<p>Alright. It might be because I'm young and naive, but why do some people enter the honors program at their colleges? I'm thinking of doing it, but I'd like to know the differences between the university/college and the honors program.</p>
<p>At my university, the Honors College (it’s a non-degree granting college, but a college with a dean nonetheless) offers students the opportunity to take classes that go into more depth and are more academically rigorous that standard classes. Also, our classes cap at 15 students. I go to a regional state school so most students are not exactly as academically inclined or intrigued as students in the Honors College. We also house the Office of National Scholarships. If a student wishes to pursue a scholarship like the Fulbright for instance, the person on campus who has knowledge of the scholarships and processes is housed in the Honors College. Our College has a student council that helps with the social programming as well as advises on the policies of the college. We’re only two years old so our set-up maybe different from others in that it is still very much under construction. However, I believe that in general honors programs/colleges offer students that want more from classes and school the opportunity to get that deeper learning experience. Also, it shows up on transcripts, and grad schools and employers appreciate the extra effort.</p>
<p>Special classes in interesting topics that only Honors students can take. Generally everyone in the class is actually there to learn and not just filling requirements. You can also take honors level versions of gen ed classes. For instance, Fall 2010 I took introduction to criminal justice. The honors level had the same lecture but their discussion section was with the professor rather than with a TA (and he was an awesome professor, so I can only imagine how good discussions must have been).</p>
<p>Many Honors programs have perks such as small class sizes for Honors students, priority registration, Honors housing, research opportunities, scholarships, mentoring, invitations to special programs or activities free for the Honors students, etc. Sometimes more in-depth research or a special project is required of Honors students.</p>
<p>I’m in the Honors Program at my school, and it’s great. At a huge state school, it’s hard to find an adviser who knows what they’re talking about and classes taught by good professors. Being in the honors program ensure that you’ll find a great adviser, who’s knowledgeable not just in their specialty, but about the entire school. All the honors classes I’ve taken have been worthwhile, more specialized, and a lot more interesting than the regular classes. There’s an extra challenge to some of the classes, but I totally agree about the smaller class sizes. For example, General Chemistry is about 1000 students in the regular section (pretty intimidating, and the professors and TA’s were mean). More like 30 or 40 in the honors section, and the professor gets to know everyone by name, stops by labs, and makes sure that she’s always available to help. </p>
<p>Living in Honors housing was pretty neat too. I met a lot of people who had similar interests to me, and we participated in a lot of cool events. A lot of the people I lived with were in one of my classes, so we studied together, which was helpful for gen chem. Sometimes volunteering and recreational sports, but we even held a college nutrition event at the beginning of the year with a dietician who helped us think about making healthy choices in the cafeteria. We also have a special building (small, but all ours) for the honors program which hosts a lot of events and is available for study groups. We had Harry Potter watch parties, special pre-advising sessions, to make sure you got the most out of your advising meetings, and BBQ’s for graduating seniors and for parents’ weekend. Research is easier to get into, and people are great about recommending you to apply for on-campus scholarships. I’d totally recommend taking part in the honors program if you can. For completing the honors program, we get a medal at graduation, but no degrees are rewarded by the honors program.</p>
<p>My university’s Honors College gives priority registration, different advisors (they have less students, more attention), everyone has some sort of scholarship, priority for honors courses, the freshman year seminar is an Honors seminar with only the honors college kids, and the general education requirements get cut down to 5 honors seminars. There are also some events and other stuff</p>
<p>It’s for people who REALLY REALLY want to learn the topic for intrinsic growth. For example, some people take normal chemistry because their major requires them to. Some people take honors chemistry because they love it.</p>
<p>And there are special perks which others said above.</p>
<p>Some honors colleges give scholarship money, a computer, smaller classes and are more challenging.</p>
<p>Oh, and also priority class registration (Pace University), honors floors in the dorm, special event tickets, special field trips, etc.</p>
<p>Honors colleges are for people who chose not to go to an ivy league school but still want to be intellectually stimulated.</p>
<p>If you decide whether or not to join the honors program/college at your university, investigate the benefits and trade-offs. Some honors programs are mostly perks: scholarships, fancy honors dorms, priority registration. Others come with fewer perks but annoying obligations. For example, you might have to take two honors classes from a very small list of classes each semester. That would be WAY too restrictive for me. </p>
<p>The details vary at each.</p>
<p>I’m in the Honors Program at my CC and they cover over half of my tuition with scholarships and the classes are smaller (like 10) generally and they are much more discussion-based.</p>
<p>I plan on applying next semester at my new school because you get priority registration, scholarships (!), Honors housing which is supposed to be the ****, mentoring, and it doesn’t hurt your application for internships and grad schools.</p>
<p>But even if you’re not in the Honors program, you can still take Honors classes at both of my schools, which is nice.</p>
<p>Tangible perks-wise, I got into what’s regarded as the nicest freshman dorm (which ordinarily would be a tallest midget case, but it really is nice) and a full tuition scholarship. From a more general perspective, I do get access to classes that are more indepth, so supposedly you’re a better person for that.</p>
<p>Honors colleges can offer all of what’s listed above and other things as well, like Honors study lounges, stipends for study abroad/research/programs, specially designed freshman year with small seminars and living learning communities, and of course, something like “graduated with Honors” written on your diploma.</p>
<p>Some even have entire facilities and dining halls etc. available only for honors (i’m thinking of ASU’s Barrett Honors VILLAGE).</p>
<p>Can a student enter a honors program after they have enrolled? So what I am asking is can students apply as a freshman to get into an honors sophomore year?</p>
<p>At my school, you can. You would have to talk to the dean of the honors college and explain why you want to become part of the honors program.</p>