<p>Do you think gaining entry to a college that has more rigorous acceptance standards (and therefore more difficult classes?) would be more or less beneficial than attending a school with easier acceptance policies, but participating in honors college?</p>
<p>My dd is leaning toward the easier acceptance - honors college for several reasons:
- More Merit money!
- Full college experience (her words) read- school spirit around sports!
- Typically better dorms
- better chance of getting selected for research (large schools go to their honors students first most of the time)</p>
<p>Depends on your overall goals. Our kids are only applying to schools where they come in at the top 25% or better of the applicant pool so they increase their chances of significant merit aid. We won’t qualify for any financial aid so the bottom line is important to us. Our DD wants to go to medical school and students are better off at a school where they can shine vs being one of the pack at a “top” school so that is also a consideration. None of the “top” schools have DS’s major so not even on the radar there and the name on the diploma is meaningless so why pay more :D.</p>
<p>Don’t assume that more rigorous acceptance standards always equates to more difficult classes. Also, consider that the honors programs typically have their own acceptance standards, which will be more rigorous as well. </p>
<p>The requirements to remain in the honors program could be a disadvantage (depending on the student). You can stay in the first college with a 2.0, but if you get a 2.0 in the honors program, you are likely to be dropped from the program, and be left with the regular program at the second college. Otherwise, each could have its advantages.</p>
<p>At my son’s school, many of the honors classes were classes held with the non-honors students but they included additional coursework. Requirements were (off the top of my head) senior thesis, community service and leadership. My son was offered the honors program every year but preferred working part-time and took graduate courses and finished in under four years.</p>
<p>If you want higher-level courses, the school with the easier-acceptances may have them available to undergrads and employers can see that you’ve taken graduate courses in your undergrad years.</p>
<p>I agree that it’s hard to know if the ‘easier’ admit will have ‘easier’ classes–I’m pretty sure organic chem is going to be pretty tough at a state U, too! I assume there are some differences, but if your student is motivated and takes classes that are challenging, the honors college route can be a good one.</p>
<p>My D applied to tougher admits, and got in to all of them–but many of the ‘tough admits’ don’t offer any merit aid, and we only qualified for loans, not grants. Her choices ended up being between very good liberal arts colleges (the ones outside the tippy-top, that offered her merit b/c she had national writing awards, excellent test scores and was top in her class) and state flagships w/ honors colleges. She chose the later and is VERY happy. One advantage for her was that all of her APs counted as credits, and she was able to start in higher level courses from the start. Though she ended up out of state, it costs same as going in-state because of multiple merit awards. I think it can be a good option if the U in question has strong department(s) in what the student is interested in studying.</p>
<p>It’s a good idea to ask the student if he’s interested in being in the honors college at each school that he applies to. Honors programs differ, and a particular one may not appeal to your student.</p>
<p>My son applied to the University of Delaware, and his credentials were good enough that he could have been a candidate for the honors program. But he chose not to apply for it. His rationale was that being in the honors program would have required him to devote more time to his general education/liberal arts classes, because he would have been taking the honors versions, and that would have taken time away from what he really wanted to do – which was concentrate on courses in the computer science major.</p>
<p>Marian—good point–one Honor’s program our kids are considering (is considering??) they don’t have to take the same gen ed’s as the regular college so they can devote more time to their major field studies (they had to have some coursework in high school to opt out of those classes, which they do). They were very interested in that option there.</p>
<p>One of frazzled kids opted for the difficult admission, while the other took the honors college option. They had almost identical stats (honors college kid had slightly higher stats) and similar resumes wrt honors/leadership positions. I do not think it will be clear which was the better decision for another five or ten years, however, since each has its advantages and disadvantages, even aside from financial considerations. </p>
<p>Wrt to research options, however, we did not find that the difficult admissions school provided fewer research opportunities, nor did it provide these opportunities only to those who were “stand-outs” or those with experience from high school.</p>
<p>I’m of the opinion that there’s not really a wrong decision here–as frazzled notes, pros/cons to both, hard to compare directly–a lot of the decision can come down to finances and the individual needs of the student–some kids will do better in a smaller environment, some love the big school vibe.</p>
<p>My kid went public/honors and is liking it so much. Not sure this would be the same for kid #2, who I think will feel more at home in a smaller setting.</p>
<p>I’m going to give you a mixed response:</p>
<ol>
<li><p>I don’t think you have to sacrifice academic rigor by attending a less-selective school.</p></li>
<li><p>I’m not a big fan of ‘honors colleges’ and I wouldn’t allow the presence or absence of these programs to substantially influence your college selection.</p></li>
</ol>
<p>At some state flagships, you need to be in the honors college to get the best scholarships.</p>
<p>I think the answer is situation dependent. If you are judging based on the stats of students your student will come in contact with, then sometimes the more selective school will have more honors caliber students than the other situation. However, if it’s an honors program focused on what a student wants to study, and particularly noteworthy professors are involved in the curriculum, for example, then the honors program may be better.</p>
<p>For students who are very bright and externally motivated, honors college may be the best solution: they will always be considered among the school’s elite, and the praise they receive in that regard should motivate them to do their best. Such students often flounder when placed in a situation where they suddenly find themselves as only average or slightly above average within their new peer group.</p>
<p>For students who are brilliant, perhaps somewhat non-conformist and internally motivated, those colleges with acceptance rates below, say, 15%, may be the best solution: such students thrive in environments that fascinate them, don’t much care what their exact class ranking is or if they always get an A. Suddenly being surrounded by kindred souls becomes a cause for celebration and this cannot be underestimated; it’s not unlike the situation once expressed on Mensa’s home page: “We get your jokes!”</p>
<p>I was in an honors college, before I transferred to a much more selective school. In my particular situation the classes were harder at my new school than the ones at the honors college. Grading was a lot more generous at the honors college, since it didn’t have a mandatory grade deflation policy. I was also running into the problem at the honors college that there weren’t many honors courses in my major. On the other hand, I was going to thesis through the honors program at my old college, but I wasn’t eligible to thesis at my new one.</p>
<p>My daughter opted for the honors program. In her case it came with merit money, better housing, extra counseling, and smaller classes. She is hoping that being in the honors program will give her more opportunities for internships, study abroad, etc. However, not all honors programs are the same - you need to take into consideration the size of the program, the kinds of requirements/classes they have, etc.</p>