Why Do Honors Programs in Colleges Matter?

College Search & Lists
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Like others have said, there are some definite perks to being in an honors program. I was in one back in the day when I was in college and it was a really great experience (I went to a large public state university). Perks of an honors program often include (but specifics vary based on the school):

  1. priority registration - for example, you might get to register for classes right after the athletes do. This makes it a lot easier to get the classes you need so you can graduate on time. Some required courses might only be offered once/year.
  2. preferred housing - you might get first pick on dorms or the school might house a lot / all of the honors students in 1 dorm that is newer, has a better dining hall, etc.
  3. Honors-only classes - very similar to small graduate-level seminar courses with smaller class size. Can often involve open & really interesting discussions in class w/the professor, compared to sitting in a large lecture hall with 400+ other students & there's no discussion
  4. research project required for graduating with honors - this is a great resume-builder and helps with getting a job after college or applying to graduate school.
  5. makes it easier to meet students who are similarly committed as you are to getting the most out of their college's opportunities.

In my personal experience, it was a really beneficial experience. There were GPA requirements - you had to maintain a certain GPA in order to remain in the honors program, so you couldn’t slack off. But it was totally worth it. I got to take a graduate-level statistics class that was really interesting. Got to help my professors in their research projects, one of which resulted in my name getting added to the professor’s publication in a research journal. For the senior project, you could pick pretty much whatever you wanted…the world was your oyster. You just had to come up with an idea and the professors were totally on board and willing to help & be your advisor. I would totally do it again. If you are able to pursue something like that in college, I would highly encourage you to consider it.