Last year the minimum amount awarded for Honors College was $10,000 per year. Honors Programs/Academy could be much lower. So it sounds like people above are reporting lower merit awards for Honors College this year.
@NJEngineerDad my son (white) is a current freshman in the HC (SAS). Here are his stats (see below) for comparison purposes. Some will see these and say “Hey, my kid has better stats than that, why were they not invited to the HC?” Who knows, but remember there are other intangibles, an essay, and letters of recommendation that work their way into the mix. Then, there are the demographics to consider, as they aim for diversity; not only from an ethnicity/race perspective, but also skill-set (athlete, musician, artist, etc.). I’m very pleased my son was invited last year, but suffice it to say, I’d be super proud of him regardless…
ACT 34
Took SAT twice:
first SAT 1540 (750 math/790 Lang)
second SAT 1540 (790 math/750 Lang) (at least he is consistent 
)
SAT superscore 1580
GPA 4.0, weighted GPA ~4.25 (on a 4.5 scale)
top 10% of his class
6 AP’s (5’s for Computer Science, PHysics C: Mechanics, and Statistics; 4’s for Eng. Lang. and composition, Chemistry, and Calculus BC (got a 5 on AB subscore)
EC’s: Wind Ensemble, Jazz band, Marching band (through sophomore year), FIRST Robotics, Nat. Honor Society, Science Nat. Honor Society, played soccer (local recreational league) in fall and spring seasons all through HS (and before), worked as lifeguard and/or camp counselor.
Congratulations to all new students (and their parents) who were invited to the HC. For those who weren’t, I know you likely feel some disappointment. But, don’t be discouraged; simply go out there, kick a$$ and prove 'em wrong!
@desie1 I found that last year when we went through this, there was ample confusion among some folks regarding the difference between Honors College and the various Honors Programs/Academies. I suspect the minimum HC merit awards are still likely $10,000 as they were last year, but time will tell…
@Tictacmissus , @dragonfish : Thanks both for advice in past. Son got 19k merit award pharmacy honors college. Will attend pharmacy open house next weekend.
Is it top 5% into honors college, top 15% into honors program/academy ?
Think will help parents to clear up the confusions if any …
So around 10 students of pharmacy are in Honors college, 20 students are in honors program .??
@orm2020 in my year as I’m a freshman there are only 9 students in honors college for pharm and I think honors program for pharmacy begins sophomore year? I think many more people are selected for HC for pharm but people don’t usually choose it because it is for a very specific profession
Does anyone know the difference between “Honors College Welcome Reception” and “Honors College Showcase”?
Any international students got in Honors College?
My son also got into HC this year for SoE and RBS. Got 10K merit from SoE and 13k from RBS.
Stats
ACT 35.25 ( 35 composite)
GPA : 4.0 UW
Volunteering :- 600 hrs
AP’s :- 7 ( all 5’s but 1. In that 1, its a 4 )
This is distinctly lower than what we were expecting
@whataboutcollege Last year reception was only for presidential scholars. it includes a sample Byrne seminar and the opportunity to talk to hc scholars at every table and activities. I cannot speak for other differences because I only went to the reception. Meanwhile every HC student is invited to the showcase
@Tictacmissus Thank you for the info! My D17 was invited to the presidential scholarship event 3 years ago. It was well organized with good food, speech and a tour of honor college dorm. But I don’t remember the name of the event. S20 received the presidential only from RBS. He wanted to major in CS and SAS offered just 19k. I am not sure if we will go to the residential scholarship event this time as he is unlikely to join the business school (where the presidential is offered).
@whataboutcollege that is alright I heard the normal presentation was impressive as well
@orm2020 I’m not sure about the exact percentages in HC and HP, maybe you can find out next week! But I believe my son told me before that around top 10% PharmD goes to HC; don’t think there’s a HP for PharmD.
@whataboutcollage My S18 went to the HC Showcase, It was an informational event with presentation from the deans, student panel, a few advisors, entertainment by the Rutgers Glee Club, very nice lunch during which the students went to the adjacent room to mingle with the deans and advisors to chat and ask questions.
@TwoFabKids I agree with your comment to @destinedfordestitute. My S16 did not get into the HC. He had a 1570 SAT, 11 APs (5s on all and 4 on 1, the rest this year), 3.96 UW, taking multiple classes at an Ivy League university with As in all of them (5 by graduation), etc. It is hard to tell a kid who has done everything asked of him that he has failed to achieve a goal. I am ridiculously proud of him, and it is very misinformed to say those who didn’t get into HC didn’t try hard. I would suggest that balancing, the type of load my son has is extremely a-typical. In my opinion his hard work and effort is not diminished by not getting into HC. I am sorry that this student feels the way described in the post.
At this point we likely will just move on from Rutgers, but you are correct that many students worked extraordinarily hard and still did not get in to HC.
@Mom270 it could be that Honors college 10K minimum is for out of state students only since the tuition is higher. I bet every OOS honors college recipient got a minimum of $10,000.
Did people get invited to an HC showcase? I have not received any emails about any HC events or a pharmacy open house? Am i missing something? I’m going on an admitted students tour tomorrow 2/21
@borgdoctor The 10K minimum for HC seemed to be the rule for in-state students as recently as last year. I think that @NJDad2 could be right that confusion between HC and HP/HA could lead some people to think they got less than what they should have gotten. Note that so far we have only one report of somebody allegedly getting less than 10K at HC.
It appears more widespread, i state HC getting 10k to 13k. Off course there are a few who landed more, but I know this appears to be the new “median”. Possibly due to public university under funding by NJ, you never know
@RRRGSP Last year in-state students who got in HP/HA typically got between 3.5K and 8K. Students who made it to HC would apparently get at least 10K, and very few got the presidential 28K.
As recently as three/two years ago it seems that getting the presidential 28K was not as uncommon as last year, so reports that getting top merit is becoming even harder this year seem in line with the trend, and 10K to 13K at HC is not unexpected.
But this year @Mom270 reports only getting 3.5K at HC. This is quite surprising, and I am left wondering if this datapoint should be considered an outlier.
@Supportivefather May I ask if you are in-state and to which school your son applied within Rutgers? Was 1570 a single-sitting SAT score or a superscore?
@NJEngineerDad - In State, SAS, Single (800 math).