Weight of being an "Honors" student

[Jsor20]

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Is being an honors student looked upon as something great on an application? Or could a medical school care less about your involvement in honors?


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[mimelim]

Dime a dozen, nice if you have honors, completely not missed if you don't.

 

[Jsor20]

That's what I have figured. I just feel like it creates a ton more work for very little pay off! It has its benefits, but I don't think they outweigh the cost.


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[aldol16]

Well, I'd think 300, 400 pounds? Probably from all those late night snacks from the extended hours of studying.

 

[GnomeBeGone]

Honors = Bragging rights while in college; dead weight when applying to med school.
**Step away from the ledge.**

Admissions won't care about an H next to the course number when most use software to filter out applicants based on GPA.

The only instances where I can maybe see it mattering are:
A) Trying to get into a prestigious med school from a less prestigious undergrad school.
B) When deciding between two similar applicants post-interview.

Graduating with a <3.5 and an Honors diploma in one of the "hard sciences" earned me an SMP year and a lot of debt. Schools say they want 'rigor' -- in reality, they want nice stats to post on MSAR.

Not to say that I didn't become a sharper crayon from doing Honors - I enjoyed the challenge. But.... It didn't make for a smart end-game. Save yourself some angst and get that non-Honors 3.7+ GPA.

 

[Jsor20]

Honors = Bragging rights while in college; dead weight when applying to med school.
**Step away from the ledge.**

Admissions won't care about an H next to the course number when most use software to filter out applicants based on GPA.

The only instances where I can maybe see it mattering are:
A) Trying to get into a prestigious med school from a less prestigious undergrad school.
B) When deciding between two similar applicants post-interview.

Graduating with a <3.5 and an Honors diploma in one of the "hard sciences" earned me an SMP year and a lot of debt. Schools say they want 'rigor' -- in reality, they want nice stats to post on MSAR.

Not to say that I didn't become a sharper crayon from doing Honors - I enjoyed the challenge. But.... It didn't make for a smart end-game. Save yourself some angst and get that non-Honors 3.7+ GPA.

Perfect. Thank you for this info. I currently have a 4.0 and I think starting honors in my junior year could drop that. Keep up a 4.0 for one more year and I'm solid for my gpa app! Thanks again


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[jerfer]

what about if you wrote a thesis for honors? I'm assuming it still doesn't make a difference?

 

[Lucca]

what about if you wrote a thesis for honors? I'm assuming it still doesn't make a difference?

See the thesis thread in PreAllo. Tl;dr "it varies, just do it if you are genuinely interested in doing a thesis". I think all students should have the opportunity to complete a mentored thesis with the prospect of publication on the other side but in terms of medical school admissions it won't be a deciding factor. That being said, should you do one it seems to come up in interviews a lot.

 

[jerfer]

See the thesis thread in PreAllo. Tl;dr "it varies, just do it if you are genuinely interested in doing a thesis". I think all students should have the opportunity to complete a mentored thesis with the prospect of publication on the other side but in terms of medical school admissions it won't be a deciding factor. That being said, should you do one it seems to come up in interviews a lot.

Thanks! i actually already did one, i graduated last year. just wasn't sure whether or not to highlight it at all in my app.

 

[Lucca]

Thanks! i actually already did one, i graduated last year. just wasn't sure whether or not to highlight it at all in my app.

Definitely do. It's an opportunity to show off at an interview

 

[jerfer]

Definitely do. It's an opportunity to show off at an interview

thank you 🙂

 

[Mansamusa]

If the honors programs gives $, do it.

If they don't, not worth extra work