Author Archives: Honorsadmin

Honors Residence Halls, Auburn University

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Location, location, location. Most of the coed honors residence halls at Auburn are located in the “Quad,” smack in the center of campus. Not that honors students would need to fall out of bed late and need to make it to class in five minutes…but they could do so if they had to.

Housing is hard to come by at Auburn, but less so for honors students. The honors dorms at the Quad are Harper, Broun, Little, and Teague. These halls are older than the new, apartment-like Village dorms, but, again, it’s the location that makes the Quad honors halls so appealing. Honors students may also be assigned to older dorms on the “Hill.”

Please know that even honors students have to mind the details and the deadlines when it comes to reserving a room at Auburn. Honors students should also know that if they want to live in one of the honors halls, they cannot qualify if they want a roommate who is not in honors.

The official view: “All Quad rooms are configured in suites consisting of two double rooms (two students per room) connected by a bathroom. There are a very limited number of single rooms available. Quad rooms are furnished with an extra long (80”), bunkable twin bed, study desk and chair, chest of drawers, and closet for each resident. Rent includes all utilities including basic T.V. cable and wireless internet service. Washers and dryers are located in a laundry facility centrally located in the Quad Center. Residents receive their mail and packages at the mailroom located in that building as well.”

Students and college sites consider the Village to be among the best college living options in the country, and honors students can choose the Village over the convenience of the Quad. The Village is much newer, somewhat more expensive, but more private with quarters that are essentially apartments. Take it from a resident:

“Auburn’s Village housing is probably the best college living in the country, since instead of just a room, the Village is more like an apartment where one gets their own room. Auburn is expanding the Village dorms in order to house more students.”

Honors Residence Halls, University of Delaware

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The Russell Complex at the University of Delaware features dorms with a “Z-shape” interior so that the two occupants have a diagonal separation between them for extra privacy. Russell is more or less required for freshman honors students (see official description below), but whatever a new student thinks about this requirement or the dorm rooms themselves, the Russell dining hall offers three things that can cheer up tired and stressed out students: pizza, hard ice cream, and omelets.

The word is that Russell is the place on campus where these appealing choices are the best.
Now for the official word:

“Freshmen admitted to the Honors Program are housed together in the Russell Complex on East Campus, a popular location that is a short walk from the University’s Morris Library. East Campus is also home to the Perkins Student Center, the Harrington Fitness Center, the Russell Dining Hall, and the Harrington Computer Site.

“Living in first-year Honors housing is a requirement of the freshman year in Honors, although it is possible to get a waiver of this requirement if you plan to live at home with a parent or guardian and commute to campus. The Honors freshman community is enhanced by Russell Fellows, upper-class Honors peer mentors who choose to continue living with the freshmen. They serve as a resource to help with the adjustment to college life and to plan programs and community building activities both inside and outside the residence halls.”

The Russell Complex houses not only honors freshmen but ROTC students as well. Russell has undergone a fairly recent renovation, and according to students the rooms and grounds are clean. The Resident Assistants and Russell Fellows are good at planning entertaining activities for the whole complex and for individual floors.”

In each double room there is a sleep area and a separate work desk and computer area. The desk measures 42 inches wide and 24 inches deep. Thompson and Lane are other honors dorms. All are located on East Campus, one of the best spots on the scenic but fairly large UD campus. Be aware, however, that Russell is not air-conditioned. Perhaps the best news is that most classes on “the Green” are only five minutes away. And “the Beach,” a popular campus common area, is close to the complex.

The Russell Complex also has a shared kitchen and a “quiet” study room, in addition to the adjacent dining hall.

Honors Residence Halls, University of Alabama

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Of course, parents and prospective students are concerned about the honors curriculum, the quality of instruction, and the success rate of graduates—but let’s don’t forget that at the end of the day, literally, what may matter most is where we go to rest, or study, or…eat.

As a general rule, honors programs and colleges assign honors students to the best residence halls or dorms on campus. Honors colleges might offer an advantage, versus honors programs, in some cases because the colleges are often established or expanded in accordance with the principle that honors students are a group apart that will benefit from housing that is quieter, more centrally located, or more open to living/learning opportunities.

Although we do not plan to discuss the residence halls in alphabetical order according to the name of the universities of which they are a part, the first honors residences we will mention are those at the University of Alabama at Tuscaloosa.

The Honors College living options are in Riverside West, Lakeside West, Ridgecrest North and Ridgecrest West. “These coed living-learning facilities form the center of the University’s tightly-knit honors community. Because of the demand for Honors Housing, only incoming Honors College freshmen and current residents of Honors Housing can be accommodated. Space does not permit Honors College participants living in other residence halls to move to Honors Housing. For more information, please visit honors.ua.edu.”

These dorms are located in the same general area. Riverside stands out because the pool and clubhouse that serves all the honors halls are located there. Another important feature of the honors dorms is there location near Lakeside Dining, which is said to have the best food on campus. The honors quarters offer a choice of (relatively) spacious rooms: singles, or two and four room suites. Some of these have shared kitchen facilities and a shared and furnished living/dining room.

Honors halls are not the closest residences to the center of the UA campus, but they are only about 10 minutes away from the heart of the campus, and are they quite close to the “Ferg,” the university’s student center. Some students believe that Lakeside/Ridgecrest are the best honors dorms because they have full community kitchens, especially important to students who enjoy the chance to cook some of their own meals.

Another great feature of UA residence halls is that the honors dorms are not the only excellent dorms on campus. Overall, UA housing is far above average, and in some cases is outstanding.

Leaders in ‘All Scholars’ Awards

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The “All Scholars” term refers to the number of prestigious undergraduate and postgraduate awards won by students at the Fifty universities. Students at some of the Fifty excel in earning prestigious postgraduate scholarships (Rhodes, Marshall, Fulbright, Truman, Gates), while students at other universities are more successful in winning the best-known undergraduate scholarships (Goldwater, Udall). And some universities have students who do well in both categories, especially those at or near the top of the list below.

For this metric, all Rhodes awards are included; Marshall and Gates from 2001–2011; all Truman awards; all Churchill awards; and all Udall and Goldwater awards. Fulbright awards were adjusted for the size of undergraduate populations at each university.

As noted in previous posts, correlations of scholarships to U.S. News rankings are not strong for the whole data set of fifty universities. The list below includes universities above the median for the whole set. Note: Revised, February 22, 2012.

Virginia 1
North Carolina 2
Washington 3
Michigan 4
Wisconsin 5
Kansas 6
Illinois 7
Arizona State 8
Minnesota 9
Arizona 10
UT Austin 11
Penn State 12
Georgia 13
Michigan State 14
Iowa 15
Arkansas 16
Indiana 17
Pitt 18
Florida 19
South Carolina 20
Colorado 21
Delaware 22
NC State 23
Nebraska 24
Ohio State 25

Revised March 28, 2012.

A Sample of Average Admission Test Scores, GPAs

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On a separate page (Universities, by Review Category) we list actual or estimated ranges for minimum entrance requirements. For example, University A might appear in the 1300–1400 SAT range, but the actual minimum could be 1350.

In this post, we will list actual or estimated average scores and GPA’s for recently admitted students to 24 of the 50 honors colleges or programs in our survey. For some we will list SAT scores in two parts, and for others the scores listed will also include the SAT writing score. ACT scores will be reported if available. Although we do not have actual average test scores for Michigan, North Carolina, UCLA, UC San Diego, Virginia, and Wisconsin, the scores would be above SAT 1400/2100, perhaps closer to 1500/2200.

Arizona, SAT 1309, ACT 29, unweighted GPA 3.87
Arizona State, SAT 1314, ACT 29, unweighted GPA 3.84
Arkansas, ACT 32, weighted GPA 4.1
Clemson, SAT 1418, GPA top 3%
Connecticut, SAT 1400/ACT 32, GPA top 5%
Delaware, SAT 2090, unweighted GPA 3.98
Georgia, SAT 1473, 4.03 GPA
Indiana, SAT 1385, ACT 31.4, unweighted GPA 3.99
Iowa, SAT 1340/ACT 30, unweighted GPA 3.8
Kansas, SAT 1400, ACT 32, unweighted GPA 3.96
Maryland, SAT 1400+, 4.3 weighted GPA
Massachusetts, SAT 1345, top 5%
Mississippi, ACT 30, GPA 3.85
Missouri, 30 ACT, unweighted GPA 3.8+
Oregon, SAT 1360, unweighted GPA 3.93
Penn State, SAT 2080, ACT 32, 4.0 GPA
South Carolina, SAT 1427/ACT 32, weighted GPA 4.6
Stony Brook, SAT 1360, unweighted GPA 3.9
UT Austin Plan II, SAT 2166
UT Austin Liberal Arts Honors, SAT 1370
UC Irvine, SAT 1430, weighted GPA 4.2
Vermont, SAT 1380/ACT 31, GPA top 5–7%
Washington, SAT 2080, ACT 31, unweighted GPA 3.92

About the Numbers, Part 2: Curriculum Matters

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In previous posts we have discussed the absence of a significant correlation between U.S. News rankings and the number of prestigious scholarships awarded to the public universities that make up the Fifty we are reviewing. While it is true that many public “elites” such as Virginia, North Carolina, and Michigan–all ranked highly in U.S. News rankings–have a high number of students who have won prestigious scholarships, the overall correlation between the rankings of the Fifty and the number of scholarships is quite low.

But as a part of our work, we have analyzed the total curriculum requirements for honors completion of the Fifty, and when the curriculum requirement as a percentage of all hours required for graduation is calculated, we have our “curriculum metric.” When this metric is compared to our metric for prestigious scholarships, we find a significant correlation.

Many universities that, as a whole, are ranked lower than 100 by U.S. News in the national university category, over-perform to a remarkable extent in the attainment of prestigious scholarships, and that over-performance is strongly linked to a higher percentage of credits required for honors completion.

One example is a university whose U.S. News rank places it at number 43 among our Fifty, but with a curriculum requirement ranking number one among the Fifty for honors completion, the university’s prestigious scholarship attainment places it at number 24 among the Fifty, above the median.

Another example is a university that ranks 48 among the Fifty based on U.S. News rankings, but because of a strong curriculum, the school’s attainment of prestigious scholarships places it at number 13 among the Fifty.

On the other hand, a university ranked near the top of our Fifty according to U.S. News comes in last in the number of prestigious scholarships. The university has a limited honors curriculum requirement.

Of course there are exceptions, but the clear statistical message is that curriculum really matters when it comes to attaining the most impressive honors of all.

College or Program of the Week: Univ. of Pittsburgh

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Students who want the combination of flexibility and rigorous study should consider the University Honors College at Pitt. Students receive an invitation with an SAT score of 1400 or higher, seeming to make Pitt Honors one of the more selective programs; but students who do not score 1400 may also participate, if they show promise. UHC students are allowed to fashion their own curriculum within broad parameters, subject to approval by the college.

Many students choose to pursue double majors, although the honors requirement is that each major be in a different school. For example, a major in English in the Dietrich School of Arts and Sciences could be combined with a major in management from the College of Business Administration, but a double major of English and history would not meet the requirement, as both disciplines are within the school of arts and sciences. Students may, however, meet the honors requirement with a triple major within the same school.

One outstanding example is Cory J. Rodgers, recently selected as a Rhodes Scholar from Pitt. A student in University Honors College and Kenneth P. Dietrich School of Arts and Sciences, Cory will earn a B.Phil degree in Africana studies and in the history and philosophy of science as well as a Dietrich School BS degree in biological sciences with a minor in chemistry.

The final challenge for all honors students is to complete a research program, culminating in an honors thesis. Students must then defend the thesis before a panel that includes one external panelist from another university. Students earn a B.Phil degree, awarded by the University Honors College. The B.Phil is almost unique in the United States; the University of Oxford also awards the degree.

About 400 entering freshmen can be accommodated in Sutherland Hall. After the freshman year, students have the option of several living-learning communities. Research and travel opportunities are coordinated by the college.

One of the most interesting aspects of Pitt Honors is that the honors college sponsors not one but four publications: Collision Magazine features undergraduate non-fiction and poetry; the Pittsburgh Undergraduate Review publishes scholarly articles from undergraduates from across the U.S.; the Three Rivers Review publishes literature written by undergraduates from any of Pitt’s colleges and schools; and the Pitt Political Review is an outlet for spirited political analysis and discussion. Students serve as editors of all four publications.

About the Numbers, Part 1

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We have collected a lot of data, some of which has been through two or three rounds of number crunching. From time to time, we will have posts in our “About the Numbers” series that will inform our readers about some of our preliminary findings. For the most part, these posts will not contain lists or name individual universities, but simply report on some of the wonkier aspects of our project. Many of these reports will focus on university-wide data. Please remember that these data are primarily a framework in our overall evaluation of honors colleges and programs and are certainly not the only measures we will consider.

Today’s post will discuss the relationship of U.S. News rankings and BA to Ph.D. progression, on the one hand, to the number of prestigious scholarships awarded, on the other hand.

You might think there would be strong positive correlation and significance between a university’s U.S. News rank and the number of prestigious scholarships awarded to the university’s students. Nevertheless, the U.S. News rankings of the fifty universities we are reviewing do not appear to be significantly related to the number of prestigious scholarships awarded.

Of course there are some universities in our group that are highly rated and that do see a high percentage of their graduates winning prestigious awards; but as a group, there is little or no significant relationship between U.S. News rank and Goldwater, Rhodes, Udall, and Truman awards. There is, however, a significant relationship between U.S. News rank and the number of Fulbright awards, even after the Fulbright awards are adjusted for the size of each university’s undergraduate population.

Similarly, the number of Bachelor’s grads who proceed to earning a Ph.D. might seem to correlate significantly with prestigious awards; but, again, the only significant correlation is with Fulbright awards.

Finally, awards to faculty and faculty membership in national academies correlate significantly to U.S. News and to BA to Ph.D. progression, but not to prestigious scholarships, except, again, to Fulbright awards.

So, with respect to our “Fifty,” factors other than U.S. News rank, faculty awards, and BA to Ph.D. progression contribute more significantly to the number of prestigious scholarships awarded. These other “excellence factors” may well include effective honors programs.

Study Abroad Data, by University

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There are at least three ways to analyze these data: raw numbers; raw numbers adjusted for number of bachelor’s degree recipients; and raw numbers adjusted for size of undergraduate enrollment. Tell us which measure you think is best. The list below is based on raw numbers adjusted for size of undergraduate enrollment. Only universities among the “Fifty” are included. Please be aware that this information is unlikely to be included in this form in our upcoming guidebook.

1. Virginia, 2. UCLA, 3. Delaware, 4. Georgia Tech, 5. Georgia,

6. Washington, 7. North Carolina, 8. Michigan, 9. Vermont, 10. Wisconsin,

11. Arizona, 12. Indiana, 13. Kansas, 14. Minnesota, 15. Iowa.

If we had adjusted for the number of bachelor’s degrees awarded instead of undergraduate enrollment size, Georgia Tech, Delaware, and Vermont would likely hold the top three spots.

BA to Ph.D. Is this a Significant Metric for Honors?

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The short answer is that we do not know yet. But while we’re crunching all sorts of numbers, we thought we would share some of the data that may–or may not–be considered in our upcoming review. We are, remember, college junkies at heart. The data we collect will not in the end have much or anything to do with the guidebook unless it passes statistical muster (correlation, multiple regression analysis, significance). In the meantime, we will share some of that data.

If you would like to tell us what you think about the relevance of each “metric,” please post a reply or contact editor@publicuniversityhonors.com.

A scaled analysis of the “Fifty” shows that the universities listed below have the highest percentages of students who proceed from a BA to a Ph.D.

1. Michigan, 2. Virginia, 3. UC San Diego, 4. Wisconsin, 5. Georgia Tech,

6. North Carolina, 7. UCLA, 8. UC Santa Barbara, 9. Florida, 10. Binghamton,

11. UT Austin, 12. UC Davis, 13., Penn State, 14. Pitt, 15. Maryland,

16. Delaware, 17., Iowa State, 18. Rutgers, 19. Virginia Tech, 20. Iowa.