@albert69 I would not do the honors program as an engineering major who needs to keep a 3.5.
@gearmom Yup, pretty much certain about that at this point.
It looks like the aerospace engineering departmental honors course(s) are senior level courses, so by the time you may choose to take them, your GPA is already well set due to all of your previous course work. Also, if you take such courses in your last semester (or last year if the GPA check for renewal occurs yearly), then losing the scholarship may no longer be a concern by that time.
@ucbalumnus Good point, though the scholarship GPA requirement is by semester.
My husband works for a Fortune 500 company and is frequently involved with hiring students just completing college. He told me that his company couldn’t care less if a student is in their college’s honors program. It has no bearing on their decision.
Thanks, @Panthergirl!
Yes, the honors programs doesn’t influence hiring directly, but it does influence opportunities (= can lead to better jobs indrectly thanks to having access to research+ funding + conference funding, to better advising, to special internship offers, to special “networking” events…) as well as, greatly, learning comfort during the first two years. This latter point should not be underestimated when attending a public university where there have been funding cuts, or where funding was weak to start with, or where there are many thousands of students. Priority registration is also a great perk that can make the difference between a good or bad instructor, a favorable or unfavorable time for an essential class, freeing time up for a one-day-a week weekly internship. However the situation should be assessed in comparison to the actual benefits the Honors College offers and your own goals. Honors Colleges would be especially beneficial to premeds, for instance (more support, etc) but perhaps not as important for engineering students (who already have peers who have good academic motivation.)
Hey everybody, wanted to update you. I went to WSU and as part of the tour, we talked with the Honors college. I have decided to do Honors because the way they do it, any class can become an Honors class, I just have to get the teacher to say yes and I will do an extra project or report or something. So, I can be an Honors student in engineering and not take “extra” classes, just make ones already in my major Honors. So, then I’d get all the benefits of being an Honors student. Thanks to everyone!
Congratulations!
It’s cool they explained the Honors Contract system during your visit - That’s what I was trying to explain in post 15.
(
)
Did you like the tour?
@MYOS1634 Yes, I loved the tour. Somehow I didn’t pick up on the fact that any class could be Honors from the website; I guess I didn’t look hard enough. Thanks for your input. I will definitely be going there in fall.
The only caveat is that with an engineering major, I do agree that you will have to take what you have to take and ask the professor (QUICKLY, as in, the first week of classes or before) about what extra project or report you can do. You need to be clear on how many honors courses you need (in some cases, students take regular courses for particular requirements if they hear that the honors variety is particularly tough or dull) - it’s not 100% anywhere I know of, something like 50% is the norm.
The way it works where I teach, you get the grade you get and if the professor agrees to the honors project, it is more like a “pass/fail” and you get the grade you got in the regular course.
One way (where I teach) to get an honors label tacked onto a regular course is if there is a graduate course, you can do a project that is associated with that course.
Another way (again, where I am) is to take a graduate course - most honors programs allow all graduate courses to be counted as honors courses for undergrads.
I’m so glad you can make it work. And the university must be pretty pleased to have you, too 