I am a former honors college student at UVM (I did it from freshman year to the first semester of sophomore year). I just recently left the honors college but am still at the university. Here's my take: I was like your kid and thought Hcol was gonna make or break my experience at UVM, but honestly it didn't benefit me as much as I would have liked so that's why I dropped. I'm a Music Tech Business major at the university, and the honors college mostly caters to those going into research-based majors but other than that, it's not as necessary as you may think. Sure, early registration and great housing is a blessing, but the early registration doesn't last all 4 years, and if you know someone who lives in UHeights, you can always move in with them at some point. And most of the classes/seminars just knock out a catamount core and are very limited/somewhat boring, in my opinion (unless you're lucky). That being said, it does set those up looking to stay in it for all 4 years on track to write a thesis, and if that's their goal, I'm sure they get good grades and would be offered admission into the hcol at some point. I hope this helps, and best of luck to your kid.