Do honors programs really make large schools feel smaller?

[Anonymous]

Let’s be real. LAC’s are quickly becoming obsolete. Outdated and no longer needed.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Honors colleges are mostly there to make parents’ ego feel larger

Bingo. Exactly this. One of my kids started in an honors college and then dropped it after two years. It simply wasn’t worth the the hype and extra classes that were completely unnecessary and unrelated to the major. Lots of kids drop it after realizing this. There’s no special “honors” indication on your degree, either.

Another one of my kids wasn’t in the honors college from the get-go (notably, at the same school for comparison purposes). Even so, they never had TAs teaching their classes, as the OP claims. There was virtually no difference between the two experiences. And both kids graduated summa cum laude, which actually *was* noted on their degree and at graduation.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Honors colleges are mostly there to make parents’ ego feel larger

Bingo. Exactly this. One of my kids started in an honors college and then dropped it after two years. It simply wasn’t worth the the hype and extra classes that were completely unnecessary and unrelated to the major. Lots of kids drop it after realizing this. There’s no special “honors” indication on your degree, either.

Another one of my kids wasn’t in the honors college from the get-go (notably, at the same school for comparison purposes). Even so, they never had TAs teaching their classes, as the OP claims. There was virtually no difference between the two experiences. And both kids graduated summa cum laude, which actually *was* noted on their degree and at graduation.

Again, your experience isn’t everyone’s. At my alma mater, it is noted on both the transcript and the diploma.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Honors colleges are mostly there to make parents’ ego feel larger

Bingo. Exactly this. One of my kids started in an honors college and then dropped it after two years. It simply wasn’t worth the the hype and extra classes that were completely unnecessary and unrelated to the major. Lots of kids drop it after realizing this. There’s no special “honors” indication on your degree, either.

Another one of my kids wasn’t in the honors college from the get-go (notably, at the same school for comparison purposes). Even so, they never had TAs teaching their classes, as the OP claims. There was virtually no difference between the two experiences. And both kids graduated summa cum laude, which actually *was* noted on their degree and at graduation.

Again, your experience isn’t everyone’s. At my alma mater, it is noted on both the transcript and the diploma.

Isn't that exactly what PP's point was? So what? If you had 2.5 GPA, do you think your potential employer will offer you the job over 3.5 non-Honor kid?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My kids (3) went through UMD Honors program. I know parents and schools make a big deal because it’s a good way to attract high performing kids but, in reality, it’s not. Intro classes are still large and crowded. It gets better eventually but not because you are in Honors program.

UMD Honors has smaller classes.

Which classes? I can't figure out how that works, when there are kids from all majors in honors.

There are about 1,000 freshmen in UMD honors. I attended a LAC with only about 500 freshmen, and they managed to offer classes in a range of majors.

This comparison isn’t at all apples to apples.

The LAC as an institution decided to only be 2000 undergrads, staffed accordingly and at the end of the day had fewer majors than a flagship state university.

The flagship isn’t hiring dedicated professors for just the 1000 honors kids (out of 25000 or so students), and those kids could each be studying for 100 different majors.

But the perception of exclusive membership is what they are trying to sell. And, as you can tell from this board, they sell it well.

I can't tell who you are using "they" to refer to. The flagship honors program or the LAC.

Anyone who tries to sell "honors program". Not comparing flagship honors vs the LAC. At the end of the day, Departmental Honors recognition is more important that the fact your kid was in an Honors program assuming your kids wants to continue post college (med schools, phd prgrams and whatnot

Do most departments give Departmental Honors recognition? Is it noted on a diploma? Asked about on a job interview?

[Anonymous]

Mr JS, why did you lock the Honors colleges thread? Argh!!!!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Honors colleges are mostly there to make parents’ ego feel larger

Bingo. Exactly this. One of my kids started in an honors college and then dropped it after two years. It simply wasn’t worth the the hype and extra classes that were completely unnecessary and unrelated to the major. Lots of kids drop it after realizing this. There’s no special “honors” indication on your degree, either.

Another one of my kids wasn’t in the honors college from the get-go (notably, at the same school for comparison purposes). Even so, they never had TAs teaching their classes, as the OP claims. There was virtually no difference between the two experiences. And both kids graduated summa cum laude, which actually *was* noted on their degree and at graduation.

Again, your experience isn’t everyone’s. At my alma mater, it is noted on both the transcript and the diploma.

Isn't that exactly what PP's point was? So what? If you had 2.5 GPA, do you think your potential employer will offer you the job over 3.5 non-Honor kid?

No, PP specifically said it wasn’t noted on your degree, which isn’t the case everywhere.

Also, the same honors college I’m talking about also boots you from the program if your GPA dips below 3.5. So there is no 2.5 vs 3.5.

If your university’s honors college is a joke, that’s a problem with the university, not honors colleges broadly.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Honors colleges are mostly there to make parents’ ego feel larger

Bingo. Exactly this. One of my kids started in an honors college and then dropped it after two years. It simply wasn’t worth the the hype and extra classes that were completely unnecessary and unrelated to the major. Lots of kids drop it after realizing this. There’s no special “honors” indication on your degree, either.

Another one of my kids wasn’t in the honors college from the get-go (notably, at the same school for comparison purposes). Even so, they never had TAs teaching their classes, as the OP claims. There was virtually no difference between the two experiences. And both kids graduated summa cum laude, which actually *was* noted on their degree and at graduation.

Again, your experience isn’t everyone’s. At my alma mater, it is noted on both the transcript and the diploma.

Isn't that exactly what PP's point was? So what? If you had 2.5 GPA, do you think your potential employer will offer you the job over 3.5 non-Honor kid?

No, PP specifically said it wasn’t noted on your degree, which isn’t the case everywhere.

Also, the same honors college I’m talking about also boots you from the program if your GPA dips below 3.5. So there is no 2.5 vs 3.5.

If your university’s honors college is a joke, that’s a problem with the university, not honors colleges broadly.

I doubt that. Which school?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Honors colleges are mostly there to make parents’ ego feel larger

Bingo. Exactly this. One of my kids started in an honors college and then dropped it after two years. It simply wasn’t worth the the hype and extra classes that were completely unnecessary and unrelated to the major. Lots of kids drop it after realizing this. There’s no special “honors” indication on your degree, either.

Another one of my kids wasn’t in the honors college from the get-go (notably, at the same school for comparison purposes). Even so, they never had TAs teaching their classes, as the OP claims. There was virtually no difference between the two experiences. And both kids graduated summa cum laude, which actually *was* noted on their degree and at graduation.

Again, your experience isn’t everyone’s. At my alma mater, it is noted on both the transcript and the diploma.

Isn't that exactly what PP's point was? So what? If you had 2.5 GPA, do you think your potential employer will offer you the job over 3.5 non-Honor kid?

No, PP specifically said it wasn’t noted on your degree, which isn’t the case everywhere.

Also, the same honors college I’m talking about also boots you from the program if your GPA dips below 3.5. So there is no 2.5 vs 3.5.

If your university’s honors college is a joke, that’s a problem with the university, not honors colleges broadly.

I doubt that. Which school?

Not sure why you would doubt it.

“To remain in the Hutton Honors College, you are required to:

Complete the gateway course sequence of HHC-H 101 and HHC-H 202 by the end of your fourth semester at Indiana University Bloomington (IUB);
Maintain a 3.50 cumulative GPA.

At the end of a student’s second semester at IUB, those with a cumulative GPA (CGPA) between 3.20 and 3.49 will be placed on conditional membership (the Honors specific version of "academic watch"); students with less than a 3.20 CGPA will be automatically dismissed from the Hutton Honors College.

At the end of a student’s third semester at IUB, those who have not yet completed HHC-H 101 will be automatically dismissed (regardless of GPA).

At the end of a student’s fourth semester at IUB, those who have not yet completed HHC-H 202 will be automatically dismissed. Additionally, students with less than a 3.50 CGPA will be automatically dismissed.

At the end of a student’s sixth semester at IUB, students with less than a 3.50 CGPA will be automatically dismissed.”

[Anonymous]

My kid wanted a large university, but wanted the best version of that large university.

The honors program offered a lot of perks, but the best two by far were:
Early class registration for best classes/profs.
Elimination of distribution requirements to make a double major plus minor possible.

It did not make the university feel more intimate, but that was not the goal for them. And the honors dorm was a little too geeky for my geek, they just lived with all the other kids after the first year. Those kids were more social.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Honors colleges are mostly there to make parents’ ego feel larger

Bingo. Exactly this. One of my kids started in an honors college and then dropped it after two years. It simply wasn’t worth the the hype and extra classes that were completely unnecessary and unrelated to the major. Lots of kids drop it after realizing this. There’s no special “honors” indication on your degree, either.

Another one of my kids wasn’t in the honors college from the get-go (notably, at the same school for comparison purposes). Even so, they never had TAs teaching their classes, as the OP claims. There was virtually no difference between the two experiences. And both kids graduated summa cum laude, which actually *was* noted on their degree and at graduation.

Again, your experience isn’t everyone’s. At my alma mater, it is noted on both the transcript and the diploma.

Isn't that exactly what PP's point was? So what? If you had 2.5 GPA, do you think your potential employer will offer you the job over 3.5 non-Honor kid?

No, PP specifically said it wasn’t noted on your degree, which isn’t the case everywhere.

Also, the same honors college I’m talking about also boots you from the program if your GPA dips below 3.5. So there is no 2.5 vs 3.5.

If your university’s honors college is a joke, that’s a problem with the university, not honors colleges broadly.

I doubt that. Which school?

Not sure why you would doubt it.

“To remain in the Hutton Honors College, you are required to:

Complete the gateway course sequence of HHC-H 101 and HHC-H 202 by the end of your fourth semester at Indiana University Bloomington (IUB);
Maintain a 3.50 cumulative GPA.

At the end of a student’s second semester at IUB, those with a cumulative GPA (CGPA) between 3.20 and 3.49 will be placed on conditional membership (the Honors specific version of "academic watch"); students with less than a 3.20 CGPA will be automatically dismissed from the Hutton Honors College.

At the end of a student’s third semester at IUB, those who have not yet completed HHC-H 101 will be automatically dismissed (regardless of GPA).

At the end of a student’s fourth semester at IUB, those who have not yet completed HHC-H 202 will be automatically dismissed. Additionally, students with less than a 3.50 CGPA will be automatically dismissed.

At the end of a student’s sixth semester at IUB, students with less than a 3.50 CGPA will be automatically dismissed.”

I also did a quick check of some other schools. Penn State, UGA, Ohio State all require 3.4 (though Ohio State’s is an honors program and not a college, and for some majors it is 3.5), Purdue’s requires a 3.3.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Mr JS, why did you lock the Honors colleges thread? Argh!!!!

Why on earth do you need three separate threads about honors colleges?

[Anonymous]

Every honors program is different. For the one I attended you had to keep a 3.5 GPA, complete independent research and defend a thesis, complete service hours, and take an interdisciplinary honors class with a heavy writing component every semester. It went on our diploma and was a lot of work.

The biggest advantages were that the head of the program would get you into any class you wanted to take, you could take an unlimited number of credit hours, you got lots of hook ups for the best internship and job offers, and they groomed you for prestigious awards like Rhodes, Marshall, NSF GRF, etc.

If you weren't ambitious, it wasn't worth it. But if you were gunning for a top grad school or job, it was worth it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My kids (3) went through UMD Honors program. I know parents and schools make a big deal because it’s a good way to attract high performing kids but, in reality, it’s not. Intro classes are still large and crowded. It gets better eventually but not because you are in Honors program.

UMD Honors has smaller classes.

Which classes? I can't figure out how that works, when there are kids from all majors in honors.

There are about 1,000 freshmen in UMD honors. I attended a LAC with only about 500 freshmen, and they managed to offer classes in a range of majors.

This comparison isn’t at all apples to apples.

The LAC as an institution decided to only be 2000 undergrads, staffed accordingly and at the end of the day had fewer majors than a flagship state university.

The flagship isn’t hiring dedicated professors for just the 1000 honors kids (out of 25000 or so students), and those kids could each be studying for 100 different majors.

A few schools do: https://www.fau.edu/about/jupiter.php
https://lbc.msu.edu/

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My kid wanted a large university, but wanted the best version of that large university.

The honors program offered a lot of perks, but the best two by far were:
Early class registration for best classes/profs.
Elimination of distribution requirements to make a double major plus minor possible.

It did not make the university feel more intimate, but that was not the goal for them. And the honors dorm was a little too geeky for my geek, they just lived with all the other kids after the first year. Those kids were more social.

Which honors colleges eliminate distribution requirements?