Opinions on Honors College?Answered
I want to apply to some of the Honors Colleges provided by the colleges in applying to. Are there pros and cons of being in the Honors College? If so, does one outweigh the other?
Earn karma by helping others:
2 answers
I think it honestly depends on which school's honors colleges you apply to! Every school is different with its application & enrollment requirements, as well as its benefits. For example, one school may offer that its Honors College students will get preferred rooms, smaller class sizes, and better internship opportunities than what are offered to regular academic students. However, this may come at the cost of some sort of crazy requirement, like you have to maintain a 3.7 GPA or you'll be removed. If you're up for this challenge, great! But you have to be honest with yourself when you ask, not only is this worth it but is it maintainable while still being able to live the college experience (ex: still having time to make friends and join clubs).
And the opposite can also be true! There may be an Honors program with very minimal requirements (ex: only a 3.0 GPA), but they offer very few if any benefits of being in this program. So then you have to ask yourself the question, is the extra stress of this program even worth it?
My personal answer is, I think it also depends on what major you're applying with. If you are going into pre-med or pre-law, I would bet that honors is probably a smart move for applying to med or law school. But, if you're like me, and you're just planning to major in business, I personally don't see the need to stress myself with Honors College for this major since I really don't believe it will make that much of a difference in comparison to the insignificance it will most likely cause me the next four years.
I hope my answers helps you, best of luck applying !! :)
Honors colleges in my opinion similar to getting the Gold or Luxury Package when you buy something. So when you buy a Honda with the Luxury Package, it will definitely come with some more bells and whistles, creature comforts like leather seats, and an upgraded stereo. But it's still a Honda.
I think State Colleges created Honors Colleges because they were losing smart kids to out-of-state private universities and liberal arts colleges. On most of their marketing material, they compare themselves to an "in-house" private liberal arts college within the bigger research campus. So they point out smaller class sizes, perhaps their own dormitory, library, and dining hall, and perks like 1st position for class-scheduling/registration, or dedicated staff for a more personal college experience.
Here in my state of Oregon the honors colleges at Oregon State and U of Oregon, charge more tuition for their honors colleges to offset the additional expense and the upgrades. The admit stats like test scores tend to be higher as well as the GPA. At the end of the day, you are getting your degree from the same Oregon college not a prestigious liberal arts college like Reed College which is also in Oregon, or Whitman in Washington or Pitzer College. Everyone thinks they will have a better learning experience which will challenge them and help them be their best person.
I think it would be wiser to take the opportunity to apply to the best possible college you can get into regardless of whether it's a state or private, and in a place where you feel you would be happy to live for 4 years.
I opted out of applying to any Honors Colleges where I live because I didn't want to see the 100 kids from my old high school there. I didn't think there was anything amazing about attending an honors college.
This is just my opinion.
Your chance of acceptance
Your chancing factors
Community Guidelines
To keep this community safe and supportive:
- Be kind and respectful!
- Keep posts relevant to college admissions and high school.
- Don’t ask “chance-me” questions. Use CollegeVine’s chancing instead!