I have no dog in this one.. just curiosity.. but I saw a Rutgers PR spot on BTN just now (30 seconds maybe?) that made me think this is not for the very best students with the best academic profiles... the FAQ page says this..
I answered my own questions but I'll just leave this here in case others had a similar reaction to that PR spot.
What is the Honors College and how is it different from the honors programs at Rutgers?
Built on the legacy of honors education at Rutgers-New Brunswick, the Honors College is distinct from the school-based honors programs in the School of Arts and Sciences, School of Environmental and Biological Sciences, and School of Engineering. While the school-based honors programs serve students only in their specific schools, the Honors College brings together students from across the liberal arts and professional schools to live and work together to tackle global issues in a community where intellectual curiosity, hands-on knowledge, diversity, collaboration, and giving back are central to its philosophy. The Honors College requires all of its first year students to live in the Honors College living-learning community as part of its mission of creating an interdisciplinary experience for high-achieving students across academic fields.
While students in the school-based honors programs and the Honors College have different curricular requirements and extracurricular opportunities, they share much honors coursework and meet together frequently through co-curricular and scholarly forums.
I am probably jumping to conclusions re: social engineering rather than rewarding kids who seek higher academic challenges.. but the FAQs go on to say...Built on the legacy of honors education at Rutgers-New Brunswick, the Honors College is distinct from the school-based honors programs in the School of Arts and Sciences, School of Environmental and Biological Sciences, and School of Engineering. While the school-based honors programs serve students only in their specific schools, the Honors College brings together students from across the liberal arts and professional schools to live and work together to tackle global issues in a community where intellectual curiosity, hands-on knowledge, diversity, collaboration, and giving back are central to its philosophy. The Honors College requires all of its first year students to live in the Honors College living-learning community as part of its mission of creating an interdisciplinary experience for high-achieving students across academic fields.
While students in the school-based honors programs and the Honors College have different curricular requirements and extracurricular opportunities, they share much honors coursework and meet together frequently through co-curricular and scholarly forums.
The Honors College takes a holistic approach to selecting students, including review of academics, after school activities, community involvement, GPA, and test scores. While test scores are only a part of the evaluation, the average SAT score for the Honors College class of 2019 is 2160.
Today's 2160 is roughly the old system's 1430 or so? That doesn't suck. I guess that answers my question as to whether the new Honors College is just some kind of way of granting "honors" to different disciplines that do not usually attract high-achieving students. That is.. I get how "diversity" and "giving back" might help develop a better person.. I do not know that it should be a focus for academic honors. But that average SAT score.. I think that tells me these are kids that seek to be challenged and it looks like that Honors College will help them achieve as much as they want to... and make demands on them. A good thing.
I answered my own questions but I'll just leave this here in case others had a similar reaction to that PR spot.
