Honors Colleges

bclintonk
Sat, 27 Dec 2008 04:44:24 +0000

^ I only partially agree with collegehelp. I agree that it makes sense to consider an honors program if the net cost of attendance is lower than that at a private school. I do not agree that this confines you to your own state school. Many (but not all) honors programs offer quite generous merit-based aid. Don’t rely on generalizations here, one way or the other; the devil is in the details.

As for mikemac’s dissing of honors programs in the thread he cites in post #2, it again reflects gross generalizations that do not apply to all honors programs. The University of Michigan, for example, has an outstanding honors program offering small classes with students whose stats are comparable to those of the most selective colleges in the country. Honors students at Michigan are required to take at last half honors classes, but may take all honors classes if they so choose. Bottom line, be careful. Not all honors programs are alike. Consider carefully the financial bottom line, the stats of the students currently in the program, and how the particular program is structured. You’ll find enormous variation. The best of them are IMO competitive with the best of the best in undergrad education. Some others are largely window-dressing. And many fall somewhere between these two poles.