My S25 has been invited by several colleges to apply for Honors but he’s flat out not interested. He’s going in as an Engineering major which he thinks will be challenging enough and TBH its not his scene anyways. He definitely downplays his smarts and has never placed much value on academic validation. Will this look like he’s not interested in the colleges he’s applying to?
I think its fine, but depending on the school and what is involved, he might want to reconsider. At many you have the option but don’t HAVE to choose the HC dorm, for example. Many HC give you priority registration, which can be a game changer.
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I would urge him to reconsider. Most honors programs have nice perks like early registration. Not all honors programs are equal. Some are excellent. Others not so much. Do some research.
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No.
If he’s not interested don’t apply.
I agree with looking at perks - all Honors programs are different. So you want to understand b4 applying.
That said they likely send Honors apps to all or all who hit a statistical cutoff.
Some honors programs have cost. Some have scholarships. Can go either way.
Bottom line, if not interested, don’t apply and have zero concern.
I wouldn’t worry about looking bad, but I agree this sounds like he is maybe getting too caught up in the concept of it being an “honor”, or necessarily making college more challenging. In fact I have specifically heard on multiple occasions about Engineering students that enjoyed being in Honors for the perks, convenient study groups, and so on.
Again not obligatory, I just think it could be worth looking at details with an open mind.
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At my D’s school, honors college applications were totally separate from overall university admissions but I don’t know if that’s how it works everywhere. In a world where demonstrated interest is important, I’d encourage him to apply for the schools that are high on his list. He can always turn down a place in honors college later if he isn’t interested.
I do agree with the other posters though about doing some due diligence about the different honors program. In addition to housing and priority registration, there may be special advisors, smaller class size, honors specific study abroad opportunities, and earlier access to internships/coops which is very important for engineering majors.
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At some schools, like Rutgers for example, only honors college students are considered for merit scholarships. Check if this applies to any schools on your son’s list.
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That’s not the case anymore (at Purdue?) IIRC it was two additional essays submitted with the application. No idea how/when it’s reviewed though.
Thanks for all your replies! I can definitely see the benefits of an Honors college especially with priority registration. Unfortunately, after applying to 16 schools, I don’t think I could get my S25 to write another essay if his life depended on it!
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Not all schools require extra essays for honors consideration. I’m not sure which schools are on your son’s list, but two examples I know of are Stevens Institute of Technology and UMD. Both provide automatic consideration without extra essays.
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That is not correct about UMD. Dd definitely wrote several small essays for Honor college and you also needed some specific classes for some Honor colleges.
You were selected to be part of Honor automatically but then you had to write essay and rank the ones you were interested.
One DD got Honors that she wanted. Another did not. That was main reason she did not choose UMD.
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I believe UMD is by invitation after you get your acceptance, where the majority of the other schools are asking for essays and another application before he even finds out if he’s been admitted. I might have a better time convincing him to apply once he has an acceptance and a little more time to reset!
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Yes. After you are accepted and have been offered an honors invitation. Not at the time of application, which is what I was referring to.
Correct.
Look at benefit of Honors in each school.
I did not see much benefits at UMD or GaTech.
In UMD I was literally shamed when I told that I do not see reason to take extra social engineering classes about women movements etc that my child is not interested and graduate later vs graduate early with engineering degree. Admin could not understand consept of wasting money when student was ready to work. “Why would you want to graduate early? Student should enjoy time by taking more classes instead of graduating early…”
I was also told that how stupid not to apply to Honors and end up in dorm were you can’t sure who were your roommates…
In GaTech you actually have to pay extra for Honors program and living in Honors dorm…
I do not have experience with Honors at other schools.
I also heard that in some schools students use Honors to get dorm and register first year and then drop, so they do not need to take extra Honors classes. I think that was at Upitt, but I maybe wrong.
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