Honor Colleges - Pros and Cons

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:All of the offerings of a big state school (research opportunities, lots of clubs and activities, athletics, diversity, etc.) with a small college feel (small classes and seminars, getting to know the professors, nicer/smaller dorms).

- Graduate of honors program at my big state university and hoping for same for my kids

That was my DC's experience in an honors program (her school didn't have a full honors college -- sorry if this is off-topic). She had a mix of small honors classes similar to classes at a SLAC, along with some regular classes and a mentored thesis involving some interesting research. The honors residence hall was full of studious kids who enjoyed learning. There were lots of fun activities for the honors students, which helped my rather shy DC make some good friends. It was a great experience and very affordable (public university + merit aid). I feel she got a better education than her siblings, who went to high-ranked private universities.

I agree with everything in your post except for the last sentence which I bolded. How would you know this ? Students react differently to different environments. If you feel strongly about this, please name all of the schools to which you are referring. Thanks in advance !

[Anonymous]

At UMd, it likely gets you the nicest dorm and that is a significant reason to do it for a year at least. Also most honors classes get you some gened credits. Otherwise, not sure I'd bother if you were living off campus or at home. And some UM honors things you have to live on campus.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:They vary widely but generally help academically-focused students find like-minded peers. Some have rigid requirements, others have minimal requirements (generally a GPA floor). DC is in a loosely structured one and has really enjoyed the community and the honors class options. They serious considered a much more structured honors program at another large university that offered $$$.

All schools have info about what’s required to be considered (some are automatic, some are an additional application with general application, some are separate application after receiving an admissions offer).

I agree with the advice above. It varies a lot from school to school. I picked my big state U for the honors college and lived in the honors dorm. It was not a good experience. The participants skewed male/Engineering and I was female/Liberal Arts. So the social benefits were minimal. I didn't make any good female friends that year and my roommate proved to be a jerk. The dorm was a bit nicer but other things were wrong with the whole school culture (very drinking and sports-focused, not intellectual).

I ended up transferring to School A's rival state school which also had an honors college. The honors college kids and classes were more to my liberal arts taste there but also a bit quirky and pretentious. The administrators were comically snobby about certain majors (pharmacy, etc.). From hanging around School B's honors college, I learned valuable lessons in how to create a personal "baby genius" impression to get scholarships to grad school. However, I quickly decided I'd had it with trying to integrate with the "elite" and gave up on taking honors college classes after sophomore year. The regular ones were just as challenging and meaningful with less instructor quirkiness and I was one of the top-ranked students in my major and graduating class. Overall, I was quite satisfied with School B, highly recommend it, and would "do it again". But I remain skeptical of honors colleges.

Summing up what I learned:

1) the university has to be an excellent fit first;

2) the demographics of the program matter to having peers and making friends;

3) much better to talk to students actually in the program about it vs. reading materials;

4) employers probably don't care about honors vs. non-honors degrees and it remains unclear to me whether special efforts and degrees have any value proportionate to the effort required to complete them. I was never disadvantaged by forgoing the opportunity to write a thesis or to get a special degree name.

Were the schools Penn State University and the University of Pittsburgh ?

About a decade ago, the honors college administrators at Penn State complained about the honors college being dominated by engineering students. Adjusted selection criteria to be more holistic in order to change the composition of the honors college.

Yes, those were the schools but my experience was 30 years ago so I was trying to abstract general principles. I understand that things can change and people's experiences differ. As a loyal Pitt alum, I only stay in touch with what is going on at Pitt. But if PSU did something a decade ago to correct the engineering bias, that means nothing was done for 20 years after I left.

I was a suburban kid from a homogenous neighborhood. I never realized I'd be happier in a more urban and diverse setting. I was satisfied with the professors, classes, and campus at PSU. (But that's only part of what a college experience is about.) I got straight As at PSU and was in two musical ensembles. However the daily social experience was an extremely poor fit for me because I wasn't an engineer and didn't orient my life around weekend binge drinking and I didn't want to rush. I had a lot of offputting social experiences so it was clear to me within a semester that I was not going to find my people there. It was definitely the right decision for me.

The friends I went to Pitt with all went on to prestige grad schools or fairly successful careers. Some, but not all, were also Honors College adjacent (mainly Chancellor's Scholar runners-up). The Chancellor's Scholars tended to have hooks ...like the physics major who unicycled everywhere around campus to keep his unicycling fresh. That's what I meant by quirky. The Pitt Honors College in some ways has stayed similar to what it was 30 years ago but is larger and stronger now. I do marvel at how Pitt has become a safety school for DCUMers. Probably good for both parties to the transaction.

My own kid is likely going to either U of M or MSU (already admitted to honors college). I have reservations about MSU based on my PSU experience BUT every MSU grad I know personally is a solid friend, community contributor, net asset to humanity. And the programs my kid is interested in at MSU are very strong. So I will let my kid make his own decision. He also applied to Pitt but based on what I've read on this board, I don't expect much merit aid and not sure if he will get into the honors college. Too bad I didn't rediscover this board sooner. I would have better understood how much more competitive things have become.