Honors programs at big universities

MiamiDAP
Thu, 05 Jun 2014 13:46:33 +0000

My D. was in Honors at large public in-state. She did not share the same experience as stated by OP. She has chosen her UG because she felt that it matches her the best. 3 years later, while in Medical School and having experiences with graduates from the most top colleges in the nation, she still holds the same opinion about her college. She has applied to Honors originally because it was required to get accepted to the program that D. wanted to participate. This program had only 10 spots for incoming freshman. The Honors at D’s UG had 200 spots and great number of accepted to Honors were valedictorians from public but primarily from private HSs. The requirement was ACT=31+, top 2% of the HS class. Anyway, the Honors had create advantage of priority registration. This was the biggest for my D. (beside the fact that she got accepted to her program). She had couple minors and having to complete pre-med requirements on time is a challenge for everybody. Another big advantage is very small classes and great accessibility of prof. who know you by first name at the end. Also, many hard to get opportunities were easily available to my D. at her college (but not so at all outside of her college). It may also has to do with her being in Honors. Overall, I believe that these 200 in Honors were treated as royalty there, not mentionning the fact that most (all?) were on full tuition+ Merit award.
D. had to drop her sport though, did not have enough time. Her sport had nothing to do with her acceptance to Honors, she had no plans participating in Varsity any way, she had tried club and it did not work out for her. She was seeked out by several college coaches, being in sport from the age of 5 all the way thru graduating from HS. But she knew that choosing pre-med, she would have great time limitations and she wanted to pursue other interests at college also.
D. had great experiences and memories if her UG and Honors was just a small part of it. The most important, she her UG has prepared her for her future very well, no only academically but also in the area of personal growth.