I am going to be transferring to William Paterson University Fall 2016. I was curious if I would be able to get into their Honors College, so I applied. I got in. Their Honors college provides a $4,000 scholarship (which is the main reason I am interested in being in it) but requirements are atleast one Honors course per semester, mantain a 3.25, pursue a Honors Track (an additional 15-credit track which is centered on different subjects of study) - within the Honors Track, you must do a thesis project.
If I don’t pursue the honors track, I can graduate within 3 semesters by December 2017, which sounds very exciting. If I do pursue the honors track, I think it will take about 4 semesters, meaning I will graduate May 2018.
I want to go onto graduate school in Occupational Therapy after I graduate. A big part of loves the idea of finishing my undergrad career sooner than later. I could use the extra semester to prepare more for graduate school, and enjoy time before I really buckle down to my studies in graduate school.
Is doing the Honors program, and taking on an additional semester, worth it in the end? I’d gain more knowledge, and experience in a different subject which would be a plus, as well as have a Honors recognition on my diploma, and perhaps get exposed to more opportunities.
In general I think Honors colleges are a good idea for frosh attending a school that has one because it gives them access to early enrollment, smaller classes, better advising, meeting other good students, etc. Even for xfers this can be a good idea. But in your case I think it’s only worth doing if you have a particular interest in the classes you’d take in the Honors Track.
Personally I think since you have already identified a career interest that you should focus on that, and only do the Honors program if you are sure it won’t interfere with preparing for Occupational Therapy grad school. Have you researched what it takes to get into such a program? A good starting point is http://www.aota.org/Education-Careers/Considering-OT-Career/Resources.aspx and you can find plenty more with a little searching.
You need to make sure you are doing the things important to admission. This is much more important than having some honors designation on your diploma. I don’t know much about Occupational Therapy schools, but I know that may nursing programs either require or prefer candidates to have exposure to the field thru volunteer or paid work so they know what they are getting into. You need to check into stuff like this; classes they want you to have, the kind of recs you need and from who, tests you must take, working in the field, etc.
I have to admit this is a sentence that worries me. Of course I don’t know you from Adam, but the kids on this forum that are worried about missing out on fun tend to have bad outcomes. Its like a warning sign of where their priorities are. I don’t know how many posts I’ve seen of kids that plan to “study hard” after having done poorly at the start of college, wanting to know if they can still get into med school or law school or whatever. If they stick around, often the next couple of posts 6 mos later are “it is too late?” as they once again find they didn’t really have the discipline to work hard but are still expecting to do so in the future. Promises about something safely in the future count for little.
As an occupational therapist who often sits on interviews for OT schools, I can tell you that many of the other students that you are competing against will have been part of Honors programs. Being a part of the Honors program speaks to your ambition, willingness to do more than the bare minimum . If you can afford it, I’d participate. If you have concerns about meeting the GPA requirement requirement needed for Honors, you may want to reconsider OT school . It is very competitive to get into , and a GPA lower than 3.25 will most likely not get you accepted into most programs.
Being part of an Honors program is always a positive, and especially because you don’t have to worry about the general lack of academic prowess at WPU in general. But, if I may ask, why WPU?