Honors College Requirements: How they Differ

Participating in an honors college can be a great way to challenge yourself academically while in college. Honors colleges typically require courses beyond your general education courses and the ones required for your major/degree. They encourage you to take a more interdisciplinary approach to your learning so that you can engage more critically with any information you are given. Not to mention, honors college enrollment looks good on graduate school and job applications. That being said, navigating the different requirements can be difficult when you’re looking to apply to several honors colleges on top of all of your other applications come January. This guide will help you recognize some of the differences in requirements you will see when you apply to honors colleges.

It is important to know at what stage of the college application process you need to apply to each honors college. Typically, you will see two different types of applications: what I’m calling the invite only application and the open application. Let’s start with open applications since it is a simpler concept. Open applications allow anyone to apply. You do need to be accepted into the university/college as a whole, but many times, an open application will allow you to submit your application alongside your general application. Conversely, an invite only application means that the university looks at each accepted applicant and asks a minority of them to fill out another application for the honors college. You can look for this invite after you’ve been accepted into the university. Sometimes, it is sent with your acceptance letter. This invite does not mean automatic admittance, but not getting an invite does mean automatic denial. You still have to fill out an additional application to be considered.

You’ve probably heard over and over again how important your grades and SAT/ACT are. This can be especially true for honors colleges. Most will not list a specific GPA, SAT, or ACT requirement, though you should check for each specific college you’re applying to. Also, just because there isn’t a minimum requirement, that doesn’t mean that these statistics don’t hold weight to an admissions panel. You should aim to be in at least the top 25th percentile of students at the university in terms of your GPA and SAT/ACT score(s) if you want a fair chance of getting into the honors college. If possible, you should aim higher because honors colleges typically admit a low percentage of students, though that does vary from school to school.

Every honors college has their own way of selecting students. Make sure you do your research before applying. Some honors colleges have a range for the number of applicants they will admit. Others will admit everyone they feel qualifies. Of course, you should be submitting your best work regardless, but this may help you understand what level of work your admissions panel expects from a qualified applicant.