To apply to honors college or not..

I'm finishing my sophomore year as an undergrad. I have been thinking of whether or not I should apply to the honors college at my university. If I want to apply, I must apply now as they only accept students who have 4+ semesters left.

For those of you who were in the honors college of your university, did it make a difference?

Pros?
-My degree/transcript will list me as the honors college as opposed to college of science & liberal arts.
-I already meet all the minimum GPA requirements, etc.
-I get a pretty decent honors college scholarship which I could really use.
-There are more scholarships that I become eligible for as an honors student in addition to the one that all receive, that I would not be qualified for now.
-Advisors and professors seem to favor honors students over non-honors students, especially when it comes to research opportunities.
-Honors college students can apply to a BS/MS programs where they can take a certain number of graduate level courses as an undergrad and these credits will also count towards an MS as well.

Cons?
-I will have to take a certain amount of "honors" courses. (I believe that it is 6 in total.) I am already registered for two honors biology courses in the fall already though. Certain courses taken to fulfill a second major or minor can be used to fulfill those required courses though. Graduate level classes count too.
-I must maintain a 3.2 GPA minimum. (I don't really see this as a problem.)
-I must get at least a B in any honors course. (If I get a C/C+, I can balance it out by getting an A in another honors course.)
-I have to attend one colloquia held at my university each semester. (Usually an hour or so in length?)
-Must complete 15 hours of community service per semester. (I complete much more than this as a volunteer emt.)

So, what do you think?

I started off in the honors college as a freshman, and I really liked it. The classes were with respected, tenured professors who enjoyed teaching the classes, and they were small classes with close guidance. They were usually in topics that I wouldn't otherwise have studied because I was a science major, so it was good variety. I got 1-2 honors scholarships, and I had priority registration which meant that I always got the course schedule I wanted. At a big state school like mine, that was really important, because classes filled up fast.

I don't think it "looks good" on your application for med school, but it had its own perks that justified my participation, and I'm glad I did.

TheProwler said:

I started off in the honors college as a freshman, and I really liked it. The classes were with respected, tenured professors who enjoyed teaching the classes, and they were small classes with close guidance. They were usually in topics that I wouldn't otherwise have studied because I was a science major, so it was good variety. I got 1-2 honors scholarships, and I had priority registration which meant that I always got the course schedule I wanted. At a big state school like mine, that was really important, because classes filled up fast.

I don't think it "looks good" on your application for med school, but it had its own perks that justified my participation, and I'm glad I did.

Click to expand...

Yeah, my school offers several courses that are listed as honors/writing intensive ONLY. Some classes have both honors and regular sections. The ones that are only available as honors are really interesting IMO though so I will end up taking them regardless if I am an honors student or not. (Biology of Cancer, Neuropathophysiology, Women in Technology, History of Medicine, etc) I figured I might as well apply to the honors college if I am going to take the courses anyway. I already meet all the other requirements as well. The only thing I would have to do that I don't already is attend a seminar/colloquia they require. How bad can that be? LOL. Plus I could really use some more scholarships. 😎 I think I will apply. Hopefully I get accepted? I'm not even sure how competitive they are. 😕

Do it, if only for the scholarships (you're already qualified anyway it would seem.)

Go for it! I loved being in mine during college. You have better teachers on average (only two profs out of 20 classes weren't great), and there's a much broader, deeper treatment of material during these classes. Also, when I was interviewing, some interviewers seemed impressed with high grades in honors classes. I'm not sure that it helped in the grand scheme of things, but it was definitely useful learning-wise.

ehhh, opposite for me. Only benefit I received was early scheduling... wasn't really a big deal since enough spots would still be open when regular scheduling started. Also hated the fact that we had to take part in 2 "new experience activities" every year. Class wise, the grading was less stringent... which also meant that the classes were much easier and with the same professors.

At least at my school, the Honor's College was nothing special. Students in it just walked around with their Honor's College man purses that they gave out to feel special. Everyone with a GPA above a 3.25 could take Honor's classes.

If you can handle it, do it. I'm enrolled in the honors program at my school (attending Fall 2011) and I've only heard positives. Plus, with smaller classes chances are you get to better know the professor(s) which may lead to a really good LOR or a research opportunity which was previously unavailable.

Do you have to write a senior thesis? I know in my program a research project is required...

I love the encouragement in this thread. 👍

OP, not trying is the only guaranteed way to fail. Shoot for the stars, if you fall you'll land on the moon.

Honors is overrated. The only good thing for us was getting to register early aka before everyone else, so you got your pick of classes.

Got a lot of great responses 😀 thanks everyone.