Monthly Archives: August 2017

Fall Application Deadlines for 100 Honors Colleges and Programs

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Editor’s Note: These deadlines are now being updated for Fall 2021. Please verify all dates with the university in case of changes.

Below is a list of application deadlines for 80 public university honors colleges and programs.  Please note that some deadlines are fast-approaching, while a few are as late as the Spring and Summer of 2020.

If the deadlines are separated into categories (early action, early decision, regular deadline, priority deadline, etc.), we will list the deadlines for each category.

Alabama Honors: For University Fellows applications, the deadline is January 6, 2021; for other applications there is “no formal deadline,” but for housing and orientation purposes, the earlier the better. Automatic invitation to qualified students.

UAB Alabama Birmingham Honors: March 15, 2021, but verify. Automatic invitation to qualified students.

Alaska Anchorage Honors: Deadline is July 15, 2021.

Alaska Fairbanks Honors: Applications reviewed on a continuing basis.

Appalachian State Honors:  Common App by November 1, 2020, with all application materials, including letters of recommendation, due by November 15, 2021. Separate honors application required.

Arizona Honors : Common App by November 1, 2020. Early application deadline is November 16, 2020, with notification December 11, 2020. Essay required. Final deadline is February 15, 2021.

Arizona State Honors (Barrett): Early action deadline- November 1, 2020 (notification December 18); regular deadline- January 15, 2021 (notification March 5); Late consideration I, March 7, 2021 (notification April 16); Late consideration II, April 4, 2021 (notification May 14).

Arkansas Honors: Apply to university first. November 15, 2020 is priority deadline for scholarships; final scholarship deadline is February 1, 2021; final Fall application deadline is August 1, 2020, but this might be too late for honors college.

Auburn Honors: Early action deadline is December 1, 2020. Scholarship deadline is February 1, 2021.  Automatic invitation to qualified students.

Ball State Honors: Priority application deadline is April 1, 2021.

Binghamton Honors: Early action deadline and common app by November 1, 2020; regular deadline January 15, 2021 (notification April 1, 2021). Automatic invitation to qualified students.

Central Florida Honors: Priority deadline, postmarked application by January 15, 2021; March 31, 2021, postmark for regular deadline.

Cincinnati Honors: December 1, 2020, for honors and for scholarships. Automatic invitation to qualified students.

Clemson Honors (Calhoun): Priority honors deadline December 1, 2020, with notification February 15, 2021; regular deadline February 15, 2021; with notification April 1, 2021; also required a separate honors online application.

College of Charleston Honors: Early decision deadline October 15, 2020, decision early December. Early action deadline is December 1, 2020, with decision by February 1, 2021. Regular deadline is February 15, 2021, with decision by April 1, 2021.

Colorado Boulder Honors: Apply to university by specified deadlines and Office of Admissions invites students to participate in honors, usually top 10% of arts and sciences applicants.

Colorado Denver Honors: Priority deadline is February 1, 2021; regular deadline is March 15, 2021.

Colorado State Honors: The Honors application date is February 1, 2021. In some cases, we may ask for additional information (such as fall grades) before making a final decision. After the deadline has passed, qualified students may be placed on a waiting list if the program is at capacity.

Connecticut Honors: For merit and honors consideration, December 1, 2020. Automatic invitation to honors if qualified.

CUNY Macaulay Honors: December 8, 2020.

Delaware Honors:  Deadline January 15, 2021, including honors essay.

Florida Honors: (Freshman Honors): November 16, 2020.

Florida Atlantic (Wilkes Honors):To be considered for prestigious WHC scholarships (e.g., Flagler), early application is encouraged. The deadline for applications is March 1, 2021, for upcoming academic year. Application via the Common App is recommended.

Florida International Honors: Online application available October 1, 2020. Priority deadline is January 15, 2021.  Final deadline is May 1, 2021. Separate honors application and essay required.

Florida State Honors: For presidential scholarship, honors medical, or honors legal, deadline is December 1, 2020.

Georgia State Honors: Honors deadline is December 8; 2020.

Georgia Honors:  Meet early action deadline October 8 and be eligible for invitation; final deadline is February 1, 2021.

Hawaii Manoa Honors: May 1, 2021.

Houston Honors: November 1, 2020, for priority consideration; final deadline June 1, 2021.

Idaho Honors: Applications considered year-round.

Illinois Honors (CHP): Early action deadline November 1, 2018, preferably earlier; final deadline January 5, 2021.

Illinois Chicago Honors: Priority, December 1, 2020; regular decision, February 1, 2021.

Illinois State Honors: February 1, 2021, for scholarships; final deadline April 1, 2021.

Indiana Honors (Hutton): Deadline for Hutton scholarships November 1, 2020.

Iowa Honors: First deadline January 10, 2021, with notification February 1, 2021; second deadline, March 1, 2021, and notification in late March.

Iowa State Honors: April 1, 2021, but prefers earlier applications.

James Madison Honors: Early action (recommended) November 29, 2020; considers applications up to May 1, 2021.

Kansas Honors: November 1, 2020, for admission and scholarships. Priority deadline is December 1, 2020; late consideration of applications by January 15, 2021.

Kansas State Honors: No specific deadline, but admission may be limited to space available.

Kent State Honors: February 1, 2021.

Kentucky Honors: December 1, 2020, but prefers earlier.

LSU Honors (Ogden): December 15, 2020; notification on a rolling basis.

Maine Honors: Early action and scholarship deadline is December 1, 2020; regular decision March 1, 2021.

Maryland Honors: Automatically considered if application submitted by November 1, 2020, the university preferred deadline.

Massachusetts Honors (Amherst): Early action November 5, 2020; regular deadline January 15, 2021. No separate honors application.

Michigan Honors: Apply by February 9, 2021, and receive notification by March 4, 2021; apply by March 9, 2021, and receive notification by April 1, 2021.

Michigan State Honors: March 1, 2021, but “reserves the right” to cut off admissions at an earlier date. Automatic invitation to qualified students.

Minnesota Honors: January 1, 2021; qualified students invited by end of March. No separate honors application.

Mississippi Honors (SMBHC): December 1, 2020. After that, space available only.

Mississippi State Honors: December 1, 2019, preferably earlier; after that date, space available basis.

Missouri Honors: Scholars and fellows deadline is January 1, 2021. Final deadline March 1, 2021.

Missouri Kansas City Honors: December 1, 2020, for optimal scholarship eligibility. August 1, 2021 is the final deadline.

Nebraska Honors: Apply by December 10, 2020; receive notification by January 15, 2021. Final deadline is February 15, 2021, with notification by March 25, 2021.

New Jersey Inst of Technology Honors (Dorman): February 1, 2021.

New Hampshire Honors: Early action is November 15, 2020. Regular decision March 1, 2021. No separate honors application, but financial aid deadline is March 1, 2021. Invitations sent to qualified students.

Nevada Reno Honors: Application period opens October 1. Priority honors and scholarship deadline is February 1, 2021.

New Mexico Honors: October 1, 2020, for notification November 1; January 2, 2021, for notification February 1, 2021; April 1, 2021, for notification by May 1, 2021.

North Carolina Honors: Must be accepted by university first, followed by honors invitation. University early action deadline is October 15, 2020, with notification by end of January. Regular deadline is January 15, 2021, with notification by end of March 2021. Qualified students will receive an invitation after applying to UNC.

North Carolina Charlotte Honors: November 1, 2020, for top scholarships, with honors priority deadline of December 15, 2020.

North Carolina Wilmington: Early action November 1, 2020, with notification around January 20, 2021; regular decision February 1, 2021, with notification around March 15.

NC State Honors: Early action deadline of November 1, 2020; regular deadline January 15, 2021.

Ohio University Honors: January 15, 2021.

Ohio State Honors: Test scores, letters of recommendation, etc., by November 1, 2020.

Oklahoma Honors: University scholarship deadline is December 15, 2020. Final deadline is February 1, 2021. No separate deadline for honors college.

Oklahoma State Honors: Deadline for many scholarships is December 1, 2020. Final deadline is February 1, 2021, by electronic submission.

Oregon Honors (Clark): Early action deadline November 1, 2020, with all materials due November 15; notification December 15, 2020. Regular deadline January 15, 2021, with all materials due February 15, 2021; notification April 1, 2021.

Oregon State Honors:  Early action November 2, 2020; regular decision February 1, 2021.

Penn State Honors (Schreyer): (Schreyer): Priority deadline November 1, 2020, with notification by late December; final deadline December 1, 2020; notification by late January, 2021.

Pitt Honors: “We operate on a rolling admission policy and although there is no specific deadline to apply for admission, it is to your advantage to plan ahead and apply early.” Merit scholarship deadline is December 15.

Purdue Honors: Early action deadline is November 1, 2020, for admission and scholarships.

Rhode Island Honors: Early action and scholarship deadline is December 1, 2020; regular deadline is February 1, 2021.

Rutgers Honors (Honors College): December 1, 2020.

Rutgers SAS Honors: December 1, 2020.

San Diego State Honors (Weber): Preferred deadline is February 15, 2021.

South Carolina Honors: Early answer admission deadline is October 15, 2020. Test score assignment to university and letters of recommendation, no later than November 15, 2020.

South Dakota Honors: Recommended time is December of senior year, but applications are considered on a rolling basis.

South Dakota State Honors: December 15, 2019, for best scholarship opportunities.

South Florida Honors: Preferred, November 1, 2019. Priority, for financial aid, January 1, 2020. Final deadline, March 1, 2020.

Stony Brook Honors: Priority deadline January 15, 2020.

Temple Honors: Early action deadline November 1, 2019; university deadline is February 1, 2020. No separate honors application, and honors notification is within four weeks of university acceptance.

Tennessee Honors (CHP): November 1, 2019, in order to be eligible for major scholarships.

Tennessee Chattanooga Honors (Brock Scholars): Application, resume, essay, and recommendations due by January 15, 2020.

Texas A&M Honors: Application period begins July 1, 2019, and ends on December  15, 2019.

Texas Tech Honors: Application period begins July 1, 2019, and ends March 1, 2020.

UC Davis Honors: Application period for all UC campuses is August 1-November 30, 2019. Honors invitation after applicants confirm UC Davis as choice on May 1, 2020.

UC Irvine Honors (CHP): Application period for all UC campuses is August 1-November 30, 2019. Honors invitation after applicants confirm UC Irvine as choice on May 1, 2020.

UCLA Honors: Application period for all UC campuses is August 1-November 30, 2019. Honors invitation after applicants confirm UCLA as choice on May 1, 2020.

UC Riverside Honors: Application period for all UC campuses is August 1-November 30, 2019. Honors invitation after applicants confirm UCLA as choice on May 1, 2020.

UC Santa Barbara Honors: Application period for all UC campuses is August 1-November 30, 2019. Honors invitation after applicants confirm UCSB as choice on May 1, 2020.

University at Albany Honors: Early action November 1, 2018; regular decision February 1, 2019.

Univ at Buffalo (SUNY) Honors: Early action by November 15, 2019, to university and provide all test results and supporting material by December 15, 2019, also the scholarship deadline. Regular decision is February 1, 2020.

Utah Honors: Priority deadline November 1, 2019; final deadline February 1, 2020.

UT Austin Plan II: May apply beginning August 1, 2018; recommended deadline is November 1, 2019, but final deadline is December 1, 2019. Applications are reviewed in the order in which they are accepted.

UT San Antonio Honors: November 1, 2019, through February 1, 2020.

Vermont Honors: Early action November 1, 2019; regular deadline January 15, 2020. No separate honors application. Admission by invitation after acceptance to university.

Virginia Honors  Echols: University early decision deadline October 15, 2019; early action deadline November 1, 2019; regular decision deadline January 1, 2020.

Virginia Commonwealth Honors: Applications to the Honors College from incoming freshmen are accepted through April 15 of the senior year in high school. However, students are encouraged to apply by our priority deadline of February 1.

Virginia Tech Honors: University early decision deadline November 1, 2019, with notification December 15; early action deadline December 1, 2019, with notification February 22, 2020; regular deadline is January 15, 2020, and notification by March 5, 2020.

Washington Honors: November 15, 2019. Notification of university admission March 1–March 15, 2020; notification of honors admission March 19–April 13, 2020.

Washington State Honors: January 31, 2020.

Western Kentucky Honors: December 1, 2019 for full scholarship consideration.

Western Washington Honors: Early action deadline is January 1, 2020, with notification by February 15, 2020. Regular decision deadline is March 10, 2020.

Wisconsin Honors: Early action deadline is November 1, 2019, with notification at end of December 2019; regular decision deadline is February 1, 2020, with notification end of March 2020.

Wyoming Honors: Consideration of applications begins in mid-November.

 

Georgetown Prof on Finding Best Teaching, Mentoring: Consider Honors Colleges (with a nod to INSIDE HONORS)

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Editor’s Note: In a piece in the Washington Post, Georgetown University Professor Jacques Berlinerblau, author of the book COLLEGE CONFIDENTIAL, offered several tips for prospective students who want a good return on investment, smaller classes, strong teaching, and undergraduate research and mentoring. Below are his comments on honors colleges, and a nod to our own book, INSIDE HONORS.

“Honors Colleges: In many ways an Honors College represents an institutional effort to deal with all the deficiencies of American undergraduate education alluded to above. These units (here is a handy guide) are usually carved out from larger schools. They may possess a “war chest” which lets them lure high-performing applicants away from highly ranked places where professorial buy-in will be minimal. In short, these administrations try to identify the best scholar-teachers on the Quad (regardless of their politics), place them in small classroom settings, and properly train them and incentivize them to completely commit to undergraduate teaching. That’s what all colleges should be doing. And that’s what all parents should be looking for.”

It would be hard to find a stronger endorsement of honors colleges.

Top 25 Universities for Silicon Valley Hires: 17 Are Public

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The website Quartz just published a list of the universities that place the highest number of grads at tech firms in Silicon Valley.

“The most coveted jobs are in Silicon Valley, and most selective US universities are members of the Ivy League. So it stands to reason that tech giants like Apple, Google, Amazon and Facebook would scoop up best and brightest from those bastions of power and privilege.

“Think again. None of the eight Ivy League schools—Harvard, Yale, Princeton, Brown, Columbia, Cornell, Dartmouth and the University of Pennsylvania—cracked the top 10 on a list of the universities sending the most graduates to tech firms, according to an analysis by HiringSolved, an online recruiting company. The company used data from more than 10,000 public profiles for tech workers hired or promoted into new positions in 2016 and the first two months of 2017.”

Editor’s note: The HiringSolve link also lists the 10 specific skills most in demand as of 2017, with changes from 2016. For example, the top four skills for entry level placement in 2017 are Python, C++, Java, and algorithms. The top job titles for entry placement in 2017 are Software Engineering Intern, Software Engineer, Business Development Consultant, and Research Intern.

Now let it be said that the 17 public universities in the top 25 are generally much larger than the private institutions on the list, so the sheer volume of highly-trained tech grads from the publics is much larger.

But the final message from Quartz was this:

“If the list tells us anything, it’s that admission to an elite university isn’t a prerequisite for a career in Silicon Valley, and what you know is more important than where you learn it.” [Emphasis added.]

Here are the top 25 universities for Silicon Valley tech placement, in numerical order:

UC Berkeley
Stanford
Carnegie Mellon
USC
UT Austin
Georgia Tech
Illinois
San Jose State
UC San Diego
Arizona State
Michigan
UCLA
NC State
Cal Poly
Cornell
Waterloo (Canada)
Texas A&M
Washington
Purdue
MIT
Santa Clara
Univ of Phoenix*
UC Santa Barbara
UC Davis
Penn State

*Hypothesis: hands-on experience and later degrees?

Q & A with Inaugural Honors Dean at Kentucky’s Lewis Honors College

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Editor’s Note: The following detailed Q & A is between editor John Willingham and Dr. Christian M.M. Brady, the inaugural Dean of the Lewis Honors College at the University of Kentucky, where almost half of the inaugural class is receiving full tuition scholarships or greater awards. Dr. Brady is the former longtime Dean of the Schreyer Honors College at Penn State. [Emphases below are added.] Please see earlier post, Kentucky to Open New Honors College with Gift of $23 Million.

Dean Christian M.M. Brady, Lewis Honors College

Editor: Can you say what the expected test score and GPA requirement will be, at least approximately at LHC?

Dean Brady: This year’s incoming class has an average unweighted GPA of 3.86 and an average ACT of 31.4. Please note that these figures are determined after the fact. The LHC does not use standardized test scores, but rather has an holistic selection process. The formal statement on the website currently reads*: “Applicants to the Lewis Honors College typically have at least a 28 ACT or 1310 SAT (M + EBRW) and an unweighted GPA of 3.50 on a 4.00 scale.” These minimums are not guarantees of admission to the program, but act as a benchmark for consideration. All applicants should be aware that Honors admission decisions are made independently of Competitive Academic Scholarships and applications will not be reviewed until a student has been admitted to the University….[A]n applicant’s essay responses carry a large amount of weight in the admission process….The deadline for submission of the application and all required documents is December 1.

*These minimum requirements are likely to change.

Editor: In what ways will the LHC differ from the previous honors program? In what ways the same? Will the number of honors sections be significantly increased?

Lewis Hall

Dean Brady: Honors was created at UK in 1961 and has taken on various forms in its nearly 60 year history. With the establishment of the Lewis Honors College we will continue the more recent progress of a university-wide honors program with certain key features. The development of a foundational course and experience that all Lewis Honors College Scholars will participate in, the expansion of departmental honors courses, and the strengthening of the honors thesis or capstone requirement. Students are also required to do 6 credits of “honors experience,” which can be accomplished via study abroad, service learning, and research. The LHC will have up to ten lecturers who will teach the Foundations Seminar and other honors courses through the relevant departments. We will also have two endowed lectureships: one in the area of organizational behavior and the other in entrepreneurship. There is a new Career Advising Center being created, with a staff of four advisors. There will also be five Academic Advisors. These new staff positions, along with other student programing positions, will all be in place by the end of fall 2017. Staff will be housed in the new Lewis Hall.

Located directly across from the WT Thomas Library and next to “The 90,” a dining and classroom space, Lewis Hall is one of three Honors residence halls and includes 346 beds. It also has over 20,000 square feet of office and meeting space, including four classrooms and a café. There is a spacious outdoor patio venue as well. One particular concern that I think will come to the fore is the commitment to helping students from their earliest moments on campus to discern their pathway forward. (E.g., they might have always thought they should be an engineer because they are good at numbers and like creating things, but they might actually be more of a business person. Or vice versa.) This will be determined and elaborated later in this semester, once we have the opportunity to meet with students and faculty.

Editor: What is the size of the class of 2021, and anticipated size thereafter?

Dean Brady: The incoming class is predicted to be 540 and our target is to maintain 10% of total student population, roughly 2,200 LHC Scholars.

Editor: What is your personal vision for LHC, building on your long experience at Penn State and contacts in the honors community?

Dean Brady: I believe firmly that every honors college and program should reflect what is distinctive and unique about the larger university community of which it is a part…. [W]e should also have a particular distinctiveness that reflects the Kentucky identity. This does not mean that we are regional, quite the opposite. The traits I have already seen in terms of work ethic, humility, and commitment to community are those that we should seek to inculcate in all students. Over the next 5 to 10 years we will build one of the strongest honors colleges in the nation. Founded upon the strength of excellent faculty, great breadth of offerings at UK (it is one of the most comprehensive research universities in the nation, with every professional school, aside from veterinary, within 1 mile of the honors complex), and developing men and women to understand and meet their own potential while benefitting their communities. As some have put it, “doing well while doing good.” The LHC will also become a standard within the nation and the world for innovation….With over thirteen years in the honors community, I look forward to working with our colleagues around the world to continue to learn from their best practices, develop exchange opportunities for our students, and help establish new standards for honors education. We will be submitting a proposal to host the [Honors Education at Research Univerity] HERU meeting in 2019 and I look forward to working with my SEC colleagues, many of whom I have already met through HERU and Big Ten conferences.

Interior view of Lewis Hall

Editor: What are the amounts and availability of merit scholarships, and do LHC students automatically qualify for university scholarships? Does the LHC offer its own merit scholarships?

Dean Brady: I am still learning where exactly all funds reside, but this is certain: the LHC has more than $8MM in scholarships each year. Almost half of all incoming students will have a scholarship at least cover full tuition. We are also preparing to enter into a capital campaign in which developing further scholarship and grant funds (for research, study abroad, and internships) will be a priority.

Editor: Can you tell us more about the honors residence halls and the LHC administration building?

Dean Brady: I referenced the new Lewis Hall earlier. There are also two other Honors residence halls, all built within the last 5 years, that are beautifully appointed with learning spaces for the students on each floor, ground floor lounges, and located next to the library and the new, $112MM Jacobs Science Building.

Another view of the Lewis complex

Editor: Can you tell us more about the size of the LHC staff and their assignments; are any staff dedicated to prestigious awards?

Dean Brady: When fully staffed we will have over 30 staff members including an associate dean for academic affairs, a director of academic affairs, five academic advisors, and up to twelve lecturers. We will have a senior director of student affairs who will oversee a director of career advising and 3 career advisors, a director of recruitment, a director of the Residential College (student programming), and an administrative assistant for student affairs and receptionist. We will also have a budget officer, director of communications, and a philanthropy officer.

Editor: What are the levels of honors completion and the semester-hour requirements for each level; is there a thesis required; is there a limit on honors conversions (contract courses?

Dean Brady: There are some adjustments being made, but the basic requirements beginning in 2018 will be:

• Total of 30 honors credit hours

• Writing, Reading, and Digital Studies/CIS (accelerated two-semester course)

• 2 first year courses + foundational seminar

• 2 upper level courses + directed elective (“Honors students must choose at least three credit hours in HON 301 [an honors ‘pro-seminar’] or departmental Honors sections outside their general discipline of study, including declared majors, minors, and certificate programs at the time of course enrollment.”)

• 6 cr Honors experience study abroad, experiential & service learning, research

• Senior Thesis