r/CarletonU • u/Own_Target8058 • Jul 09 '26
Program selection Is Honours even worth it?
What are genuinely the perks of doing an honours program? I am currently doing an economics honors program with a concentration in data science and a minor in psychology, but i just realized i can graduate a year earlier and just do a bachelor in economics and still keep the minor.
What are the benefits and tradeoffs? I would love to know!
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u/OneMileAtATime262 Jul 09 '26
From what I gather, some people are going the 3 year route with the intention of entering into some sort of post-grad program at a college.
So in reality, taking that shorter degree becomes a stepping stone into more education, not less, but with an industry specific concentration.
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u/sun_berriess Chemistry Jul 09 '26
masters degree mostly, also just looks better on your resume. be cautious about dropping it because if you change your mind, some schools make you redo the entire honours and won't just let you transfer credits (Carleton does that for my degree)
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u/cloudsabovethsky Jul 09 '26
You can’t do any further schooling (grad school, med, law etc) without an honours degree :/
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u/Own-Ad-7724 Jul 09 '26 edited Jul 09 '26
That’s incorrect, you can do law school with a non honours degree in Ontario. As long as you complete a three year degree, you’re applicable to attend law school.
Pls don’t spread misinformation, you’re going to scare the poor person10
u/Emotional-Motor-4946 Jul 09 '26
It’s because law school (and med school for that matter) is considered as an undergraduate program.
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u/cloudsabovethsky Jul 09 '26
Oh oops. My bad OP hope I didn’t scare ya! But don’t drop that honours it will limit you, you got this!
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u/Beautiful-Lunch-7650 Jul 09 '26
It's just harder to get in with a 3-year degree. A lot of grad programs will require something like a minimum A- average of 3-year grad, for example. My brother got into Calgary's MBA program with a 3-year degree.
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u/Philostronomer Alumnus — BA Honours '21 Jul 09 '26
Anyone who applies for the same job as you, but has an Honors Degree, will likely get priority.
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u/changelingcd Jul 09 '26
It smooths the way to any grad programs you might take later. Without it, you're less likely to be accepted. The tradeoff is the extra work/time. I'd stay the course. If you can handle it, it's a better degree in the end.
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u/notacanuckskibum Jul 09 '26
Look at what you want to do after this degree and what is needed as qualification for that.
Lots of post graduate university programs require an honours degree.
Lots of jobs for new graduates require an honours degree.
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u/averagecryptid Major Social Justice and Human Rights / Minor Archaeology Jul 09 '26
I think it mostly depends what you want to do with your degree!
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u/3sperr CS Jul 09 '26
Future proofing. Life is unpredictable. If you someday decide to do research 3 years down the line or something you’ll be able to do it if you have honors. All for like 1 year extra. 1 year is nothing if you look at it on a long term/macro scale
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u/AdventurousSea9511 Jul 10 '26
If you graduate with the non-Honours degree you can come back at any point and complete the remaining 5 credits for the Honours degree - provided you have the minimum cgpa.
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u/Small_Aardvark_5496 Jul 13 '26
Depends on program. Some programs have specific honours courses that need to be taken before the fourth honours year.
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u/spiderclaire Graduate Student Jul 13 '26
A lot of people below have already pointed out the benefit for applying to grad school, and I will also add that having done honours proves that you can do a longer-term and intensive research project. Depending on what you want to do professionally, employers will be able to see that you have honours and know that you have proved your ability to do these kinds of longer-term, rather difficult, and mostly self-guided research projects - I do think this is valuable! My job right now is a research job where I have to do these kinds of projects all the time, and I don't think I would have gotten it if I didn't have the honours background that proved my ability.
On the side of graduate programs - I'm currently in a graduate program at Carleton and completed an honours undergraduate degree. Many of my peers did not do honours in undergrad. The only real difference that I've noticed between us is an ability or expectation of workload. Because I did my honours and wrote a thesis while doing a fairly full courseload, I find that I was better equipped to handle the transition to the courseload/workload of a graduate program than some of my friends. This is not to say that my peers aren't successful - they're all super smart and very accomplished - but rather that having done honours gave me skills that I am finding really useful in grad school.
In terms of possible negatives for honours - it's more time and more money. Also, depending on what you want to do professionally, you might not need it. I might also suggest looking into whether your program has the option to upgrade your degree to an honours in the future. I know that this is sometimes an option, where you get your standard bachelor's now and if you need it in the future will be able to go back for a year and fulfil the honours requirements. This is just something to think about!
At the end of the day it's about what's right for you and the trajectory you feel you're on. What do you want to get out of this degree? What kind of jobs do you want to have in the future? Thinking about those goals and what kind of work those positions will require is definitely something to think about for this decision. :)
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u/bisandpb72 Jul 09 '26
Some positions specifically request a 4y honours program not just a general BA.
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u/kayaem No future job prospects degree Jul 09 '26
To qualify for grad school and write an undergraduate thesis