Does enrolling in an honors program count for anything?

[NFkappaB]

Hi,

My little cousin is just enrolling into university and is planning for pre-med. He wants to enroll into the honors college and will take on a much heavier schedule as a honors student. He insists he wants to do this because it looks good on his application for medicine. However, I tried to convince him that he must rather focus on ways to achieve the highest ugrad GPA as possible, thus not enrolling in an honors program.

So, can anyone provide any insight into this?

Which applicant one is stronger? A 3.7 from a B.sc Major or a 3.6 from a B.sc HONORS degree?

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[sgtbrushes]

My university has both an honors program and an allopathic medical school. The honors program essentially gives very little to no tangible advantage on a medical school application; however, there are advantages to being in the honors program:

First opportunity to register for classes
Volunteering/ shadowing opportunities
Facilitation of social networking with professors

So, while med schools may not care that he graduates from the honors program, being in the honors program can certainly help, depending on the school's policy.

 

[MilkmanAl]

UNC's honors program provided none of those things, if I recall. It was just another way to get you a guaranteed poster presentation, at the very least, and something on your transcript. Obviously, the demands of honors programs will vary by school, but from what I gather, they mean zero to your med school candidacy.

 

[osumc2014]

I was in honors, besides those things mentioned above, they also offered lower level classes in a much smaller setting. For example, normal gen chem had 380 students, my honors gen chem was 60, with professor that loved teaching. although I would've had better grades in normal gen chem, I think it definitely taught me important skills in studying that I took to my later classes. Of course this depends on the school, but if the school offers honors courses, I would do it.

 

[Azrie]

I'm not sure how much it would help on a med school application.. but it should definitely be helpful for the student himself, if it's a good program.

The honors program I was in allowed us a lot of privileges.. like a newer, separate dorm, among other things, such as:

1) First pick of the classes; we registered first among our year-mates, even before the athletes. (Always good for huge classes that are in high demand like biochemistry.)

2) Smaller honors classes with teachers that not only are good instructors, but also want to teach. The latter is annoyingly difficult to find with those huge general science classes (Chemistry/Physics/Biology).

3) Interesting "easy credits" classes.. For example, I had the chance to join a class that was essentially a weekend field trip to watch a handful of plays. All I had to do was write an small paragraph-long impression of one of them. Also had interesting science electives and seminar-like courses.. like Astrobiology.

4) The chance to actually be a person and not a random face and number with your professors.. because of the smaller class size: networking for later recommendation letters/opportunities such as research volunteering.

5) Nothing says I'm dedicated, intelligent, and hard-working like an undergraduate thesis. While it was a pain in the ass, such a thing might even score you a publication if you do your research in a science lab.

While it might mean a slightly lower undergrad GPA.. (It might not; learning is easier in smaller classes, in my opinion.) It will likely open doors to unique opportunities. Just don't plan on graduating in three years. (Honors programs make such things even more painful. Especially if they require a thesis.)

Really, I'd suggest he look closely at what the Honors program offers and then let him decide.. It's his life, after all.

 

[deleted202457]

The Honors Program itself will not give you an edge, but like others have said the opportunities it provides could help you out.

My biggest reason for doing it was because I wanted to write a thesis and I wanted to register for classes early lol.

 

[pvmed]

.

 

[portlandpixie]

I was in the same situation coming into college. I thought being in the honors college would "look good" on my transcript and resume and such but I ended up HATING the honors college, their classes, and the people in it. Thank god I opted out of living in the honors dorm or else I'd have gone mad. The classes only had 25 students max and I thought I'd like that in the beginning, but I slowly began to realize that being anonymous is so much better. Especially since pretty much all the honor college courses are lit or history based and having to talk about a novel you skimmed the night before is not so pleasant. But that's just me. Maybe your cousin really likes literature. If anything, you should only do the honors college if you like the content of it. You shouldn't do it because it looks good... I learned that the hard way and now my gpa is slightly less than what it would be if I hadn't gone the honors college route. As for the honors thesis, that was something that initially hooked me to the honors college as well. But then I learned that you can do a thesis without being in the honors college...It's not that special.

So I guess my advice would to not do the honors college thing.

 

[Tarenthyl]

"although I would've had better grades in normal gen chem"

This is a reason right here to not do honors courses. Plus, "honors" is highly highly variable between colleges and ADCOMS know this. So, if there is a risk of the honors course hurting your GPA. DO NOT DO IT!

Sadly, noone cares that you may have learned more, what matters now is getting a high GPA/MCAT and getting in. It sucks, but it is a game. Jump through the hoops, meet the requirements, etc etc, but remember that ADCOMS don't have the time to analyze every part of every application.Hence the reason for avoiding harder instructors (even though you may learn more), honors courses, PCHEM, engineering, etc. It is a numbers game no matter what people tell you. Take a look at how hard some engineering students are having it.

So, they will not zoom in on the B you got in honors chemistry(and realize it was an honors course) as opposed to the A you could have gotten in regular chemistry. They will most likely see the drop in GPA though. So again, do whatever you can to maximize your GPA/MCAT and if that means avoiding "honors" by all means do it.