Which are the best honors colleges?

[mom47]

And what do we know about Hutton at IU? Thank you!

[wis75]

The best honors colleges/programs will be at the best overall universities. Some U's will offer a "school within a school" approach, but remember that 100% of an education does not take place there. You need to consider the rest of the campus offerings. How will that nonhonors course be? Will the students in those regular classes be of a similar caliber when it comes to peer interactions, discussions?

For example, UW-Madison has an honors program. Students can take honors courses and other courses for honors plus have other extras. There is no special housing. The overall ACT/SAT middle 50% is higher than at some other public U's that separate honors students from others. Also in the midwest consider the caliber of Michigan. It may be harder to compare ACT schools with SAT ones as most students will take only the ACT at these schools.

When choosing a school consider the whole school and its fit. Also consider what happens when a student is in her/his major. What happens to the courses then? It may be good to take intro courses with other equally smart students, but what is the caliber/competitiveness of the upper division coursework? Is the grad school highly ranked in the likely fields of choice for the student? Many, if not most, students will not finish with the major they start with so the specific major stats may not be critical, but they are likely to stay in sciences or humanities or engineering...

Also consider the cost of the education and the likely courses to be available in this era of budget cuts. Some schools entice students with large merit aid amounts but are cutting back on the academic offerings. In other words, I would pick the overall school, then consider the honors aspects.

[mom2collegekids]

I don't know about IU's honors college, but I can tell you that I really like The University of Alabama's Honors College and this is why...

First of all, it has 4 honors programs...

The Honors College - Consists of 4 different programs - each very unique!

2 honors programs admit by stats, so interested smart kids are admitted. These are the University Honors Program (UHP) and International Honors Program (IHP).

The other 2 honors programs are very competitive (only admitting 40 students each).
The two highly competitive honors programs are Computer-Based Honors Program (CBHP) and University Fellows Experience (also called UFE or Fellows),

University Honors Program (UHP) and International Honors Program (IHP) - applying students are admitted if they have the stats - Incoming students with a 28 ACT or 1250 SAT will be automatically accepted to the Honors College upon submission of their applications. Students will be notified of their acceptance via mail.


A qualified student can belong to more than one program, but to become a member of Computer-Based Honors Program (CBHP) or Fellows, a student must be selected through an essay and interview process (held in Feb - UA usually pays all expenses - transportation, hotel, food.).

University Honors Program (UHP) - minimum ACT 28 (SAT 1250 M + CR) - UHP classes are limited to 15 students. UHP students have their own computer labs. EZ app - one paragraph essay about yourself. NO BIG DEAL at all! If you have the stats, you're admitted after app received.


International Honors Program (IHP) - minimum ACT 28 - IHP classes are limited to 15 students. IHP students must also focus on a foreign language and do a study-abroad. If you have the stats, you're admitted after app received. This program is very popular with students in the Culverhouse School of Business and Commerce and foreign language majors.


Computer-Based Honors Program (CBHP) - only 40 students admitted to CBHP - average ACT 33 (typically includes a couple of "hook" students with ACT 28 - 30, but the others range ACT 31-36). Don't let the name fool you. This isn't a program that's designed only for Comp Sci or Eng'g majors, but it is for super smart kids. The students' majors range from Engineering to Liberal Arts to Pre-Med to Dance/Theatre to Library Science (and everything in between). Project-oriented research with a prof - fabulous presentations (I've been able to sit-in several students' presentations of their individual research projects.) CBHP is a minor. CBHP students have their own lab and classroom facilities.

Many kids who are in CBHP receive national recognition/awards - for instance, many CBHP students have been named to: UA once again leads the nation with five students named to USA Today’s 2009 All-USA C

University Fellows Experience - (UFE or "Fellows") only 40 students admitted to program - average ACT 32/33, but includes kids within the ACT 28 - 36 range.) Project-oriented program. Must be invited to apply. Apps are sent to students with ACT 32+. If your ACT is between 28-31, you can have a GC request an invite.

Students interested in CBHP and/or Fellows, must also apply to UHP first.

The students in the Honors College are kids who score above the 90 percentile. Most of the kids in the CBHP and Fellows Program score in the 99 percentile.

Plus, various department majors have some honors classes. To take such classes, a student must be a member of UHP, too.

Last year, Dr. Halli (the recently retired dean of the honors college) told us that over 20% of the incoming freshmen are now qualified for The Honors College. Therefore, he was concerned that Dr. Witt (the president) would insist that the minimum ACT be raised, since honors classes cost a lot more money (smaller classes). But, Dr. Witt said that UA would keep the 28 ACT minimum because the students were doing so well in those classes.



Belonging to the Honors College has its perks...small college feel, smaller class sizes, priority registration, honors housing, honors computer lab.

Many departments also have some honors classes - such as Honors Calculus, Honors Physics, and such.


Dr. Shane Sharpe (super nice) is the interim dean of the Honors College. He's also the director of CBHP. Dr. Sharpe has his PhD in MIS, but he's also a pharmacist.

Honors College - http://honors.cbhp.ua.edu/index.php?page=uhp

Honors College application instructions - http://honors.cbhp.ua.edu/index.php?page=apply



Anyway...since you were asking about honors colleges, I thought I'd let you know about this one with its many opportunities. (I copied this from another post to make it easier )