Can anyone tell me what an honor's degree is. From my understanding its an extra year of study after finishing your bachelor's degree correct? I'm a little confused because some unis are listing atar cutoffs for them. I'm assuming that some unis offer honors standalone and some with the bachelors degree?
An Honours degree involves an independent research project (under the guidance of a supervisor) in a specific area relevant to the degree. This allows you to take a look at a specific area of interest you may have been exposed to in your main degree. Whether or not Honours is offered standalone or as part of a 'main degree' is indeed dependent on the university, as well as the course.
Bachelor degrees that have an Honours (inclusive) component will generally involve some form of research project, usually in your final year. To gain an (Honours) award, you'll generally need to fulfil certain requirements, such as maintaining a certain grade throughout your degree, etc.
Many choose to undertake an Honours year as a pathway to a PhD, to explore an area of interest, or even to boost their resume (since an Honours year will demonstrate your time management ability, independence, etc.). There's probably other reasons as well, but these are ones I am familiar with
Hope this helps