Does graduating with honors really matter?

I realized most Universities have a 60 credit residency policy before the student can be considered for graduation with honors distinction.

Does it really matter for grad school ?
- The honors part. - What if your GPA has always been decent, like 3.8 ish but you never completed 60 hours at your graduation college?
Will grad schools look at that? Or just focus on your GPA?
What about employers? Higher pay with honors I assume (ignoring the GPA portion)?

:sour:

 

I vote no. Even when I interview fresh University graduates for entry level management those honors never influence my opinion.

 

I'm with sickburn on this one. I graduated with honors and it never has come up in any conversation I had. Be it job interviews or college admissions.

 

In some bachelor's programs, you can't graduate "with honors" unless you conduct a research project and complete an "honors thesis". At UConn, for example:

If you've successfully completed an undergraduate "honors thesis" in a program like this, and have therefore graduated "with honors", then yes, this is a definite plus if you are applying to selective graduate programs where a master's thesis or doctoral dissertation is required. Obviously an undergraduate honors thesis is on a smaller scale than a master's thesis or doctoral dissertation. But if you've successfully completed academic research and writing at that level, it shows that you are well prepared for the next step.

 

Of all the people I interviewed (positions ranging from $35K to $100K+) I never asked and never cared. In the positions I have held, no one ever asked.

 

Its such the opposite between US society and Asian culture here.
I just heard friends saying the local gov. gives higher pay for people with honors VS others with just a degree with good grades.
And they don't really care what degree you have - as long as it's with honors.

>:

 

I doubt it. It's never come up with me. I did NOT have honors as an undergrad. I needed a 3.5 gpa and had a 3.47 or something like that. All these years later and it just doesn't matter to me.

-Matt

 

It all depends on what your goals are after graduation. For example, I had a 3.8 GPA at my alma mater, but I did not graduate with honors as I had only completely 45 credits. I would have needed to complete 15 additional credits at my school to quality for honors. I gave it some consideration, but at that point I was burnt-out and ready to graduate on-time (I didn't need the extra 15 credits in order to complete my degree).

It might help to graduate with honors if your goal is to gain admission into a competitive graduate/professional school (e.g. Top 25 MBA programs, med school, law school, etc.).

 

I'll give you my two cents.

My cousin is a self-proclaimed "genius" who somehow graduated from high school with Ds (he talked his teachers out of giving him Fs somehow). Before I continue, let me just say that my master's education and training qualifies me to assess intellectual aptitude and for the record, I highly doubt/disagree with his "genius" label. He spent about 6 years in community college taking and re-taking courses because he failed them over and over. I get that the incredibly intellectually gifted sometimes perform poorly in school (see: Einstein) however, it has been my observation that the majority of "gifted" students are high achievers and even if they are bored in their classes because they are so very advanced (eye rolls), they still perform well due to a fear of failure. They realize that their performance in school will probably impact their lives out of school some day. Anyway, my cousin finally transferred to a university, finished up his BS and then earned a "master's degree" (professional MS in under a year and without a thesis project). His line of work is in IT where grades apparently do not matter. He's well employed and is teaching adjunct courses, a side job of which he is extremely proud.

I, on the other hand, stuck with the social sciences. I graduated high school with honors, college summa cum laude, finished with a 4.0 in my master's program (public, state, university) and am a member of Phi Kappa Phi. Graduate school cared about my undergraduate GPA (they wanted me to have over a 3.5, which I more than satisfied) but other than that, nobody else has given two craps about my GPA. Now, if I were to continue on through my Ph.D. and was seeking a tenure track position in academia (if those even exist anymore), my GPA would once again, matter.

I have a friend who is an accountant. He works as an internal auditor for a large corporation. He says that when hiring other accountants, he and his team ABSOLUTELY care about grades. In fact, if a person gets lower than a B in a particular course, unless they are absolutely STELLAR in every other aspect of the position, their application is discarded.

My point is that it really just depends. I don't think it's so much graduating with honors as it is the GPA itself. You obviously cannot graduate with honors without a high GPA so the stamp of honors says, "Yep, this person really did have a high GPA." My undergraduate university (Arizona State) did not require an honor's thesis for graduating with honors. When you apply to graduate school, as you know, you're going to be require to submit your transcripts. They'll see your grades. That's what they're really concerned about - I really don't think the honors designation is a big deal as long as your grades are satisfactory.

Good luck!

 

I'm in ASU right now !
I guess I'll give the "graduating with honors" a pass and just finish my program to apply into graduate school.
I'm perfectly fine with entering a public graduate school.

 

No, not really. It's equivalent to the colored helium balloons at a party. Even without the balloons, the party still happens. Even without the honors, the degree still happens.

 

nyvrem,

Awesome! Let us know where you end up!!

 

It's more a question of weight. In other words, if you were going to have to endure excessive debt to complete 60 credits, then does it matter? Heck no. If you were there already for those same 60 AND you were able to balance your degree/class requirements with the rest of your life (family, work, etc) then yes- go for it. That extra sumpin-sumpin on your resume is nice. Would I miss my kid's baseball game so I could devote time to earning an A instead of a B? No. Would I miss a girls night out for an A instead of a B? Every time. It's all about weight. What is it worth to you? To your field? To your future? What is the cost ($ and time?)
I graduated with 30 residency credits at TESC and had a 3.85 GPA, yet they don't do Latin honors, so I don't get that little distinction on my resume, though I would love to have it. I did get the Arnold Fletcher Award, which I list.
Also, I agree with PuppyMama, and I think it can matter a lot of the time.

EDIT: I also want to add that I'm looking at this through the lens of an adult mid-career learner, which colors my answer. If I were advising a teen who was just starting in traditional college, my answer would differ.

 

It's about the journey....

what I've heard Graduating with honors does not matter especially IT which is the field where I got my Master's in. However the act of aiming high enough to graduate with honors can have plenty of near term benefits. In my case these were mastery and money. First off, let's face it. You are paying not just to earn a piece of paper but to actually learn something. By pushing yourself to do the best you can do by knowing the material inside in out you will be doing yourself a favor. You will have a better understanding of the subject matter which will create a stronger foundation for you in your other classes and give you the discipline to push yourself to comprehend any topic no matter how difficult. As for money as money is concerned the best reason for aiming for excellent grades is to get FREE MONEY. That's right, merit based scholarships. I worked my whole time through my master's because I did not want ANY debt. I figured that if I had to take out a single loan, I was literally admitting that I could not afford Graduate School. Yet, even though I am a grown man, my dad still makes 6 figures a year and had an inheritance that was in limbo. Thus the only way I could really stand out, was to strive to be the best I could be and get my professors to notice. Long story short, I was able to pay for more than half of my last year of my masters just by writing a whole bunch of letters. If you think about it, it is reasonable to assume why good grades should translate into preference during the job hunting preference. Yet in the end nothing can beat ability and experience and those do not necessarily come through graduating with honors.