In high school, no one wants to stand out and be known as the “smart kid”. It has a connotation indicating a lack of social skills and life, teachers pet and nerdy. While there are a few exceptions to being smart and totally cool, most people try to separate their academics from their social life.
I have met many high school seniors who were accepted into a college's honor program, only to turn them down because they don’t want to be a “nerd” again in college. However, what these high school seniors don’t know is that in college, being smart gains you social status. In order to participate in Greek life or athletics there is a GPA requirement. People are competing for internships at the coolest companies; it pays to be smart! With that being said, here is some of my advice on why to join the honors program at your college.
1. Early Registration: This is probably the most common benefit of the honors program and especially comes in handy freshmen and sophomore year. Generally, your first two years of college you are at the bottom of the totem pole when it comes to class registration. However, if you are in the honors program, you get to register before any of the non-honor students who make up the majority of your school’s population.This assures that you get to enroll in both the classes that you need and want to take.
2. Resume Builder: Almost everything ambitious people do in college is to enhance their resume. They sign up for random clubs, volunteer every chance they get, and hang out with annoying professors to gain recommendations. If you add in that you were a member of the honors college, employers will see that you took additional classes, cared about your education, and took a more rigorous course load. Employers want to know they are hiring the best, and being in honors indicates you are the best.
3. Smaller Classes: I’m not sure if this is how it works at every school, but at TCU it definitely does. I was supposed to take a science class with a lecture of 80 students because I was in the honors section, but instead there were only 10 of us. The benefit of the smaller class size was getting to truly know my professor and fellow classmates, and since there were so few of us, our teacher decided to not quiz us because she could tell from the class discussion whether or not we had read. I took another class that only had about 20 students. While TCU is known for having small class sizes, the changes I have seen in teacher student ratio while being in honors is dramatic. If you are a student who likes having a relationship with your professor, this is a great benefit.
4. Extra Free Stuff: One of the best parts about college is all the freebies. You go to any event and there is guaranteed to be either food or a shirt that is being given away. If you join the honors program, that benefit grows even more. At TCU there are honors breakfasts once a month and every day on finals week. In honors you get an additional sash to wear at graduation, get to attend special guest speakers, and be known amongst all your professors and peers as an intelligent individual.
In high school, being accepted by others seems nearly impossible. Somehow in college that pressure starts to fade away. As we mature and move into adulthood, we begin to respect the peers who try hard in school, have a strong group of friends, and appear happy. So, if you are given the opportunity to enhance yourself, do not deny it. You should always be opening doors, not shutting them.
