Honors College Concerns?

[dermforlife2016]

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I will be entering college next year and I am considering joining the honors college. How hard are honors classes if you have maintained a 4.0 uw in a rigorous high school program? It seems everyone in those classes will have stats similar to mine, and I am afraid a's will be very hard to come by. Does anyone have any experience with this?

 

[efle]

Honors colleges tend to have kinder grading to counter the fact that it is the best of their students competing for A's. Being surrounded by people that will really push you and keep up with you is awesome, it's the right move even if it does mean a little more study time.

 

[Shirafune]

I am personally a fan of taking regular classes and seeking additional information on your own time. If you are willing to forgo an A for a more intensive and stimulating course, then chances are you have the motivation to gain that knowledge on your own accord anyways. If you are going to become a biology major, why not join a lab early? You will be intellectually pushed and won't have to worry about a grade, per se. I am part of an honors college, but found that the overwhelming majority of intellectual growth in college has been because of research and faculty interaction.

In the end, I suppose it doesn't really matter that much, though you should know that being in an honors college will not "save" poor grades in honors courses.

 

[genericpremedstudent]

Med schools don't care if you do honors

 

[dermforlife2016]

Thanks for your input! This particular honors program also provides multiple medically related "service learning" opportunities that are only available to honors college students. I think these may give me an advantage in the application process compared to non-honor students. However, I know that such an opportunity isn't worth jeopardizing my GPA. I have also heard that the honors college has a significantly higher med school acceptance rate compared to the university at large. Although correlation may not prove causation as the program requires participants to maintain a minimum GPA to graduate and requires a certain ACT score and GPA to enter, a 90% average acceptance rate is still impressive.

 

[Shirafune]

Thanks for your input! This particular honors program also provides multiple medically related "service learning" opportunities that are only available to honors college students. I think these may give me an advantage in the application process compared to non-honor students. However, I know that such an opportunity isn't worth jeopardizing my GPA. I have also heard that the honors college has a significantly higher med school acceptance rate compared to the university at large. Although correlation may not prove causation as the program requires participants to maintain a minimum GPA to graduate and requires a certain ACT score and GPA to enter, a 90% average acceptance rate is still impressive.

Good students go into honors college -> succeed -> get into medical school. The high acceptance rate is likely due to self-selection more than anything.

There are many good opportunities outside of the honors college as well, I assume.

 

[genericpremedstudent]

just curious, if you haven't even started undergrad... why "dermforlife?"

 

[dermforlife2016]

just curious, if you haven't even started undergrad... why "dermforlife?"

I shadowed a dermatologist recently and I loved the experience, the shorter procedures compared to a surgical specialty, the ability to heal teenagers and adults of diseases that can lead to major psychological and social issues-as skin is one of the most visible parts of the human body-and the ability to avoid several of the problems that plague medical practices driven primarily by Medicare/Medicaid populations. I know it is really much too early to decide on a medical specialty, but I have shadowed many different specialties at this point, and Dermatology is by far my favorite.

 

[md-2020]

just curious, if you haven't even started undergrad... why "dermforlife?"

Well everybody loves derm right now.



Until you look at their match statistics, then family med seems pretty swell too.

 

[genericpremedstudent]

I shadowed a dermatologist recently and I loved the experience, the shorter procedures compared to a surgical specialty, the ability to heal teenagers and adults of diseases that can lead to major psychological and social issues-as skin is one of the most visible parts of the human body-and the ability to avoid several of the problems that plague medical practices driven primarily by Medicare/Medicaid populations. I know it is really much too early to decide on a medical specialty, but I have shadowed many different specialties at this point, and Dermatology is by far my favorite.

You've done extensive shadowing and you're not even in undergrad yet? I'm gonna call BS on this one

 

[Strudel19]

At my school it seems like a lot of work for not a lot of yield. Most people end up dropping out of it.

 

[GrapesofRath]

Give yourself a little time to adjust to college to see how you find the non honors science classes before loading up on science classes.

And as others have said no ADCOM will give jack squat about whether a class is honors or not. All that matters are A's. Its up to you to make a decision on whether you want to give yourself a harder path but realize a) that the honors classes path will likely be harder than non honors classes b) many people love the idea of taking honors classes as freshmen but then realize how difficult they are and how challenging maintaining top grades even in non honors classes can be. Take everything into consideration.

 

[catie_jane]

I did my undergrad's honors program and am now in medical school. (Bear in mind that what follows is specific to the particular program I was in at my particular school. It may or may not be the case at your school). I got As in all of the honors classes I took except for one, I think, so the "tougher grading" wasn't an issue for me. Although my participation in the honors college wasn't brought up in any of my interviews and probably wouldn't have made a difference whether I got admitted, it was TOTALLY worth it. I loved my honors classes. Generally speaking, the class sizes tend to be smaller, the professors tend to be more excited to be there teaching, and best of all the students were excited to be there learning. It was more challenging in the best possible way. The classes tended to be more focused on essays, class discussions, understanding and applying the material, ethics of what we were learning, etc. My professors and classmates really challenged me and exposed me to different perspectives. The program also included a capstone project, which for me resulted in a self-driven science research project that will eventually result in a publication with me as the first or second author (the grad student I partnered with is still working on his part of the data). Most of my best friends were also in the honors college.

So overall, even if the honors college didn't directly help get me into medical school, it was still an extremely valuable learning experience.

This sounds like an identical description of my undergraduate institution (non-honors program)

 

[doc_mcd94]

Most of my honors classes in chemistry and math were curved to a B/B+/A- average while regular classes were curved to like a C/C+/B- average. It also seemed easier for me to get an A in the non curved honors classes like psychology, english, sociology, etc. just due to knowing the professor and having a much better idea of what to do in the class and the professor understanding that everyone in the class is at least somewhat gifted. Now the classes themselves were much more intensive than non-honors classes and required much more work (and much less homework which actually can make it more difficult) so it depends on what kind of student you are. I definitely feel like I will leave my honors program with a much deeper appreciation of several subjects than if I took those classes in a non-honors section.

So you are going to be a senior in hs and already know what undergrad you are going to attend for sure?