"Honors" programs, courses, colleges

[djkapp]

Looking for some input and advice from those of you with students in various types of "honors" situations.

 

1. What have your students found to be the pros and cons of these courses?

2. Do the courses actually challenge them to learn more, discuss topics and ideas more fully and deeply, relate concepts in higher-level ways, or are they regular courses with an extra paper tacked on?

3. Do the courses seemed geared to students who are bright and willing to work hard, or are they for "gifted and talented" students with alternative learning styles?

4. What questions would you recommend asking when visiting a college to help determine the focus of the honors program?

 

My reasons for these questions is based in our current experience with our dd who is a senior and taking two dual-credit course, including an honors sections of Chemistry 1411, at our local university. While the lecture portion of the class has been quite good and definitely challenging, the lab has been truly awful. One of the honors professors wrote the lab manual himself -- completely unedited, missing words, misspellings. The labs are completely unrelated to the lecture material and some require formulas that my dd's professor told her is not introduced until 3rd semester chemistry. My dh, who is a physician and loved chemistry, read the lab manual the other night and was completely befuddled by its lack of logical sequencing. I realize that this is only one experience, but it is making us think that so-called honors programs may need to be more thoroughly investigated and not just assumed to be a better option.

 

Any thoughts????

 

Yvonne

[TravelingChris]

My son was in a honors program at college and they had special seminars and trips. In his new college, he is taking an honors class and it is simply taught at a more indepth way.

 

My dd took an honors psychology class and she used a different, more interesting and indepth book and they did papers instead of tests. The class size was small and they discussed the issues instead of having a large lecture class like the other intro to psych classes were.

 

I am sure that different places have different ideas about what constitutes honors but fortunately for us, so far, it has all been good.

[Sharon in MD]

Our ds is a newly hatched freshman in the honors college at Drexel in Philly. I think their program sound pretty good. Honors perks include special honors housing...where everyone has to maintain a 3.2 to stay in that dorm...honors sections for required courses, and opportunity to register early for courses. There are also honors required special seminars and lots of opportunities.

 

We are very new to the whole thing, but so far so good.

[MomsintheGarden]

Our son is in his sophomore year in the Honors program at Virginia Tech. We have been quite pleased with the Honors program overall.

 

Here are some plusses of the Tech Honors program:

1. Honors students get first priority when signing up for classes, after the athletes (who have training & game schedules that are very strict, so they go first). It goes by class - seniors first, then juniors, etc. This perk is for the second semester freshman year and afterward.

 

2. Honors students have the opportunity to live in an Honors Community. Tech's honors dorms only accommodate 200 students. Even though not everyone wants to live in the Honors Communities, admission to them is competitive. Ds was in a different Community last year (freshman engineering guys - a great fit for him), and is in an Honors dorm this year. He likes living in a Community. The students have been great to live with, and they have special activities and seminars. For example, they went on a hike together before classes began, and he is in a detective novel seminar this fall. He's enjoyed reading Sherlock Holmes again!

 

3. The Honors degree at Tech is very flexible. Honors courses and seminars are available, and a course can be made Honors with a special agreement from the professor. Ds only took one Honors course in his freshman year - Linear Algebra. No paper was required, but the material was covered in greater depth. His professor was excellent. She conveyed her love of math well, and over the summer recommended that my son double-major in math (which he did!). He signed up for another class taught by her this semester.

 

4. Honors students receive more advising and counseling than other students. There are special Honors advisors who have offices in the Honors dorms - very convenient. Also, the Honors students are required to keep a Course of Study Planner in which they map out their degree plan, by semester. They are taught how to do this in special meetings. The COSP is turned in and checked when they are freshman.

 

The Honors program has been a good fit for our son. The Honors community has made a large university seem a bit more like a smaller college. He has liked his Honors courses so far. The Honors students seem very hard working and serious about their studies, but know how to have fun, too. They help each other study. Plus, the extra advising helped him make the transition from homeschool to college.

 

Before visiting a college, I would recommend reading their Honors website, asking to meet with the Honors program coordinator or an Honors advisor. I would also request to meet with a student in the Honors program, preferably a sophomore or junior in your student's intended major.

 

HTH,

GardenMom

[ereks mom]

At his school, all freshman are required to take a Freshman Seminar class fall semester (their first semester in college). Basically, it is "how to deal with stuff (parents, friends, stress, studying, decision-making, etc.) now that you're an adult". His first semester at college, he was assigned to the Honors section of the Freshman Seminar, and enjoyed the class. However, when asked to continue in the Honors program, he chose not to do so. Turns out that the Honors program isn't (at least, not yet -- new Honors program, remember?) more in-depth classes, special activities or trips, or anything like that. Instead, Honors students are required to do participate in service projects (and other projects) in addition to their regular academic load.

From the school's website:

"[school name] will begin an Honors Program this Fall for exceptional students seeking to enhance their educational experience through creative projects, service learning, and involvement in existing academic activities. The program is NOT about more work as some Honors Program are. Our program seeks to recognize and enhance what the best [school name] students are already doing."

 

ER is a music major, and simply can NOT add one more thing to his schedule. This semester, he has eight classes (17 hours). Besides the usual studying and paper-writing, he is also required to participate in 2 choirs, 2 music ensembles, practice 10 hours of piano per week and 10 hours of voice per week, attend student recitals (sometimes twice a week), attend choir/music workshops and retreats, as well as sing or play at several concerts each semester. Additionally, he is a leader in the school's ministry organization. He barely has time to eat and sleep!

Edited October 6, 2009 by ereks mom

[Brilliant]

My dd takes classes at a nearby CC which has an "honors" program which is supposed to make transfers into universities easier, among other things. The other benefits I can see are smaller class sizes, and the fact that the students are more likely to be serious, transfer-oriented students.

 

HOWEVER - I'm less than impressed with the only class I've investigated. At this school, the instructors have a lot of leeway in deciding how to teach the freshman-level English classes (comp and rhetoric). Every class section, therefore, has a different reading list. In looking at the two honors composition sections - the reading list for one is comprised entirely of graphic novels! This is for an HONORS section. The other section has books listed with which I'm not familiar, but they appear to be thought-provoking non-fiction selections.

 

Taking a comp class based on graphic novels seems such a step back for a student who is used to analyzing Shakespeare...

[galtgrl]

My dh & I were both in honors classes in college, and the main reason was financial - it was basically a $500 scholarship if you qualified for and joined the program. It was basically an english honors course, something different each semester but pretty in-depth.

I really can't say it was worthwhile, apart from the scholarship $. Those that continued in the program got to design their own independant projects during their senior year, which may have been interesting.

One other thing- we went to a secular school, and the honors programs in particular were extremely hostile toward those with christian views/beliefs. Just my experience. -J

[Kareni]

In contrast to Jen's experience, our local state university actually charges additional fees to belong to the Honor's College!

 

Regards,

Kareni

[LibrarianMom]

I was in the honors program at the state university I attended. I took at least one honors course each semester. Some were honors only sections and others were classes where I contracted with the professor to make it honors level or an honors independent study. I like all of my honors classes but there were also multiple benefits outside of class.

1. Honors students were able to register before everyone else so we had a better chance of getting the classes we wanted.

2. I had two advisers during my entire college career--one for my major and one for the honors program. When my honors adviser transferred to another campus department just before my last semester, I checked in with her too.

3. The honors program had a special dorm you could live it although I chose not to do so.

4. The Honors Student Organization sponsored some activities. A favorite college memory is a formal they sponsored my freshman year. My now husband and I attended and had a great time

[Chris in VA]

In my limited experience, a nice perk for honors is the housing--you can actually get some studying done b/c no one wants to get a low gpa and get kicked out.

Mt. Union and OSU are the only honors programs I have any experience with. I'm like everyone else--sure it varies from place to place, but worth investigating.

[JFSinIL]

My ds is applying for Honors at any public school to which he is accepted. Looks like most of the private schools already are "honors" .

 

I equate the private schools with home schooling, and the public schools with, well, public school. My ds went to public high school and took every Honors and/or AP he could. I figure getting into Honors at a public college will be about the same, right?