Questions to Ask an Honors College
Written for a student deciding whether to join an honors college or honors program, and for the parent sitting beside them at the information session. Five groups are for the honors staff: what the program requires, the thesis, the perks and the money, what it takes to stay in, and whether it pays off. The sixth is for current honors students, and because honors works differently from one university to the next, every answer has to come from the one you are considering.
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The questions
Each question, and why to ask it
The program
What does a student have to complete to graduate with honors here, and how many credits is that?
Why ask it
Ask for the full list in one place: courses, seminars, a thesis, and anything outside class such as service hours or events. The total matters less than how many of those credits you would be taking anyway, so ask that next. If the answer is a handbook, get the link and read it before you commit.
Do honors courses replace general education requirements, or are they added on top of them?
Why ask it
This decides what honors costs in time. Where honors seminars stand in for required courses, the program fits inside a normal load. Where they are extra, a student in a full major may be looking at heavier terms or a summer, so ask to see a sample four-year plan for your major with honors written into it.
How big are honors classes, and how big is the regular section of the same course?
Why ask it
Small classes are usually the first thing an honors brochure promises, so ask for both numbers and name a course, such as first-year writing or introductory chemistry. A cap is not the same as an average. If the honors section is only a little smaller, the difference has to come from somewhere else, and it is fair to ask where.
Who teaches honors courses, and do professors apply to teach them or get assigned?
Why ask it
Where faculty propose seminars and compete for the slots, the people at the front of the room chose to be there. A useful figure is the share of last term's honors courses taught by full-time faculty, along with whether graduate students or part-time instructors ever lead one. Later, put the same question to a student and see if the accounts agree.
What makes an honors section different from the regular course: more work, or a different kind of work?
Why ask it
Listen for discussion, primary sources, a project or a field trip in place of a lecture and a test. If the honest answer is one extra paper on the same syllabus, honors is a heavier version of the same class, which suits some students and wears on others. One syllabus of each kind, read side by side, settles it.
How many students are in the honors college, and what share of each entering class is that?
Why ask it
Size shapes nearly everything else. A few hundred students can know the dean and each other, while a few thousand is closer to a college within the college, with more courses to choose from and less attention each. Neither is better, but the number tells you which of the two is on offer.
How many honors courses run each term, and do they fill before first-years get to register?
Why ask it
A requirement is only as easy to meet as the schedule allows. The telling comparison is last fall's honors seats against the number of students who needed one. If people often wait a term for a required seminar, find out whether that has ever pushed back anyone's graduation with honors.
Can a regular course count for honors credit through a contract with the professor, and how many credits can be earned that way?
Why ask it
A contract, sometimes called an honors option or a conversion, lets a student add a project to an ordinary class. It helps most in majors with few honors sections of their own. Find out who approves one, what the added work usually is, and whether professors in your department agree readily or need persuading.
If I come in with AP, IB or dual-enrollment credit, how does that change which honors courses I still need?
Why ask it
A student who has already tested out of the general education courses that honors sections replace can be left with requirements and nowhere obvious to put them. Bring your likely credit list and ask an honors advisor to walk through it line by line. Policies differ a great deal, so get this college's answer and not a general one.
What is required outside the classroom: service hours, events, colloquia, a first-year retreat?
Why ask it
These commitments are easy to miss because they carry no credit. Three details matter: the hours each term, how attendance is recorded, and what happens to a student who falls short. An athlete, a commuter or anyone with a job should check that evening and weekend options exist.
Is there an honors seminar I could sit in on during this visit?
Why ask it
Forty minutes in the room shows what no presentation can: who talks, how much reading was assumed, whether the professor knows the students by name. The office may need a few days to arrange it, so send the request by email before you come. A first-year seminar is the one to pick, since that is the class you would be in.
Is there a separate application for honors, and what are you looking for in it?
Why ask it
Depending on the university, students are invited straight from the main application or have to add an essay, a recommendation or an interview. Get the deadline first, because it can fall earlier than the one for regular admission. Then find out what a strong honors essay did that a forgettable one did not.
If I am not admitted to honors now, or I decide later that I want it, can I join after my first term?
Why ask it
The first decision can feel final when it may not be. The details to get are the GPA a current student needs to apply, whether the requirements are reduced for late entrants and transfers, and how many join that way each year. A real second door also takes pressure off anyone who is unsure today.
Thesis
Is a thesis or capstone project required to graduate with honors, and in which year does the work begin?
Why ask it
A year-long project can land in the same months as job applications, graduate school deadlines or a senior design course, so learn its shape early. The gentler version starts with a proposal course in the junior year and has deadlines spread along the way. The harder one arrives all at once in the last two terms.
How do students find a thesis advisor, and what happens when no professor in the department has room?
Why ask it
The honors office may do the matching, or the student may be left to knock on doors alone. A good sign is a high share of students with an advisor by the date the proposal is due. A sabbatical or a small department can leave someone stranded, so find out who steps in then.
Can the honors thesis be the same project as my major's capstone, senior design, recital or clinical work?
Why ask it
Double counting is what makes the thesis manageable in majors that already end with a large project, such as engineering, nursing, education and the arts. Ask for an example from your own major and what the honors version added to it. If the two must be separate, that is a second big piece of work in the final year.
What does a finished thesis look like in my field, and does a creative or applied project count?
Why ask it
A lab report, a business plan, a short film and a history paper are judged very differently, and some programs accept all four. Ask to read two recent ones from your subject, and ask how long each took. Seeing them turns an intimidating word into something you can picture yourself doing.
Is there money for thesis research, such as travel, materials, lab costs or a summer stipend?
Why ask it
Funding decides what kind of project is possible, above all one that needs fieldwork, archives or equipment. Get the typical award, the share of applicants who receive one, and the application deadline. A summer stipend can also stand in for a summer job, which matters if you were counting on those earnings.
How is the thesis examined: a written grade, a public presentation, or an oral defense before a committee?
Why ask it
Find out who sits on the committee, whether anyone is ever sent back to revise, and how long a revision takes. If the presentations are open to visitors, get the dates of the next ones. Watching a senior present for fifteen minutes is the clearest preview of the whole program you can get.
If a student finishes every honors course but not the thesis, what do they graduate with?
Why ask it
There may be a lesser distinction for the coursework alone, or the student may simply graduate without the honors title. Either way, check that the honors courses still count toward the degree. The answer shows how much is riding on the final year.
Perks and money
Is there honors housing, is living there required, and for how many years can I stay?
Why ask it
Honors halls range from the newest building on campus to an ordinary floor with a sign on it, and the price can differ from a standard room, so ask to see one and ask for the rate sheet. A hall that takes first-years only gives you a community for nine months and then scatters it. If it is required, ask about the student who wants to room with a friend outside the program.
How does priority registration work for honors students: how far ahead, and for every term or only the first year?
Why ask it
Registering early is worth more than it sounds. It is how a student gets the required section, the professor they wanted and a schedule that leaves room for a job. The detail to pin down is where honors students fall in the order, ahead of seniors or only ahead of their own class year, and whether it covers your very first registration at orientation.
Does admission to honors come with a scholarship, or are the two decided separately?
Why ask it
It is easy to assume they are one thing. At some universities honors carries its own award, at others the largest merit scholarships require honors membership, and at others no money is attached at all. Ask which applies here, and whether the amount is the same for every student.
If my scholarship depends on staying in honors, what are the exact conditions for keeping it?
Why ask it
Get the GPA, the credit load, the honors credits per year and the date it is reviewed, and ask whether one bad term brings a warning or a loss. The honors office and the financial aid office may each hold part of the answer, so ask both. Then ask how many students lost the award last year.
Is there an honors fee or a higher tuition rate, and what does it pay for?
Why ask it
A charge every term, a one-time fee and no fee at all are each possible, so do not assume. Where there is one, find out what it funds: smaller classes, trips, events, printing. Add up four years of it before you compare offers, and check whether your aid can be applied to it.
Do honors students get their own advisor, and how does that person work with the advisor in my major?
Why ask it
Two advisors can mean twice the help, or two people each assuming the other has it covered. The caseload of each honors advisor, and whether you would keep the same one every year, suggests which it will be. The practical test is who signs off on your schedule when honors and the major pull in different directions.
What funding can only honors students apply for: study abroad grants, conference travel, support for an unpaid internship?
Why ask it
Ask for last year's figures: how many applied, how many were funded, and the usual amount. A fund that supports most of its applicants changes what your four years can include. One that makes a handful of awards is mostly a talking point.
Do honors students get earlier or easier access to research with faculty?
Why ask it
Ask for the mechanism and not the adjective. A first-year placement scheme, labs that hold places for honors students, or a course that pairs each student with a professor is something you can count on. 'Our students are very competitive for research' means you would be emailing professors like everyone else.
Staying in
What GPA do I need to stay in honors, and is it checked every term or once a year?
Why ask it
Write the number down beside the typical GPA in your intended major, because a line that is comfortable in one field is tight in another. A department advisor can tell you roughly where their students sit. It is also worth knowing whether the first term gets any leniency while new students settle in.
Are honors courses graded harder than regular sections, and do they tend to pull GPAs down?
Why ask it
A fair worry for anyone who needs a high GPA for medical school, a scholarship or the honors line itself. Reassurance is easy to give, so ask what it rests on, such as the grade distributions for the honors and regular sections of one course. Check as well whether an honors grade carries any extra weight in the GPA, which is something to confirm and not assume.
If my grades drop below the line, is there a probation term, or am I out?
Why ask it
A warning term and a meeting with an advisor mean the program expects some students to stumble and recover. Removal with no appeal is harsher, and it changes how much risk you would take on a hard course. Ask how many students were on honors probation last year and how many came back from it.
How many honors credits or courses must I complete each year to remain in good standing?
Why ask it
Pace rules catch students whose grades are fine but who keep postponing honors work behind their major. The cases to raise are a co-op, a semester abroad or a clinical rotation that leaves a term with no honors course in it. An exception approved in advance is far better than an apology afterwards.
If I leave honors, or am removed, what exactly do I lose?
Why ask it
Go item by item: the room in the middle of a year, the registration slot, the scholarship, the advisor. Check too that honors courses already passed still meet degree requirements, so that leaving does not cost credits as well. A program that is painless to leave is easier to try.
Of the students who start in honors, how many finish with honors, and at what point do the others leave?
Why ask it
This figure tends not to be on the slides, and it says more than any perk. Departures bunched in the first year point to fit or workload. If they come just before the thesis, ask what has been changed to help. A director who knows the number without looking it up is watching it.
How do students in engineering, nursing, education or other tightly sequenced majors fit honors in?
Why ask it
Name your major and ask how many current honors students are in it. Then ask to see one of their real schedules, term by term. If the staff cannot point to a single student in your program who has finished, you would be the test case.
Are there honors sections of courses in my major, or are most honors courses in the humanities and social sciences?
Why ask it
A science or business student whose honors classes are all seminars in other fields is getting breadth, which may be exactly the appeal. It also means every honors credit sits outside the major. Decide which you would prefer before you hear the answer, then check it against last term's course list.
Can I study abroad, take a co-op or play a varsity sport and still finish honors on time?
Why ask it
All three take a student off the standard calendar, and each needs its own answer: can honors credit be earned abroad, can requirements move around a co-op term, and how do athletes manage seminars that meet during practice? The best evidence is a student who has done the same thing, so ask to be introduced to one.
Worth it
What appears on the transcript and diploma for a student who completes honors?
Why ask it
The wording varies: a notation on the diploma, a line on the transcript, a medal or cord at commencement. Ask how it differs from Latin honors and from departmental honors, which are often separate and easily confused with it. You should be able to explain the distinction in one sentence when an interviewer asks.
Where did last year's honors graduates go, and how does that compare with other graduates of the same major?
Why ask it
Honors students were strong applicants to begin with, so a list of impressive destinations shows less than it seems to. The fairer test is a comparison with similar students outside honors, though a program may not have one. What you can ask for is examples in your own field and how the information was gathered.
How does honors help a student applying to medical school, law school or a doctoral program?
Why ask it
Press for what the help consists of: a professor who knows your work well enough to write a detailed letter, a thesis to talk about in interviews, an advisor who reads drafts. Any claim that the honors title itself carries weight with admissions committees is one to check with the schools you have in mind.
Is there someone who helps honors students apply for national scholarships and fellowships?
Why ask it
Some of the large fellowships require a campus nomination and months of drafting, so it helps to have a person whose job this is. Useful details are how many students applied last year and how early the office starts working with them. If students outside honors get the same help, it is a benefit of the university and not of honors, and it comes off your list of reasons to join.
What kind of student gets the most out of honors here, and who would be better off without it?
Why ask it
A director who can describe the student it does not suit is giving you a straight picture. You might hear about students who want to graduate early, who are stacking two majors, or who mostly wanted the title. Hold your own plans up against whatever they say.
What would I miss if I came to this university and did not join honors?
Why ask it
It asks the staff to make the whole case in one answer, and it shows what they think the heart of the program is. Compare it with what students tell you. If the staff say seminars and the students say registration, believe the students.
Honors students
Why did you join honors, and knowing what you know now, would you join again?
Why ask it
Open with this for any current student, because the second half draws a real answer. Notice whether the reason they stay is the reason they joined. Someone who came for the scholarship and stayed for the seminars is telling you what the program turned out to be good at.
In an ordinary week, how much more time does an honors course take than a regular one?
Why ask it
Ask for hours, and for the worst week of the term. Students in different majors will answer differently, so try to find one in yours. If several say the classes are no harder, only more interesting, that counts for more from them than from the staff.
Which honors class has been your best so far, and what did you do in it?
Why ask it
A student who lights up describing a seminar far from their own major is the strongest advertisement the program has. If nobody can name one, or the best class was best only because it was small, weigh that against the extra requirements.
Has an honors requirement ever clashed with a course you needed for your major?
Why ask it
Staff describe the plan, and students describe what registration did to it. The useful part is what they did about the clash and who helped. One story about a seminar that met only during a required lab shows how much the program bends when it has to.
What is the honors hall really like: quieter, more studious, closer-knit, or just a dorm?
Why ask it
A weeknight and a Saturday are the two to ask about. Living among people who also have reading to do delights some students and feels like a bubble to others. The telling follow-ups are whether they would live there again, and where their friends from outside honors live.
Are most of your friends in honors, or outside it?
Why ask it
The answer shows whether honors is a community or a set of requirements, and either can suit you. If you want a ready-made group inside a large university, a close program is a gift. If you would dislike being set apart, ask how students outside honors talk about it.
Which perk do you use most, and which one turned out not to matter?
Why ask it
Students rarely rank the benefits the way the presentation does. Whatever they name first is what you would give up by declining, and whatever they shrug at can come off your list of reasons to join.
Do you know someone who left honors, and what made them leave?
Why ask it
You want the reason, not the name. Workload, the thesis, a schedule that would not fit and a slip in grades each point to a different risk for you. It is fair to ask what that person lost besides the title.
Do the honors staff know you by name, and when did you last talk to one of them?
Why ask it
It is the quickest check on how personal the program is at its real size. A student who was in the director's office last week about a fellowship essay is evidence. One who has not seen an honors advisor since orientation is evidence too.
Is there anything about honors here that you wish someone had told you before you accepted?
Why ask it
Leave it for the end and give them a moment to think. What comes out tends to be small and practical: the seminar that fills in minutes, the service hours nobody mentioned, the hall with no kitchen. Take those back to the staff before you accept a place.
How to find out what an honors college really offers
Practical guidance for the conversation itself
Who to ask what
Honors staff for the rules
The director, the dean or an honors advisor owns the requirements, the GPA line, the completion figures and the course list. Take them the questions under The program, Thesis and Staying in, and ask for the handbook that governs your entering year, since requirements can change from one class to the next.
Financial aid for anything tied to money
A scholarship that depends on honors may be run by a different office from the one that runs the seminars. Put the renewal conditions to financial aid as well as to honors staff. Where the two answers differ, ask which document settles it.
Your intended department for the fit
Honors staff know their program and may not know your major's course sequence in detail. A professor or advisor in the department can say how many of their students finish honors, whether the capstone doubles as the thesis, and which terms have no slack in them.
Current honors students for the lived version
Students on a panel are usually there because they like the program, and they are still worth asking, especially for specifics such as hours and course names. Try to find one who is not on duty as well: in the honors hall lounge, through your high school, or by asking the office for the email of someone in your major.
Before the visit, session or interview
Read the handbook and the course list first
Most of the fixed facts are published: credit totals, the GPA to remain, this term's honors sections. Reading them beforehand lets you spend the conversation on what is not written down, such as how often seminars fill and what students do when they cannot get a seat.
Lay the requirements over your major's plan
Print the suggested four-year plan for your major and mark where each honors requirement would go. The crowded terms show up at once, and you arrive with a pointed question in place of a general worry about workload.
If it is an interview, choose three
An honors interview is assessing you too, so questions about housing and registration are better kept for a visit day. Stay with the seminars, the thesis and what students go on to do with them. One question that shows you have read this year's course list does more than five the website could answer.
Decide who asks
Parents usually care most about cost, conditions and housing, and students about classes and people. Divide the list that way before you arrive. A student who asks their own questions also learns whether these are staff they would feel able to go to later.
Weighing what you hear
Sort what honors replaces from what it adds
Make two columns. In the first, put every requirement that stands in for something you would take anyway. In the second, put the true extras: added seminars, the thesis if your major has no capstone, service hours. The second column is the price, and the perks are what you get for it.
Notice which benefits last four years
Early registration, advising and funding can run until graduation, while a first-year hall or a welcome retreat is over by the following summer. Ask which is which at this university, and give the lasting ones more weight.
Compare honors here with no honors elsewhere
The real choice is often between honors at a larger university and an ordinary place at a smaller or more selective one. Put the same questions about class size, access to professors and research to both. Honors is worth most where it changes those answers.
Get the conditions on paper
Anything with a number in it, the GPA line, the scholarship terms, the honors credits per year, should come from a document and not from your memory of a conversation. Ask for the page or an email that confirms it, and file it with the offer letter.
Mistakes that cost students later
Choosing the university for the label
An honors college sits inside a university, and most of your courses, your major and your degree come from the university. Judge the department you would study in first. Honors can improve a good fit and cannot rescue a poor one.
Treating the scholarship and the program as one decision
They can have different conditions, different offices and different consequences when a student falls short. Know which one you would keep if you dropped the other.
Skipping the completion question
How many students finish is awkward to ask and matters more than any perk. A program that loses most of its students before the thesis is offering a first-year experience under a four-year name. That can still be worth having, as long as you know it going in.
Joining with no way out in mind
Plans change: a new major, a co-op, a hard year. Before accepting, know what leaving would cost and whether completed honors courses keep their value. If leaving costs little, there is little risk in starting.