Weight of having "Honors College" on transcript? Forum

[Synchoresis]

Hello,

I am currently a freshman enrolled in my school's Honors College program. I've now come to realize that the only benefit to this program is early class registration. The required Honors College curriculum negates all of the AP courses I took in high school, and I would not be able to take any electives should I continue with the program.

I would like to ditch this program and take the classes I find interesting, but as I went to a kind-of "meh" public school for a free ride, I was wondering if graduating from the university's "Honors College" would hold much weight with law school admissions counselors.

(Also, I am fairly confident I will be able to maintain a 4.0 with or without the program, and my school does award Latin honors.)

Any advice for a newbie?

[BigZuck]

Doesn't matter. They just care about GPA, the higher the better.

Enjoy college and please don't even think about law school for another 7 years, minimum.

[zot1]

Leave the program. Spend next four years exploring other career options.

[Synchoresis]

Thanks for the clarification BigZuck and zot1; GPA it is then. Would you mind my asking why not to think about law school? I graduate in two years and would like to give myself plenty of time to study for the LSAT and fill out the application.

[Anon.y.mousse.]

A different opinion - I was a part of my school's
honors program and while it did restrict elective choices to a certain extent my first two years, I overall thought it was a valuable thing to be a part of. Not because it adds any weight to my transcript in and of itself for law school admissions, but because the smaller classes/higher face time with some of the best professors in my college led to some really great opportunities, some of which are softs that I think boost my resume (ie honors college funding for two international internships, professor support for my application to a very selective study abroad program, great LORs, had to do an honors thesis that has ended up being a good conversation starter). Not to mention that classes I thought I would hate that I had to take because of it (like a modern physics class) ended up being really interesting, challenged me intellectually, and add some great variety to my transcript. If your sole reason for doing it because you think it saying "honors college" on your transcripts will help for law school admissions, then don't. But there are a lot of other potential positives if you take advantage of them.

[Synchoresis]

Thank you for your input Anon.y.mousse.

Unfortunately my honors classes are not any smaller than my other classes, and many are tailored to my university's pre-med track students. You could have a very good point with the classes though, as I would be very guilty of skipping many of the physics and math courses etc. the program offers were they not required. XD

[BigZuck]

Thanks for the clarification BigZuck and zot1; GPA it is then. Would you mind my asking why not to think about law school? I graduate in two years and would like to give myself plenty of time to study for the LSAT and fill out the application.

People shouldn't go straight through from college to law school. Take some time off after college, have fun, and make sure you actually want to be a lawyer.

[Synchoresis]

Hmm...fun. Does not compute. XD
I'm not sure taking a year off would make much sense for me financially, what with my English degree and all. Is the law field truly so much more terrible than other job markets right now it is to be approached as one would a diseased carcass? Even for graduates of nice law schools?

[Dcc617]

Hmm...fun. Does not compute. XD
I'm not sure taking a year off would make much sense for me financially, what with my English degree and all. Is the law field truly so much more terrible than other job markets right now it is to be approached as one would a diseased carcass? Even for graduates of nice law schools?

Go and get some life experience before you run into law school. To do otherwise is dumb. How old are you, 18, 19? What makes you think in two years you'll be ready to take out a ton of debt to commit to forever working in a field that you know nothing about?

Explore other jobs, live outside of school for a while, make some money, get some perspective. Then if you still want to do law school it will be there.

[abl]

It will probably matter a very little bit, but not enough to keep you in the program. There may be other reasons to stay in a program that is making you unhappy. The very marginal admissions bump you'll get for law schools should not be one of them.

[TakeItToTrial]

I graduated from the honors college at a small state school. I enjoyed my honors college experience because the classes were usually discussion-based and required less busywork. I worked a couple entry-level gigs at law firms after graduation and found that it was an interesting talking point during interviews.

It was hard for me to notice the difference in my honors college classes during my freshman and sophomore years. However, by junior year, many people had left the program, leaving a small group of intelligent and motivated peers whom I greatly enjoyed being in class with. Basically, the classes became more interesting as the program progressed.

I think having "honors college" on your transcript gives you a marginal bump during law school admissions, if any. It's all about LSAT/GPA.

[Synchoresis]

Thanks for the input you guys, much appreciated

[zot1]

My input is based on the fact that most people who want to go to law school don't really have a clear idea of what it's like to

1) take on debt you could potentially not be able to service, and
2) be an attorney.

Even more problematic is that even if your heart is dead set on what you want to do, given the market and your debt, you might be stuck doing something entirely different than what you planned to do. This in turn leads to a lot of dissatisfaction.