<p>Hi all, </p>
<p>I thought this would be a good place/a good time to post this with college admissions practically over and most HS seniors committed to a college. So, for HS seniors who chose to be in UGA Honors, for current UGA Honors students, and for Honors Alumni, why Honors? You can say one great experience you had that makes you glad you chose Honors, what you've heard/why you're excited about being a prospective Honors student, etc. </p>
<p>This could help prospective future students who have/have not yet been accepted aware of the Honors Program and all it has to offer, or just a place for honors kids to share their stories and experiences. </p>
<p>Thanks!</p>
<p>My experience with Honors is probably very different and less stellar than people who actually got into honors before they came to college. I feel like a lot of the benefits that come from Honors are for freshman. I came into honors at the end of my freshman year, so I missed out on a lot of those things. To be honest, I think the only thing that Honors did for me was give me an early registration date, but that in and of itself is worth it. I never had to worry about not getting the classes I wanted.</p>
<p>However, I guess I can’t tell how much my being in honors affected the position I got in a lab. I already needed to get into a research lab for my major. Perhaps I was just in the lab at the right place and the right time, but I ended up working under another senior scientist in the lab (instead of a grad student), and I ended up being a co-author on a paper that was published after I was in the lab. Perhaps it was just luck and good timing…I’ll never know how much honors affected that opportunity. But Honors does help get research opportunities for students through their CURO program (which is what I did).</p>
<p>Honors also provides a LOT of opportunities to network and hear from different people. They have these things called Lunchbox Lectures - you get free lunch and you get to hear some interesting stuff. I’ve actually only been to one (it was about the healthcare bill), but they have them a lot (probably every week…I don’t pay too much attention to them). </p>
<p>I’ve only been in 3 actual honors courses with other honors students. I could definitely tell a difference between honors classes and regular classes. One, the class size is dramatically smaller. They were much more like high school (~20 people). Two, the teachers were much more able to facilitate a discussion (probably because of the small class size). Three, the students in the class cared a lot about their academics, and it helped create a motivational environment. </p>
<p>I chose to be less involved with the Honors program. But the staff is very willing to help you when you need it. </p>
<p>But seriously…early registration. THAT is the most important thing it has to offer.</p>
<p>I’m only half-joking.</p>
<p>Haha ok jenmarie, that sounds about right. I’ve heard that’s a big perk. Honestly, I think I had built this big thing up in my mind about Honors, and I had started becoming kind of <em>obsessed</em> with it. Whenever I would think about college, I would think, “I HAVE TO GET INTO UGA HONORS!” That’s probably b/c the one person who I knew in Honors then went on to Stanford Med, but she was exceptional. So, I thought being in Honors had some secret formula to getting into med school or something. Now I know that couldn’t be farther from the truth. Then, one day, I sat down and thought, “WHY do I even want to go to Honors so badly? It’s the same college as UGA, just a program. There’s just a couple of small perks.” That’s why I made this thread. Now, I’m more open-minded when it comes to college. </p>
<p>Anyone else?</p>
<p>nobody? I thought maybe some kids who were going to Honors would share why they chose UGA, etc.</p>
<p>Jenmarie: I was reading some of your other posts and I noticed you said you were a premed science major. Have you already graduated from UGA? Just out of curiousity (and b/c I will be a premed science major as well), how are you doing now? Are you in med school?</p>
<p>No, I’ll be graduating next month. I wasn’t too successful with med school - I got waitlisted at MCG. There are probably a lot of reasons why I didn’t get into med school, and none of them are because I went to UGA, so I wouldn’t worry about that (or at least, if that was an issue, that’s the very last thing on the list). </p>
<p>If you have more specific questions about being premed/science major, I’ll be happy to answer them :)</p>