Honors college??

Megsd, BSN, RN · Jun 18, 2006

I'd probably talk to your advisor and ask their opinion. Let them know exactly what your plans are as far as your education goes, and ask them if they feel these tougher classes will help you or not. I did honors-type stuff throughout high school and was so sick of it I turned down being in the honors program at my University. I missed out on getting into honors classes which had smaller class sizes, but I don't really feel like it hurt me to not do it.

Honestly, some nursing schools are so GPA-based I'd almost suggest not doing it if you may have a harder time getting the grades you need. If you are transferring to another school for nursing, the harder classes you took will probably not transfer as anything special (I'd probably check and make sure those classes will transfer at all, now that I think about it).

Good luck to you!

lostinparadise · Jun 18, 2006

Thanks for your reply.

I will be taking the nursing program at the same school. They also offer a bachelors, so I think I will be there for a while. Interesting what you said about the GPA; obviously, I will get better grades if I take the "easier" classes, but I thought that they wouldn't just look at my grades if I took honors classes, but acknowledge the fact that I did take those harder classes....what do you think ?

EricJRN, MSN, RN · Jun 18, 2006

You should be able to get some clarification from your school's nursing program or advising office. Some schools do admissions by saying, 'Plug your GPA in here, put your entrance exam score here, and get in line.' Others are more likely to account for individual factors like honors classes.

Multicollinearity, BSN, RN · Jun 18, 2006

Thank you for posting this! I've been wondering about the same thing. I scored so high on my assessment tests that I was invited to do the honors program at my community college. Then after my first semester, with a 4.0 I was invited again. The honors program would be comprised of taking more challenging gen ed courses and also an honors colliquium (sp?) course. Part of me thinks it would be great to be a bit more challenged. The other part of me thinks I'm exhausted with all the memorization of the classes as it is. I'd like more of a challenge regarding critical thinking in these courses. But then, I'll have that coming up shortly in the nursing program once I start.

Ok - to distill my question down, here it is. The only reason I'd do the honors program is if it would help me get into an RN to BSN program eventually. I'd like to go back and do that part time while working as an RN. Also, if it would help me get into an MSN program someday, that is a consideration. My intuition tells me though, that being in an honors program at the community college level doesn't mean much to grad schools for the MSN. Do not flame me. I am not disparaging community colleges myself. I am referring to the attitudes that we know exist at the university level.

Thoughts?

lostinparadise · Jun 18, 2006

yeah you know what I made my decision right now. And it is NO to honors classes. If I were doing this to get my AS to get into a University and wanted to beat out some competition I'd do it...but to get into nursing i'd rather keep a high gpa, PLUS with all this A&P 1 and 2 and Micro coming up I'll probably be struggling, and all the internships and extra stuff....I think I got enough stuff going on, I still work while going to school. Thanks for helping me make up my mind:clown: :clown:

ChristineN, BSN, RN · Jun 18, 2006

What an honor! I don't know what to tell you, but wanted to comment that as you seemed concerned about keeping your GPA up, you might find out if honors classes have the same grading scale as regular courses. I had a friend that was honors and because their work was tougher, their grading scale wasn't as tough as non-honors classes.

land64shark · Jun 19, 2006

I have a feeling you're talking about St. Pete College, right? I've wondered the exact thing you are questioning. I didn't do the honor's college thing. I don't see where the extra work would help me in the long run as my schooling goals are the same as yours (BSN from SPC). Now that they've gone to selective admissions, your GPA is important as well as completion of all pre-req's AND co-requisites. (It didn't use to be previous to this past semester as it was purely a sign up for the waiting list after completing your pre-req's with a C or better.) I would hope that the grading would reflect the added difficulty of the course as it is in high school honors classes, where a class is still on a 4.0 scale, but an "A" is a 5, "B" is a 4 and a "C" is a 3. I really don't know if it is, though. In the end, those A&P and Microbiology classes are PLENTY tough enough to challenge you academically. You won't want to be spending extra time on other classes. Then once you start nursing classes......!!!

lostinparadise · Jun 19, 2006

Yes I am talking about SPC, are you a SPC student also ? Which campus ?

See, the problem is too, that the counselors or advisors don't really know a whole lot of stuff...(sorry but it's true) and they sometimes even contradict each other. :confused:

Anyways, I'm just now taking intermed. Algebra and English Comp, as I had to skip a whole year (I was sick). I am planning on starting the nursing program in 2008. I don't know what classes I will be taking in the fall, I registered 5 times and changed it 5 times. I just can't decide. :confused:

WDWpixieRN, RN · Jul 9, 2006

Interesting thread....I just kind of happened in to the Honors program at my community college (if you saw my high school transcript, you'd laugh)....but I started out with one course and LOVED it!! I was in my early 40's and had gotten invovled in the Phi Theta Kappa program on campus by having made some good grades early on in regular classes. The "kids" in PTK encouraged me to give an honors course a try.

How refreshing to be in a class with other students who really gave a crap about their education. On the other hand, I never found the classes harder, involving more work or time (and I tend to be lazy and look for the easiest way through a class). It also looks GREAT on a transcript to see "Honors Scholar".

I would think it might be worth investigating a little further. Go to the Honors office and talk to an HONORS advisor. Maybe enroll in one class; make it something you love. If it doesn't seem like a good fit, don't pursue it beyond that. But you owe it to yourself to at least look into a little further.

SummerGarden, BSN, MSN, RN · Jul 9, 2006

I agree with the posters about talking to an adviser and speaking with an adviser to the Bridge Programs of interest. The reason being, at my school your Honors A = My non-honors A. And no, my school would not give you additional points because you did more in your courses. Plus, the bridge program (ADN-BSN) I looked at is the same. They only give 4 pts for an A and they only look at classes that correspond to the Pre-reqs and Co-reqs.

This is fair considering some students do not have the time to put into completing the Honors Program even if he/she qualifies due to other commitments. In addition, some of us already have graduate degrees and it illustrates that we have the ability academically to do well even if we are not in the Honors Program, but we will not get any extra points either.

However, there are positives and negatives to doing such a program. It is positive for someone without work experience and who enjoys learning additional information. But the negative of competing against people who have the same GPA without the additional work is a major factor as well. I know one student who dropped out of A&P I her first Semester in the Honors Program because she was going to fail. The odd thing was students (right out of high school) thought that she would be the student to set the curve; she did not come close. Non-Honors Program students set the curve.

There is also the factor that graduating from Honors Programs may or may not open doors. The cases where it can help are additional scholarship opportunities (no guarantee you will be the one to get them) and possible connections with Alum (no guarantee that any of them will help you out). Outside of those there may not be much else.

Employers hire people with experience. Entry level positions are the same for Honors Program graduates as they are for Non-Honors Program graduates. Employers hire the least experienced and you will be hired along side graduates who were not in the program.

Moreover, there are ways for the Non-Honors Program students to be more competitive. All a Non-Honors Program graduate has to do is is have more education and/or work/internship experience to be more competitive.

In fact, when you go up for promotion you will notice that employers will not look at your past grades. They will promote the ones that have what they are looking for as oppose to people who are necessarily the most academically sound.

I, like others, did not choose to be in Honors right out of high school. Outside of High School I saw nothing but time-consuming drawbacks. However, this may not be the case for you so definitely talk to an adviser to weigh your options carefully. Good luck.