I graduate in a month. Because I apparently enjoy being stressed out, I procrastinated until the last possible moment to apply to graduate. However, I felt confident it would go smoothly. I have triple checked the requirements and have way more than the credit hour requirements needed.

I hit a tiny snag: the Honors Contract. Because I had to change some classes to fit in my schedule for my graduating quarter, I now have a small amount of time to make appointments with three different advisers (one for each major and minor), and then hope the change is approved before I don my cap and gown.

Needless to say, I was a little upset. Being in the Honors Program has caused me more problems than it’s worth.

Being in the honors program has many benefits. There’s priority scheduling, certain opportunities available only to you, and it sounds nice to say you’re in the honors program. After my four years though, I find myself questioning whether the benefits really outweigh the costs.

To be an honors student, students must plan out their entire four-year curriculum and have it approved by an honors committee. The panel judges the strength of your curriculum and approves accordingly. Every time you make a change to this contract, it must be approved again.

So basically, every time a class you planned to take isn’t offered, or you even just change your mind, you have to fill out some forms, parade them to all of your major and minor department offices, and then wait for approval. For me, this happens almost every quarter. It’s an incredibly inefficient way to do things, and my poor adviser has had to deal with me way too often.

The program is too inflexible. Because your curriculum has to have a certain degree of difficulty, you may end up repeating classes and requirements you’ve already tested out of, or taking classes far outside your level.

For example, if you have Advanced Placement credit, it’s considered the lowest level of difficulty. Because of this, you may end up either retaking a class you tested out of, or taking classes out of your league to meet the requirements.

In my case, I tested out of language, history and English my freshman year. To get my honors contract approved, I ended up having to take more history, which means it would have been better to not pay to take the AP test and just take it in school.

I also was forced to bulk up my sciences, my weakest subject. I found myself in Biology 113, where the first day the board read, “This class is for people with strong background in science, or are in pre-med.” I was the only person in my lab class who was not a science major. I wept. My grade point average wept as well.

For me, graduating within the Honors Program wasn’t that beneficial. I wasted time, money, and had less flexibility in the classes I wanted to take. If I had not taken honors, I would have had a higher GPA as well. In the end, do employers even take it into account? Maybe if two people had the same GPA Honors would matter, but I’d still lose to someone with a 3.8 or 3.9.

I wish someone had explained these nuances to me before I began the Honors program. I also think that although it’s a good program, there can be some revisions that will make it more flexible for students, and more efficient. The Honors Program should be challenging, but it should also allow students to play to their strengths.