I don’t know if they’ve changed things since I was in school, when I was in school being in the honors program had many benefits. The freshman honors program had a first semester small groups of students that met weekly, I think, to do different activities around campus. It was a nice way to meet different people. Second semester, I got to help out with research (I worked with someone in the Health and Human Performance department, which looking back was really interesting and not something most freshmen get an opportunity to do). I lived in honors housing, which I enjoyed. I got to pick my classes ahead of most students in my class. I could take any class without doing the prerequisite classes before them (I took upper level history and anthropology classes which usually would have required taking other classes first. It worked out fine for me but I wouldn’t recommend it for just any subject). I got to take more credit hours than they usually allow. I think I usually took 20-21 hours a semester. Which let me get a double major in four years. Since I was on the honors student board, I also got to be on some university honors committees including the Institutional Review Board and I got to help plan a regional honors conference which was at Iowa State one year. I also think getting a personal recommendation from the director of the honors program helped a lot on applications. Finally, the Jischke Honors Building was a pretty good place to study.
I’m sure I’m forgetting some things but the gist is that it opens up a lot of opportunities. I don’t think there were really any downsides and if she doesn’t like it after the first semester, she can just quit.