<p>A little background: I am going to the University of Missouri-Columbia in the fall. Its a Big 12 state university, so its not exactly Stanford, but the School of Journalism is fairly prestigious, and Journalism is my major. My grades throughout high school have been average, and I have never been one to adore doing work. Yes, I’m one of those kids that “just skate by”. So, when I saw that because I wasn’t in the top 10% of my class, I didn’t qualify for the Honors College, I thought, hey, no big deal, that means I won’t have an impossibly huge workload in my classes! <em>But</em>, I applied for a big minority scholarship and got past the essay level to the interview level, and (crossing my fingers!) I feel that my interview went very well. If I recieve this scholarship, I am automatically eligible for the Honors College.</p>
<p>Now, having said all that, do any of you have experience in the Honors Colleges at big state schools? I know they are supposed to mean more personalized attention and smaller classes, but I also think that it would mean having to devote an insane amount of time to studying to keep that 3.0 GPA they require to stay in the program. On one hand, I feel like it might be a good motivator to keep my grades up, but I just don’t know if the Honors College is a good fit for my slacker lifestyle! I’m also worried that the Honors commitments will interfere with being able to just enjoy college on a social level. </p>
<p>It might require you to change your work habits. Then again, that’s probably a good thing, because someday you’ll need to get a job, and skating by just won’t cut it. I seriously doubt it will ruin your social life, and I think it sounds like a great opportunity and challenge for you. Go for it!</p>
<p>I was in the Honors College at my university for just a semester before I dropped out, due to me being a slacker like you. Trust me, slacker and Honors College do not mix. However, my Honors College did nothing but increase the chances of social interaction, always having parties and fun gatherings, we had a great time with a retreat two days before classes started out in some camp about 150 miles away from town.</p>
<p>Well, I also kinda quit because I’m an EXTREME loner and I never would have fit in there, everyone there was so darned social and my Honors College at least would only help with social interaction, not hamper it in any way. Being social is just something I am not into at all…</p>
<p>I’m in the honors college at a state university.</p>
<p>here all honors freshmen have to do this year long seminar dealie, and it was the easiest A of first semester.
well… not the easiest, it still involved a far bit of work, but it was by far my most fun and interesting class. </p>
<p>they don’t stack tons of requirements on top of your regular studies - you can get honors credit for a bunch of classes by doing an extra research paper or presentation or something. it all depends. (I have no idea how the honors college at your school works.)</p>
<p>it won’t ruin your social life and you’ll still meet tons of people. heck, the honors community is rather tight-knit.</p>
<p>plus, an extra incentive to keep your GPA up is good, especially if your scholarship is dependent on it too.</p>
<p>I’d say go for it. As someone said, that slacker lifestyle must eventually go away anyway. If you can get the scholarship, thus, the opportunity, why not? You will still lots of time to have fun anyway. It’s not like you will be spending the entire weekend at school working on problem sets and projects, or having to sleep in the lounge 3 or 4 times a week. Journalism is not engineering or natural science.</p>
<p>I have fairly good work ethic. I’ve had a part-time job since I was sixteen, and I did an internship at my city newspaper this summer. The only thing I don’t really have much of a drive for is academics. While I do what I need to do to get to where I want to be, I don’t have that natural enjoyment of school. </p>
<p>At MU, the Honors College isn’t a “college within the college” like at some schools, so there aren’t any seminars and stuff like that. That actually is appealing to me. I’m not interested in feeling set apart from the rest of the university whatsoever. </p>
<p>The only real reason I’d want to participate is that the Honors College would get me in smaller classes, which could help in classes that I might need a bit more help on.</p>
<p>But on the other hand, I don’t really think the Honors College would be essensial for me to keep my GPA up. I would know that I have to keep a 3.0 to keep my scholarship and to get into the J-School at the end of sophomore year. I’m also automatically going to be in a pretty comprehensive retention program if I get this scholarship which helps make sure you stay on track. So the Honors College, in terms of keeping my grades up, is actually pretty unnessecary.</p>
<p>Right now I’m leaning against opting out if I get this scholarship. And who knows, I might not get it and then its pointless to even pontificate about the Honors College, because otherwise I don’t qualify. At one conference I went to, the head of the Honors College did say that even if you aren’t in the Honors College, you can usually enroll in a couple Honors classes anyway if you go and talk to them. So if I want to, I could do that to get smaller classes, without the added pressure of being in and staying in the Honors College.</p>
<p>Can any of you think of any other reasons besides small class size why I would want to be in the Honors College? One thing I thought of is that it might look good on my J-School application at the end of sophomore year. Do you think that would make a big difference? Applying to the J-School is a pretty intense process - its similar to a graduate program except that its for junior and senior year.</p>
<p>I’d imagine it’d definitely boost your chances for being accepted to the journalism school…of course…What the heck is there to loose? One of the perks of being at a state school is that you can be somebody special. Being an honors student and maintaining a high GPA will not only help you get into journalism school, it’ll help you get a /job/. Also, you say it’s not like a “college within a college”, but at my state school, the honors program is like a small “community”; you live with kids you take classes with. In that way you’ve already got a group of people to hang with, so it’s a social and academic benefit, I think. But yeah, I don’t know if University of Missouri’s is like that.</p>
<p>Anyways, basically it can only be beneficial - if you can’t keep up you can always drop out. But if you can, it’ll be great for you, I think. Just because you were a slacker in highschool doesn’t mean you have to be one in college. I mean, sooner or later you’re gonna have to learn to work. I don’t think the New York Times really appreciates writers who “skate by”. I don’t think they hire them!</p>
<p>MissSuperFantastic: While I really appreciate your imput, I think you were mistaken about me “having to learn to work”. I work my butt off in things that are important to me. Like I said before, I have had a part-time job for two years and I did a summer internship. I also am editor-in-chief of my school newspaper. So, “skating by” is what I do in my classes, but not in most aspects of my life. Not that I’m a mediocre student - I just don’t usually go above and beyond what I know I need to do. Anyway, your high GPA doesn’t mean squat in the journalistic realm. Its much more about your experience and the tearsheets of your work you can show. </p>
<p>On another note, I’m living in a Freshman Interest Group (FIG) with other journalism majors. In FIGs, you are coenrolled in three classes with the 20-30 freshman in your FIG, and you do a seminar based on your major. </p>
<p>The more I respond to people on this thread, I think the more I realize that the Honors College is honestly not something I want to. And while it would be great opportunity if I get the scholarship, I don’t think I should do it simply because I was offered the opportunity - I should really want to do it. </p>
<p>I’m going to keep researching what the MU Honors College really involves, though. I have some time to think it over. Thank you all so much! Any new comments are appreciated, too.</p>
<p>being an honors student looks good for grad school, or even smaller things, like applying to be an RA or whatever.</p>
<p>and I don’t know how it is at other schools, but honors students here get priority at registration. it’s freaking awesome, not getting stuck with any 7:40 studios.</p>
<p>ask kids who go to your school about it, find out more about this specific program. it’s your call.</p>