Robespierre21

I haven't been able to find any statistics regarding the students selected for the honors program so I was wondering if anyone here knows anything.

Phair1x23

They basically invite everyone into the honors program. It is actually rather silly. I just decided to go to a better school because of that.

uskoolfish

D was accepted into American last year. She rec'd over $20K in merit aid. Her basic stats were a 97.8 GPA and 2130 SAT, 30 ACT. Excellent leadership EC's.

D was not asked to be in the honors program. It was extremely selective and basically used SAT scores as a criteria. We were told that the basic cutoff was a 1450 SAT for honors. D could have challenged their decision, but D decided not to attend. Btw, she made honors at GW, Muhlenberg and NYU.

I absolutely disagree that everyone makes honors. As a matter of fact, I think there is a big gulf between honors students and American's "regular" student body.

hello5

My S had similar stats and merit aid with a 31 ACT and he was not asked to join. It's very selective.

mini

You can also join "honors" after your first year. My d. had MUCH lower ACTs or SATs than what we are talking about here (probably bottom 15% of the class), but finished her first year at AU just a hair shy of a 4.0 GPA. However, she has decided not to do honors - her class sizes are already pretty small, is doing a major, minor, and four years of a language, and a term abroad, and hopes to have a very busy paid internship, so she didn't think it made very much sense for her.

MommaJ

Yes, Phair1X23 specializes in posting snotty comments on CC and is merely amusing himself (or herself). (You would think someone heading off to a "better" school would find "better" ways to spend time.)

D was accepted into Honors this year (and got the $20K/yr. Dean's scholarship) with high SAT's but a GPA that was relatively somewhat lower, so I think it is true that scores are a heavy component in the decision. I also suspect that the applicant's intended major may be relevant, with some of the more highly sought majors (SIS, Kogod) requiring higher stats to qualify for Honors. I'm not aware that AU publishes any numerical criteria, so the best you can hope for is anecdotal evidence like ours.

dc2014

Do you think that American's honors program academically comparable to a school like Georgetown?

uskoolfish

We were told twice that the criteria was approximately a 1450 SAT: once at an admissions event and once when we inquired privately after D was not offered acceptance into honors as a freshman. We were surprised because she was awarded a deans scholarship for 20K and an additional music scholarship.

Robespierre21

So my weighted average is above 100 and I'm ranked 9/750 and I won't get accepted into the honors program just because I received a 1400/2140 on the SAT and 32 on the ACT?

mini

How would any of us know?

My d. rooms with a student in Honors. Not much of a gulf at all, except my d. has a significantly higher GPA.

katytibbs

My son was accepted in the Honors Program and will be attending. He was offered the top scholarship ($27,000) as were all of the kids in the Honors Program that my son met.

At the accepted students day, the Dean of the honors program went over the stats of the accepted Honors kids. I don't remember the SAT, but the ACT average was 30.5 (so my son's 31 was above the average) and the GPA was 3.9 (my son's was below at 3.73). The kids at that session were pretty amazing, they were choosing between some really great schools. (My son felt like a fraud with his relatively low GPA.) So, I would say there amy be somewhat of a gulf between many of the honors kids and the non-honors.

The 32 on the ACT would probably qualify you. But they must have some discretion or else hello5's son would have gotten in. It might be the fact that my son met with the NJ admissions counselor when she was traveling in our area.

KBuster

I am an Honors student at AU who lived on an Honors floor for my freshman year, and I can say fairly conclusively that there is a big difference between honors and non-honors students in the sense that honors students get bored easily and go crazy. Only a little more than half the floor ended up being in the program, so you aren't removed from the rest of the student body, but there were some interesting patterns. Half of the honors students were extremely academically driven in the sense that they wanted their 4.0 and that was priority #1. The rest made good grades, but didn't spend a lot of time studying and filled the halls with drunken hysteria even on weeknights. One girl would go nuts with the temptations surrounding her and then would spend nights in a (drug-induced?) blitz of book reading, paper writing and project-finishing.

The students who weren't in honors were less crazy (except for my club promoter roommate) and were positively influenced by overachieving roommates.

R124687

uskoolfish:
Because I recognize your name from NYU/Steinhardt...this is a "music" child (who "made honors") at NYU...correct?

I ask because myD is VERY interested in Steinhardt voice and I didn't think I saw much on "honors" programs at their website AND assumed any that I did see...applied to the "academic" (?) parts of Steinhardt.

I know I can't ask you what she got in the form of a scholarship, if any. I also ready you say elsewhere that Steinhardt scholarships for music were really only talent based now. I also heard they mysteriously roll any money all into one and you really don't know.

So... since my D's stats are along the lines of 2210 SAT, 34 ACT, 750-780 SAT II, etc...

IS there any "honors" scholarship money in music at Steinhardt that you know of?

katytibbs

Here are the stats that AU posted on Facebook

Admitted freshmen boast:

• average SAT of 1288
• average ACT of 29
• average GPA (weighted and unweighted) of 3.81

Among the 233 students enrolled in the University Honors Program, the profile is even more striking:

• average SAT of 1438
• average ACT of 32
• average GPA (weighted) of 4.25

I realize now my earlier post had misinformation in it. The average ACT score of admitted Honors students was a 32.5 and my son's score was 33.

Deja

Same for my son (except that he won't be attending American). His SAT was above the average, and his GPA below. GPAs are hard to compare, since every school system computes them differently.