GW’s University Honors Program advertises itself as an interdisciplinary, highly academic program that helps “bring together outstanding students” and aligns with the “highest academic aspirations” of GW’s schools and departments. The program has a cohort of around 125 students per year who take a wide range of liberal arts courses in order to graduate with honors. When I began the college search process, the UHP caught my attention for its promise of providing a smaller, more intimate connection with faculty and students within the wider University setting. However, as time progressed and I made my way through my freshman and sophomore years, I became increasingly frustrated with the UHP and how the program failed to live up to my expectations academically. I wanted to partake in a program that challenged me, but I didn’t find that in the UHP. While I was expecting to find an honors program that allowed me to pursue my academic interests, just at a higher level, I instead quickly discovered the program was overly rigid, prohibiting the flexibility that is so integral to many students’ college experiences. 

The first year of the UHP consists of two overarching courses — a philosophy class and a science class — both taken over the course of two semesters. Yet, I had no need for a science class, let alone one that covered content which I had learned already just the year prior in my AP courses. They were just taking up space in my schedule that could have been used for classes that would go toward fulfilling my major requirements. While students in all colleges are required to take a science course, non-UHP colleges are allowed to opt out if they scored high enough on their AP tests. UHP, by contrast, has a strict curriculum that doesn’t allow students to switch out to classes that they may need more for their major, or simply not take classes they have no use for or may have already learned the content for in high school. If the entire point of the UHP is to intellectually challenge its students and prepare us for our future academic pursuits, they should allow for a more flexible experience, one that is more tailored to each student’s interests or careers. The program could easily allow for substitutions for first-year honors requirements, as they do for upper-level classes in the program, without taking away from the academic rigor of the UHP.

Meanwhile, I was particularly excited for the philosophy classes, since I had been a part of a two-year honors cohort in high school. My high school honors program had pushed me to my limits academically — we had quizzes every day, hundreds of pages of reading and we were even able to teach the class during the final trimester. This hard work paid off by providing my classmates and I with a deeper understanding of the history of philosophy, the arts and humanities. But the UHP failed to meet the expectations I had built up from the level of academic rigor required from my high school program. I found that although our philosophy course was supposed to substitute the first-year University Writing class, the critiques and assignments did not even help me improve my writing skills because they were incredibly tailored to that specific professor’s style of prose. Other non-UHP classes — such as my courses for my International Affairs major and Journalism and Mass Communications minor — contributed much more to furthering my writing capabilities, something that both surprised and disappointed me from an honors program whose main job is to challenge me academically, or at the very least set me up for success in college.  

During my sophomore year, I walked into my first upper-level honors classroom excited to see some familiar faces. But despite the UHP repeatedly advertising the program as providing smaller class sizes to facilitate an intimate environment, my first honors class as a sophomore was crowded with about 50 students. What I didn’t know is that many of the upper-level honors choices are available for any student to take. This defeats the point of the smaller, intimate cohort that the UHP loves to advertise. If some of the classes that UHP students can take are the same as upperclassmen, then there is nothing exclusively challenging about the program. While I understand the appeal of allowing the general student body to experience the UHP-led courses, they should clearly advertise to the UHP students which classes are only for honors students and which are mixed so that they can choose the environment that they want. When the classroom is filled to the brim with students, it is much more difficult to hold Socratic-method discussions facilitated by the professor. It is also harder for the professor to learn the names of their students, and the UHP prides itself on close faculty relationships. 

Of course, there are benefits to being a part of the UHP — for me, early registration was a key motivator — but even this is limited to your second, third, and fourth semesters at the University. After your fourth semester, you are out of luck, and must register based on your credit hours.

My frustrations with the UHP are not unique to me, with the Student Government Association passing a resolution earlier this year calling for more flexibility within the program, citing student complaints that the program requirements are too stringent, making it difficult for students to make room in their schedule for studying abroad and double majoring.

While I have found some of my closest friends through the UHP, I struggle to find the academic rigor the program advertises. I understand that a key component of the program’s goals is the interdisciplinary studies, but I think that — especially for students on a tight timeline to graduate — there should be more flexibility within the UHP system to opt out of certain requirements, especially if you have fulfilled similar ones in your high school career. It was very difficult to find the time to do everything that I wanted to accomplish in university, including studying abroad, graduating early and adding a minor in addition to being a part of the UHP. Additionally, I would like to see the smaller class sizes — similarly to how they were in freshman year — continue into the upper-level courses since that is a key reason why I applied to GW and the UHP in the first place. Getting the chance to connect on a personal level with your professors and classmates can improve the environment of the class. 

One of the main reasons that I chose GW was because of the UHP. I entered the program ready to be academically challenged in the close-knit group of students who cared just as much about philosophy and school as I did, with professors who would guide their students and ensure that they emerged from their classes more informed about the world around them. Yet, I have been incredibly disillusioned so far in my journey. I graduate next year, and will complete my honors senior thesis in the spring. I hope that future classes of UHP students are able to reap more benefits from the program than I could by creating a more academically rigorous environment. 

Ava Hurwitz, a sophomore majoring in international affairs, is an opinions writer.