This part of the Career blog is aimed at shedding some light on the Honors Program. We have had the opportunity to ask some Faculty of Arts, specifically IRIO, Honors students to answer some of our questions to help us understand aspects of the Honors Program. As you may already know, Honors College is an extracurricular and here in the Career Committee we love extracurricular, not only because it builds up your CV, but mainly because it enriches your personality, your soon-to-be professional personality that will forevermore make use of the skills, the experiences, the values you’ll stack up during your studies as well as all your different extracurriculars. Honors College is only one of the very many possibilities and opportunities you will encounter.
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Some consider it a golden ticket, others do not care for it, personal disclaimer: the blog is only here to answer some doubts, to hear hands-on statements but in no way to push you down that path or to make you run the opposite way. Take it as you may. 

To have a clearer view of the Honors College, we arranged questions for 2 different students from all three-levels of the bachelor's as the Honors college runs from your second block of your second semester to your thesis in your final year. We asked them about motivations, expectations, friendships, pros/cons, stress load etc… These are personal and do not necessarily reflect the average student’s views. Firstly, you will have the opportunity to read over the statements and answers of recently-admitted students (first-years), then second-years have also given us their views and finally third years will have the last final words to close this blog. All students are given anonymity.
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Please have a look at the Honors College page on the RUG website for more specific information and to hesitate to contact your study advisors for concrete and personalized help. https://www.rug.nl/education/honours-college/?lang=en.

First-Year Honors
In your first year of university, around February-March, you will have the opportunity to apply to the Honors College. In order to gain admissibility, you’ll need to fill out a Google Form: a few background-related and motivation-questions, a CV (check out the other blog to learn more about CV-building), grade transcript (GPA of 7+) and a video-reply to a specific faculty question. 
Workshop and courses don’t fully start until the second block of the second semester. 

What motivated you to apply to Honors? 

• "The opportunity to learn new things and practical skills that go beyond what you learn in your own Programme."
• "I liked the idea of getting more practical courses. I felt that was missing a bit before."

What are you most excited about? Which course seems the most intriguing? 

• "I am excited about summer school, there are many interesting ones to choose from. (I think there is one about the bookburning in Nazi Germany that I think is quite interesting). And actually also the course we have right now is quite nice because we learn how to use language (rhetorical skills) and how to draft and hold a speech and that’s a pretty valuable skill to have in my opinion." 
• "I'm most excited about meeting people from different programmes and faculties!"

Which approach are you most looking forward to, the Broadening or Deepening part and why? 

• "I mostly look forward to the broadening part because it gives us the opportunity to learn about new disciplines that are not part of the own program. I think that this can really help you to grow personally and broaden your horizon."
• "I'm most looking forward to the broadening part! I like the idea of learning new stuff but I feel that the focus in the broadening part is less theoretical!"

⁠So far, has Honors proven to be a source of new friendships, trans-faculties friendships for examples etc..?

• "So far we just had the deepening part, so we mostly just met people from our own faculty. But they organize fun events for socializing such as the welcome ceremony or borrels where we are given the opportunity to meet new people. There is also a separate association for the Honors college and they also have their own magazine which are more opportunities to socialize/ make friends etc.
• "Yes! It has been awesome meeting a lot of new people. Especially the prospect of getting to know them better the next years excites me :)"

Second-Year Honors
What motivated you to apply to Honors? 

• “I was looking to enhance my study experience by doing some extracurricular activities and I knew that the Honors College would look good on my CV and help me with master applications.”

From a career perspective, the Honors college badge of excellence would of course provide a distinction on one’s CV. In order to improve one's resume, the Honors college would definitely be a great idea!.

• “With the exception of a few very interesting courses, most of my Honors experience has been passive... Nonetheless, having Honors on your CV can be a nice step up for greater things.”

So, would they recommend it?

• “If you want to start enhancing your CV and get a few extra points relatively easily, I could recommend the Honors College. But if you're looking to challenge yourself academically, there might be better options.”

This honest take helps frame the Honors College not as a one-size-fits-all experience, but rather a tool — useful depending on your specific goals.

• “The Honors College has a social association linked to it (HCSA) which some people really enjoy.”

The Honors College has one hidden gem, its sociality. Most people never mention it, however the HCSA can be a good building block to new friendships and connections alike!

Worried about burnout? Don’t fret!

• “The courses I took barely added anything to my overall workload... the extra work is very easily manageable.”

You can upgrade your CV easily! And without burying that GPA of yours.

• “The deepening courses aligned better with my personal interests. The broadening course has probably been more beneficial for my overall life skills... it teaches you how to work in a diverse and interdisciplinary team.”

This interviewee stated that the deepening courses helped them more than the broadening, however it has helped them tackle the more everyday parts of life and working around a diverse set of skills!

In conclusion, the honors college isn’t a one size fit for all, it has its strong points, however if you’re looking to polish your academic resume and build soft skills, it can be a smart, strategic move — especially if you take full advantage of what’s on offer, both academically and socially.

Want a small boost on your resume while applying to summer schools, master programmes or even internships? The University of Groningen’s Honours College might just be for you!

Third-Year Honors
What motivated you to apply for Honors? 

• "Honestly I was very lucky and got asked to join. Before that I didn't really think about even having the option to do it. But then once there was the option, I decided to go through with the application mostly because I wanted to see how far I could challenge myself of top of the IR degree and also because I was still doing quite well with the IR course load. I also talked to someone from the Clio Board back then who did it and she said that she enjoyed learning new things in a structured way, which the Honors College offers quite well. And I also won't lie, it is also just nice for the CV."

Would you recommend the experience? 

• "I would say I can recommend it, but it is not the only way to do extracurricular things next to your degree. If someone really wants to learn more, I think its even more valuable to pick extra courses on the side that are offered from different faculties, because then you can really choose courses that you specifically want to do that are outside of the IR curriculum. However, the opportunity to go to summer school for instance or the workshops on life skills that you cannot get somewhere else were quite valuable."

Has Honors been a source of new friendships, also across faculties? 

• "I would say yes and no. During normal courses I usually stuck to the IR people that I knew. The only time I really got to know new people was in the summer school In Barcelona. I was very lucky and had a super fun group, as we always hung out together after the classes and also went out into the Barcelona clubs which really bonded us. I wouldn't really call these people my friends, but we always say hi and have a quick chat when we see each other in the UB."

How have you managed the extra workload? 

• "In third year the workload was quite okay, as now I am almost done. I must say that second year was really intense as I always had an extra course per block, which meant taking 40 credits per semester. I would also say that was the period when I was doubting most if I really wanted to continue, though many students from the year before had warned me that second year is the most intense. However, my experience is not really representative anymore for the years below me, as they have cut the Honors course from 45 to 30 credits, which from what I have heard has made it much more feasible."

Which approach do you enjoy most (broadening/deepening) and which do you think will be most useful for your skills after uni? 

• "I way preferred the broadening courses over the deepening courses. The problem with the deepening courses is that they are offered from the faculty of arts and many of the courses were very history, language or culture focused which honestly often did not meet my interest at all. However for the broadening courses I took a law course and a sociological course which were actually really fun and insightful. Additionally the workshops which are part of the broadening part can be very interesting and actually helpful as they are taught by people that are not in academia but actually in the business world in the Netherlands. So for me personally definitely broadening, but that depends on what your interests are and if you like the things that our faculty offers."

And that’s a wrap on the blog about Honors. You are now hopefully more informed about the College. We invite you to further read on the topic as well as to reach out to your study advisor for more personal and concrete info and advice. 

Don’t miss out on the rest of the Career Committee wisdom and go over the rest of the blog where you can find out more about how to engage your career path over your 3 years in IRIO, how to write to apply for a job with tips on how to build your CV and write your motivation letter, we also disclosed with you a special interview with Clio Chair to diversify your studies with a board year.

Good luck! We believe in you, we cannot wait to see you blossom and relish your career journey!

By Ashwin Verma, Floris Barnhoorn and Soizic Trideau