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Students take part in the College Honors Program at UCLA for a variety of reasons. Some students participate in it because it gives them priority enrollment. Others do it because it gives them access to honors counselors, while some take part in the program because they think it is prestigious and will pad their resumes.

“I originally thought it would get me more honor from people,” fourth-year mathematics student Adam Hirsch said.

There’s that too.

It’s noteworthy that when I asked several College Honors Program students why they labored in Honors Collegium classes, Honors designated courses or Departmental Honors Program courses, a scant few mentioned that they took part in the program because they wanted a challenging academic experience.

Or specifically, “the most challenging educational experience possible to students at UCLA drawn from the most representative and diverse populations as possible in an environment that nurtures the whole student academically, socially, emotionally and intellectually.”

That’s the mission statement for the Honors Programs at UCLA. Professors who teach Honors Collegium courses think this challenging academic experience is the motivation for students to take their classes.

“These are the top students in university; they are challenging themselves by taking something interdisciplinary, and I think it takes a special kind of student to do that,” visiting chemistry and biochemistry Professor Eric Scerri said.

“They are certainly more active students,” sociology Professor William Roy said. “I get good students in all my classes. It’s not that I think students in other classes aren’t good enough. (But) the honors students tend to be more active.”

Despite professors’ best intentions, I think that students and professors’ goals in the program are at odds. That is not to say that there aren’t students who take part in the program because they love to learn. But certainly there is a sizeable group of students who take part in it because of the aforementioned non-academic benefits.

While students in the College Honors Program get credit through Honors Contracts or through Honors designated courses, they are required to take Honors Collegium courses. These courses are the cornerstone of the College Honors Program – they take an interdisciplinary approach to learning and allow for close student-faculty relations. Many professors love to teach these classes.

“I like teaching my honors class for several reasons: First, the students are highly motivated to learn new ideas ... Second, yes, teaching an honors class definitely provides more academic freedom in the sense that I can approach specific topics from interdisciplinary perspectives,” said psychology adjunct Professor Dahlia Zaidel in an e-mail interview.

In Zaidel’s course, Honors Collegium 64: Neuroscience and Psychology of Art and Biology of Aesthetics, students learn about art and the brain from neuroscientific and biological viewpoints. Archaeology, anthropology and art history are all incorporated into the class. Surely some students take the class because it truly interests them. Yet, for many College Honors Program students, the classes, however interesting, are simply taken to fulfill requirements.

“I’ve taken two Honors Collegium classes,” Hirsch said. “They were so easy. Ridiculously easy – I barely learned anything. One of them had five books and the paper topic was on a chapter from one book and that’s all I read.”

Hirsch said he looks at his participation in the College Honors Program as a resume builder.

“I don’t think its going to get me a job, but it’s on my resume,” Hirsch said.

Elizabeth Berman, a former political science student who graduated in 2004 from UCLA with the College Honors designation on her diploma, said she does not think being in the program will help her get a job after she graduates from the USC School of Law, and she does not think being in the program helped her get into law school.

“It’s noted on my resume, but no one outside of academia knows what it is unless you explain it,” she said.

Second-year psychobiology student Annie Postolov, who is taking part in the College Honors Program, will also note her participation in the program on her resume and graduate school applications, yet is unsure of any effect that might have.

“I did it because I thought it would look better when it came to applications for medical school,” Postolov said. “I’ve heard that’s not true, but I figured if you are in the program it could be helpful.”

So if being in the College Honors Program doesn’t help you get into graduate school or a job, maybe the priority enrollment is the real plus. After all, that is why several students said they wanted to participate in the program.

“The original main benefit was priority enrollment,” Hirsch said. “That never came in handy because they have a cap during priority and your time is random. By the time I had priority the classes were half full.”

Some professors who teach Honors Collegium classes are realistic about their students’ goals.

“There are some ... normal cases and some who couldn’t spell names of authors we had,” Germanic languages professor Robert Kirsner said.

Assistant Vice Provost for Honors G. Jennifer Wilson said that around 500 students graduate with the diploma seal each year. Overall there are about 5,000 students in the program.

“The biggest attrition is at the end of the first year,” said Wilson, who directs the Honors Program. “Students find it harder than they anticipated or they get pulled away.”

Or maybe many students decide that despite offering a rich academic opportunity, the College Honors Program hasn’t allowed them to reap the benefits that they expected from the program in the first place.

E-mail Miller at dmiller@media.ucla.edu.