Honors Programs: which are the best?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Penn State and the Universities of Oregon, South Carolina, and Kansas are examples of "just fine" flagships that have truly stellar honors colleges/programs.

How so? Please elaborate people

Because your Google is broken?

OP asked for “and why” - so move along if you have nothing to offer, thank you dear

Identifying the programs offers much more value than transcribing those programs' web pages for a perfectly capable adult.

I will try to elaborate the problem.

Folks will say an Honors program is great, but at these flagships, they mostly amount to priority housing, priority registration for classes and some $$$s.

All great perks…however, it’s not like you are at a school within a school. 98% of your classes are just the classes everyone takes, and the “honors” classes are merely general ed classes and sometimes you also are supposed to do a special honors project.

This is why many UMD honors kids decide to drop out of the program (if you believe some UMD people)…the extra work outweighs the benefit and job placement is no different.

When touring Clemson, sounded exactly the same.

So, yell at us to Google it ourselves…but is this really what flagship Honors programs are when it comes down to it?

[Anonymous]

The NC State program has meetings with interesting speakers every Monday night and fun summer/weekend/break trips in addition to the usual honors courses, honors village, and priority registration. My daughter thinks it's a great program with lots of opportunities.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Making college lists. Curious which colleges have top notch honors programs and why? And separately, are there any honors programs that are heads and shoulders above the rest of the school? A school that may not have the strongest academics, but the honors program is so strong that it outweighs that lack of strength? Or does a school have to have decent academics overall to make the honors program excellent?

Ohio University Honors Tutorial College. No prerequisites for any class, lots of tutorials which are classes with a size of one (you). 'nuff said.

[Anonymous]

Oh and UCSB CCS. It's a distinct college with distinct majors with distinct courses for each subject, rather than a bunch of extra honors courses tacked on to a regular major

[Anonymous]

Honestly, Honors programs offer some benefits, already listed (priority registration and housing), but beyond that, it's often a big waste of time. There are certain "honors" courses that have to be taken, on top of your major courses, and often silly projects to be completed. As another poster said, a lot of honors students drop the entire program before they graduate. There's really no additional benefit.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Oh and UCSB CCS. It's a distinct college with distinct majors with distinct courses for each subject, rather than a bunch of extra honors courses tacked on to a regular major

This seems unique…what does CCS stand for?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Honestly, Honors programs offer some benefits, already listed (priority registration and housing), but beyond that, it's often a big waste of time. There are certain "honors" courses that have to be taken, on top of your major courses, and often silly projects to be completed. As another poster said, a lot of honors students drop the entire program before they graduate. There's really no additional benefit.

I asked my DD if she wanted to apply to any honors colleges at her accepted schools and she said “why would I do that?!?”
😂😂

I was in the honors program back in the day at my school and I dropped it too.

[Anonymous]

As the parent of a current 10th grader who is more likely to major in math than rush a sorority, honors housing freshman year seems like point enough. What am I missing?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Honestly, Honors programs offer some benefits, already listed (priority registration and housing), but beyond that, it's often a big waste of time. There are certain "honors" courses that have to be taken, on top of your major courses, and often silly projects to be completed. As another poster said, a lot of honors students drop the entire program before they graduate. There's really no additional benefit.

I asked my DD if she wanted to apply to any honors colleges at her accepted schools and she said “why would I do that?!?”
😂😂

I was in the honors program back in the day at my school and I dropped it too.

Hearing some horror stories at some big schools about registering for classes…that seems like a big perk at least for the first two years of college.

I totally get starting in Honors and then dropping.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Honestly, Honors programs offer some benefits, already listed (priority registration and housing), but beyond that, it's often a big waste of time. There are certain "honors" courses that have to be taken, on top of your major courses, and often silly projects to be completed. As another poster said, a lot of honors students drop the entire program before they graduate. There's really no additional benefit.

I asked my DD if she wanted to apply to any honors colleges at her accepted schools and she said “why would I do that?!?”
😂😂

I was in the honors program back in the day at my school and I dropped it too.

+1
My daughter was invited to join the honors program as a sophomore and she had zero interest in it. She's way too busy with demanding classes and involved in clubs. I didn't realize what a bunch of nonsense it really is until I did some research.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:As the parent of a current 10th grader who is more likely to major in math than rush a sorority, honors housing freshman year seems like point enough. What am I missing?

Honors housing may not be the good dorms. A bigger perk is if honors students are guaranteed on-campus housing all 4 years (big issue at certain schools) vs freshman year.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:As the parent of a current 10th grader who is more likely to major in math than rush a sorority, honors housing freshman year seems like point enough. What am I missing?

I mean, she could certainly apply - or some schools consider you for honors automatically with your application. My daughter had no interest in going greek, but she also wasn't interested in living in the Honors dorm. She loved her freshman year in a regular dorm with a variety of people.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Making college lists. Curious which colleges have top notch honors programs and why? And separately, are there any honors programs that are heads and shoulders above the rest of the school? A school that may not have the strongest academics, but the honors program is so strong that it outweighs that lack of strength? Or does a school have to have decent academics overall to make the honors program excellent?

*A lot of them
*Smaller classes and more experienced professors
*Most of them
*It's called graduate school
*Preferably

Srsly OP, it depends on the major and the school.

What is your real question?

[Anonymous]

South Carolina claims to be the best. Does anyone know if they still do the steak dinner and reception in DC?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Michigan, Wisconsin, UNC, and Texas all have high-quality honors programs, but they're also all obviously strong schools generally and tough admits--so less of a delta associated with honors than a place like Arizona State or Kansas.

Would honors at Michigan or UNC be ivy-caliber?

Ivy schools are just a sports league on the east coast. Many on this forum seem to forget that.

So, no, Michigan not matter how good it is, will not be in the sports league with east coast schools.