Applying to and Maintaining Honors

Applying

To apply, fill out the Honors application form. Students who have an ACT score of 26 or above and graduated in the top 15% of their high school rank will be the most competitive and should strongly consider applying. Don’t worry! If you don’t make it into Honors right away, you can reapply once you’re on campus

Students at Newark who earn a 3.4 cumulative grade point average after a minimum of 15 credit hours of non-remedial college courses are Honors-eligible. If you believe you are eligible to join the program, contact Honors Director Virginia Cope to be designated as an Honors student and to get all the perks of an Honors student.

For details on how to fulfill GE requirements with classes that meet the Honors Contract standards, review the Honors Guides to the GE.

Maintaining

To maintain status in the Honors program, freshmen and sophomores must maintain a 3.4 GPA and complete six honors, honors- embedded, or 4000-level courses by the end of the sophomore year. After these first two years, to graduate with Honors, students in Arts & Sciences (including History, English, and Psychology) choose between two options: fulfilling an Honors contract or writing an Honors thesis. The contract, designed by the student and advisor, lays out an academically rigorous program of study that earns the student candidacy for graduation “with honors in the Arts and Sciences.” Those seeking the thesis option work closely with a faculty member to complete an independent research project that allows the student to graduate “with honors distinction.” Because Honors requirements differ among colleges and departments, students work with their faculty advisor in their major to design their Honors program.

Those students planning to transfer to the Columbus campus should be particularly attentive to the requirements for Honors. Although they cannot seek admission to the Honors program in Columbus until applying for admission on that campus, it will be difficult for students to design an Honors contract unless they have taken Honors-level classes during their freshmen and sophomore years. If you have questions about the requirements for your area of study, contact the advisor for your major.