In early 2020, as we sat in our homes while the first waves of coronavirus hit us in California, I made a decision. I’d been accepted into five of the six universities I’d applied to (for some reason, I applied to Stanford knowing full well I wouldn’t get in and probably wouldn’t want to go if I did), and I needed to pick from my top two contenders. USC would be $80K a year, and I’d have to live at home. UCR’s in-state tuition is $35K a year, and they had offered me a $5K yearly Chancellor’s Scholarship and…entrance to the UCR Honors Program. I snagged that offer from UCR so quickly.
Over the years, I’ve unfortunately had several people try to tear my choice down. I’ve had people tell me the Honors program doesn’t really do much for a student, that it’s “meaningless” and “a hassle” as one particularly vitriolic Reddit user haughtily declared online…after they decided not to accept, and therefore had no familiarity with it . They told me, in less kind words, that they felt the program was useless because they’d received a Regents Scholarship. That’s an impressive feat, to be sure, but I personally would take the Honors program any day of the week. This is a pet peeve of mine. Some folks will disparage the Honors program without any firsthand experience. I’ve come to understand these people are almost always underconfident or want me to feel less confident in my own abilities. Cut those people off! A friend should support your opportunities, especially when they are as positive as this one.
Honors transformed my college experience. In my first quarter of freshman year, I quickly met dedicated peers that I have maintained friendships with to this day. I wanted to be surrounded by students who really cared about learning and hoped to thrive academically. The Honors program provided this for me right away with an ignition seminar: an incredible course about dystopian literature taught by the director of the Honors program himself, Dr. Richard Cardullo. Upon entering the program, I already had passionate friends and a connection to an esteemed faculty member, whose advice I would come to truly value.
Honors requires a few extra classes (mainly a religious/ethnic studies course and a history course), but most of them fulfill one or more breadth requirements anyway. The only one that does not is a capstone prep class taken in the winter quarter of junior year. While this class seems to be built for STEM students, the reminders to secure a capstone faculty mentor and start on our project were beneficial.
Another Honors requirement is a couple honors classes — all this means is your discussion is headed by the professor of the course, instead of a TA, and you have a special final essay. This felt like an incredible opportunity for me as well; I was able to have more direct communication and teaching from my economics professor in the honors version of the class. Econ is certainly not my best subject, but with the added support of a professor-led discussion section, I scored an A in the class.
All of these parts of Honors, both requirements and benefits, have been either actively beneficial to me as a student, or at least neutral — basically, not causing me any problems. But one of the best parts of Honors? Priority registration. Aside from a few major-locked psych courses, I have gotten into every single class I have wanted throughout my time at UCR. Because honors students are able to choose classes before the general student population, it is hardly ever a fight to secure what we need. There are other ways to get priority registration, it’s true, but none come with the extra benefits and support of honors.
My favorite part of the Honors program, and likely the biggest factor when deciding whether or not to accept, is the Honors capstone project. This four-quarter endeavor spans from spring of junior year through to your graduation quarter. You ask a faculty mentor to work with you on a project of your choice, and you work one-on-one with them until you come out of university with a work equivalent to an undergraduate thesis. This project sits at the head of your transcript, so whenever an employer or future school asks for your grades, the first thing they will see is this large and complete endeavor. I have been working with my faculty mentor Professor Joshua Hardina on a collection of short horror stories. As of writing this article, it is over two hundred pages of length, and is in its beta-read and fourth revisions. When I graduate, I will not only be walking out with a university degree, but a book ready to query, and I think that is really freaking cool.
If you are an incoming freshman and deciding between schools, or a UCR student trying to decide whether or not to apply, consider the benefits versus the extra duties (I phrase it this way, because to me, there were no cons). I had to take a few more or different kinds of classes, and they were academically challenging, but they also allowed me to meet extraordinarily intelligent and passionate peers, make connections with professors, and improve myself as a student. I had to take a prep class for the Honors capstone and worked on it for almost two years, but that project is one of my proudest achievements, and something that will kickstart my future. It’s important to recognize that a program only does for you what you put into it.
A lot of bitter folks who don’t feel competent or secure in their choices will try to tear you down, no matter what you choose. Do what’s right for you, and what will create your best university experience. As for me, I can’t imagine my college life without UCR Honors; it shaped my academic journey from a rock into a diamond.