I’m interested in applying to some universities with strong honors colleges but am having difficulty finding good information. Obviously, university websites promote their own honors programs, but are there any objective reviews/rankings that are helpful (books, websites, etc.). I’d also love to hear any insight that you all have about the honors college options. Thanks for your help.
Note:
I am aware of the John Willingham books, and am planning to order one. Is this a good idea? Are there better books I should consider?
I am primarily interested in colleges with strong academics, specifically those with good programs in the social sciences.
read carefully the info the Honors colleges put on their websites. Honors colleges offer valuable perks and let you meet some of the top students at your college. But too often they’re oversold with glossy pamphlets suggesting a small LAC has been set up giving an elite private education at the public school price. On the forum you’ll see posts that say/imply that.
Depending on the program offerings may range from separate honors classes to taking just one honors seminar per semester. And some of the “honors” offerings may just be a discussion section of the regular class (at many U’s you meet 2-3x a week in the full class with the prof, then once a week in a smaller discussion section with a TA). You really need to dig in to find what a particular school offers.
Honors programs typically offer the small classes and hand-picked profs the 1st two years of college. It doesn’t take that many classes to come up with a set that will meet the lower-division requirements for most majors. But it’s rare to find more than a token amount of upper-division classes since the honors program simply doesn’t have enough faculty members to create entire majors. So the last two years most or all classes are the regular U’s classes. The teaching of the profs will be geared towards the normal level, the discussions and student involvement in class will be dominated by the regular students, and so on. Class sizes may balloon, too, if you’re in a popular major.
Honors colleges offer perks in addition to the classes. Typical ones include early registration so you get the classes you want (a perk worth its weight in gold!), special counselors, guaranteed housing, special library privileges. Your diploma will proudly bear the honors insignia. But I would have reservations about attending a college for its honors program in liu of a more highly regarded U if finances are not an issue.
@mikemac, interesting points, thanks for your insight. I am applying to some more prestigious institutions (Harvard, Stanford, Yale, etc.), but, unfortunately, finances are an issue. I don’t qualify for much financial aid, and my parents aren’t interested in spending money on college. I’m looking into honors colleges because they provide the price of a public university with, potentially, a more prestigious environment. Are you aware of any honors colleges that don’t have the pitfalls you mention?
I don’t know of any books to help but as stated ^ above, did deep for information. There is huge variety school to school. My daughter’s honors college is awesome - housing, special courses and profs, guaranteed research, honors specific study abroad, priority registration, an extra academic advisor, etc… It also definitely makes a huge school feel much smaller.
I also agree that the benefits more pronounced in the early years of college.
@momofsenior1, I’m glad you’ve had a good experience with the program. Do you mind telling me which university? I’m still trying to put together a list of good honors colleges.
Sounds like you are looking for big merit scholarships so start there and see what those universities offer. But deadlines are pretty imminent (many are Dec 1, some are earlier).
That’s a good point ^. If you are a senior, many schools have a Nov 1 application deadline for honors college. Hopefully you are planning ahead for next year or the next.
I also agree that if you need merit money, that needs to be the primary focus and then expand out to honors college.
Here’s a link to a website, with internal links to various pages, having general information about public university honors programs: http://publicuniversityhonors.com/