma will indicate that I graduated from the HC, which will look nicer on the wall in my office one day. ^^ A silly reason, but perhaps no different from kids whose high school or college diplomas state that they graduated Summa Cum Laude. </p>
<p>Last, do not underestimate the value of undertaking a difficult task and succeeding. Yes, taking the regular curriculum route is certainly easier, but there is a very satisfying feeling when we accomplish something special, something difficult, that we’ve chosen to do which fewer people accomplish. There is joy and value in reaching for a higher goal, especially when the hard work pays off in the end.</p>
<p>Good luck to you whatever you do!</p>
<p>My DD is just finishing her Freshman year in an Honors program (Mechanical Engr) and it has been a positive experience for many reasons:</p>
<p>1) The honors classes are capped at 24 students;</p>
<p>2) I had a question regarding my daughter’s program and when I called the Honors office not only would they talk to me, they actually knew who my daughter was. (She goes to a state university with about 15K students.)</p>
<p>3) Honors housing contains like-minded students and yes, there is a lot of studying going on, but there are lots of fun activities too. In fact, I wish I could go back to school!</p>
<p>4) Priority registration! My first DD was not in an honor’s program and I don’t believe she got any of the sections she intended to register for the first two years. My honors student has been able to enroll in the sections she wants due to priority registration. In my opinion, if nothing else, this makes the Honors program worthwhile.</p>
<p>@ArielsMom. My son is heading off to school this Fall and is considering the combination of an Honors College and College of Engineering (MechE). I was hoping you could share some insight on your daughter’s experience with balancing the course work of both of these pursuits. If she also resides in the Honors dorm, does she feel that there is any disadvantage to not housing with the majority of the Engineering students or within Technology Learning Community dorm.</p>