The Bobcat Nation

As I stated in another thread, my son will be attending MSU in the fall. He has been accepted to the honors college. Can anyone tell me their experience with that? Is it "worth it?" I have a friend who daughter is in the honors college at another University and it was just more work so she exiting it. Thanks for any information you can provide!

Futurecatdad wrote:As I stated in another thread, my son will be attending MSU in the fall. He has been accepted to the honors college. Can anyone tell me their experience with that? Is it "worth it?" I have a friend who daughter is in the honors college at another University and it was just more work so she exiting it. Thanks for any information you can provide!

Sorry, I never really got close to any honors.

Check out your private messages. I sent you one with my thoughts.

Futurecatdad wrote:As I stated in another thread, my son will be attending MSU in the fall. He has been accepted to the honors college. Can anyone tell me their experience with that? Is it "worth it?" I have a friend who daughter is in the honors college at another University and it was just more work so she exiting it. Thanks for any information you can provide!

This is a good question, and the answer is probably different for every student. I'd recommend he take a visit to MSU and set up a meeting with the honors college to really get an idea if that's something he's interested in. If that's not feasible, I think the next best step would be to call/email someone in the department to start a line of communication.

Good luck, and congrats!

If you will take advice from a Griz, it is this. Let your kid choose what is best for him. This is just the beginning of your son's process to maturity and really in the long run it is not all that important of a decision -- more than one year out of college it will be nothing more than a footnote on a resume, that will hopefully have better accomplishments listed above it. Give him the power to accept or decline and the responsibility that goes along with either decision. And certainly if anyone should be emailing the instructors about information it should be your son.

^ And this is a perfect example why UM graduates constantly under-achieve. For them mediocrity is acceptable.

TIrwin24 wrote:^ And this is a perfect example why UM graduates constantly under-achieve. For them mediocrity is acceptable.

Where does he say accept mediocrity? He said let the student decide, which is fantastic advice out of a parent.

Like wbtfg said, it depends on the student. Worst case, your student starts into the program and decides it is not for him. If that happens, he can just focus on his degree work as he is not stuck in the Honors College. No harm, no foul for trying it out and he'll still part of the experience.

Positives I've heard about the Honors College:
- smaller classes
- classes with students in a variety of academic departments
- classes are very much discussion based courses compared to lecture style
- classes with some of, if not the TOP faculty at MSU that only Honors students can take
- he could graduate with TWO degrees from MSU at the same time/cost (his normal degree and a Baccalaureate Honors Degree
- classes taken through Honors will many times "double-up" on his Honors requirements, but also CORE (general) requirements
- all of MSU's recent top scholarships (Goldwater, Marshall, Rhodes, Udall etc.) have all been a part of the Honors College

One thing I do hear from students is it is more rigorous, however, not necessarily more work. The classes are more in depth and move quicker, but like anything, if he doesn't stay on top of the work, it'll be harder.

TIrwin24 wrote:^ And this is a perfect example why UM graduates constantly under-achieve. For them mediocrity is acceptable.

You're actually not doing us any favors as MSU grads with posts like this.

Bay Area Cat wrote:

TIrwin24 wrote:^ And this is a perfect example why UM graduates constantly under-achieve. For them mediocrity is acceptable.

You're actually not doing us any favors as MSU grads with posts like this.

He's not doing any favors with his advise with lines like this:

in the long run it is not all that important of a decision -- more than one year out of college it will be nothing more than a footnote on a resume

I understand the overall context of his statement, but to not, at least, encourage the student to try out Honors College would almost be a disservice to the student's potential education.

TIrwin24 wrote:

Bay Area Cat wrote:

TIrwin24 wrote:^ And this is a perfect example why UM graduates constantly under-achieve. For them mediocrity is acceptable.

You're actually not doing us any favors as MSU grads with posts like this.

He's not doing any favors with his advise with lines like this:

in the long run it is not all that important of a decision -- more than one year out of college it will be nothing more than a footnote on a resume

I understand the overall context of his statement, but to not, at least, encourage the student to try out Honors College would almost be a disservice to the student's potential education.

The point I was making seems to have been missed entirely. My point was that college is supposed to be a process of maturation where the kid is learning to become an adult. Whether or not to take on the extra duty of enrolling in the honors college is just the type of decision that the kid should be researching and making for himself. He should be asking himself if that is what he wants, and if he is willing to commit and work for it and then follow through. If he belongs I have no doubt that he is smart enough and mature enough to make the correct decision to join up.

And when times get tough and he has a calculus exam to take and three term papers due in a week he won't shirk his duty because this decision was thrust upon him, but he will double down and do the work because he will take responsibility for his decision to enroll in the harder program. But what do I know, I went to a different college than you, with a rival sports team ...

Thanks for all of the suggestions and advice. He emailed the honors college and his department and after reading their responses, he decided to accept his invitation to the honors college. We're very proud him...hopefully we'll get t o make the trip up to Montana and maybe catch the Brawl of the Wild!

Futurecatdad wrote:Thanks for all of the suggestions and advice. He emailed the honors college and his department and after reading their responses, he decided to accept his invitation to the honors college. We're very proud him...hopefully we'll get t o make the trip up to Montana and maybe catch the Brawl of the Wild!

Congrats and welcome to the MSU family!