The Honors Program

Admissions – Program Requirements – Courses – Benefits

Admissions

How do I join?

There is no special Honors Program application process for incoming students. Rather, students are invited to join the program based upon review of their application for general admission to the University.

Who is invited?

Some 200 accepted applicants to the university are selected each spring to begin Honors work during their first semester in college. In choosing these students, we consider performance on standardized tests (SAT or ACT) as well as letters of recommendation and high school course selection and grades.

Unlike Honors programs at some other universities, there is no particular combination of class rank and test scores that automatically qualifies a student for Honors admission. Carolina is one of the most selective public universities in the country, with more than 18,000 applications each year for only 3800 places in the first-year class and an applicant pool that seems to get stronger every year. We choose the students from that pool whom we believe to be most ready to tackle Honors courses as soon as they set foot on campus.

If I don’t get invited into the program as an incoming first year student, can I join later?

Yes, absolutely. We know that in each entering class there are hundreds of well-qualified students whom we are unable to accommodate in first-semester Honors courses. (It says something about Carolina that dozens of these students were invited into Honors programs at other universities but still chose to come to Chapel Hill instead.) We also realize that students mature intellectually at different rates. For these reasons, there are opportunities at the end of the first semester and again at the end of the first year of college for a student to apply to join the Honors Program. We can look then at what you have done since coming to Carolina--courses taken and performance in them--as well as your reasons for wanting to join the program.

Do students in the Honors Program receive scholarships?

Although being chosen to participate in the Honors Program does not automatically carry with it a scholarship award, the University is committed to meeting the demonstrated financial need of all incoming freshmen who are selected to participate in Honors and meet the March 1 Financial Aid Preference deadline.

The Office of Scholarships and Student Aid coordinates a growing number of both merit-based and need-based academic scholarships, including the Jackson, Davie, Pogue, Johnston, and Carolina scholarships. Many students offered one of these scholarships are also selected for participation in the Honors Program; others apply to join the program during their first year of college.

In addition, the Morehead-Cain Scholars Program and the Robertson Scholars Program offer exceptional opportunities for their respective scholars. Being selected as a Morehead-Cain or Robertson Scholar does not automatically entail selection for Honors, but because of these students' outstanding academic credentials, many are.

Program Requirements

What program requirements are students expected to fulfill?

To remain in good standing in the Honors Program, students must complete at least two honors courses (or equivalents described below) each academic year, which may include one or more summer sessions. In addition, students must also maintain a cumulative GPA of 3.0.

Students who fulfill the honors course requirement will receive a notation on their transcripts indicating that they were an “Honors Program Student in Good Standing.”

Courses completed in an Honors Study Abroad program or a Burch Field Research Seminar satisfy the Honors requirement. The following exceptions will be made for students who study abroad on a non-honors program:

• The honors course requirement will be waived for students who spend a full academic year abroad on a program approved by the UNC-CH Office of Study Abroad.
• Students who study abroad on an approved program for a single semester will be required to complete at least one honors course (or its equivalent) during the same academic year, which may include a summer session.
• Robertson Scholars who enroll for a full semester at Duke University may maintain their good standing in the Honors Program by completing at least one honors course (or its equivalent) during the same academic year, which may include a summer session.

In addition, students who have accrued 60 or more hours of academic credit toward graduation may fulfill the honors course requirement with any combination of honors courses, honors contracts, courses completed in an approved study abroad program, and the junior honors colloquium. The colloquium may be repeated for credit.

Courses

Do Honors students take the same courses as everyone else?

Students in the Honors program do not undertake a curriculum different than that pursued by other students at the university. The same general education requirements apply, and degree requirements always depend upon a student’s chosen major(s) and minor(s) (see the Undergraduate Bulletin for specific major/minor requirements).

In addition to the general education and major/minor courses, students in the Honors program are required to take two Honors courses per year to remain in the program. These courses may be offered as departmental Honors courses (i.e., ENGL 225H: Honors Shakespeare), or as Honors seminars (i.e., HNRS 352: International Migration). The seminars are small classes developed by faculty members to be interdisciplinary in nature with innovative teaching practices. Recent examples include “Arabs and the West: Myths and Realities,” “The History of Hip Hop,” “Self-Knowledge,” and “Travel Literature.”

What kinds of Honors courses are offered?

We offer about 120 special Honors courses and seminars each year, drawn from more than thirty areas of study throughout the College of Arts and Sciences. Students help to fulfill general education requirements by taking Honors sections of departmental course offerings in everything from art history to calculus and also by participating in Honors seminars on a variety of topics each year.

With enrollment in most limited to no more than twenty students, Honors courses foster a dynamic class environment that emphasizes student participation and writing.

Fall 2009 Honors Course Descriptions (.pdf format) are now available.

Do I have to be in the Honors Program to take an Honors course?

No. Although students in the Honors Program receive priority in registering for Honors courses, our entire curriculum is open on a space-available basis to undergraduates with a B average or better. Some 200 to 300 students sample Honors courses in this way each year.

Benefits

How does participation in the Honors Program benefit me?

Students in the Honors Program enjoy specially-designed courses, research opportunities, field trips, discussion groups, and faculty-led dinner conversations that are unavailable to other students.

First-year Honors students may take a specially-designed course to fulfill their English 102 (Composition and Rhetoric) requirement. These faculty-led courses range from introductory creative writing seminars to East European Literature, and consistently rank as student favorites within the program.

The Dunlevie Honors Junior Colloquium meets on eight Wednesday evenings throughout the semester, each session beginning with a social gathering, followed by a presentation from the faculty guest and small student-led discussion groups. Each semester, the colloquium focuses on a broad, interdisciplinary topic chosen by rising juniors. Some of Carolina’s most distinguished teachers and scholars are invited to share ideas, discoveries, and challenges with students. Topics for the colloquium in recent semesters have included Entrepeneurship, America in the World, Liberty, Fear, and Asia Rising.

The Honors Contract, available to junior and senior students in the program, allows students to pursue an Honors project of their own design within a regular course being taken for their major. For example, students might write a research paper that investigates a topic covered in class, but in greater depth; develop an in-class presentation or lecture; participate in a faculty member’s ongoing research; complete a supplemental reading project with a formal report on the results; or undertake a supplemental performance or studio project.

Our Food for Thought series brings together a guest speaker and a small group of students for a meal and conversation focused around a particular area of interest or expertise. Whether accompanying a noted Shakespearean to a festival performance of “King Lear,” viewing DNA through an electron microscope at UNC’s Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center, or enjoying a dinner discussion with UNC alumnus and U.S. Congressman David Price, students are engaged by innovative and influential figures from around the world even after classes end.

The Honors Student Executive Board provides students with a way to get involved with the program itself, acting as a liaison between Honors students and the Honors administration. There are Academic, Service, and Social Committees dedicated to improving both the Honors Program and the intellectual climate of the entire UNC campus. Whether voicing opinions on programming and curriculum structure, organizing an after-school tutoring program for local children, building homes for Habitat for Humanity, or establishing a new foreign film series and book club, you will find members of the Honors Program involved in every aspect of life in our community.

How do I graduate with honors?

Graduation with honors requires successful completion of a senior Honors thesis within your chosen major. The opportunity to do a senior Honors thesis is open to students who have achieved a 3.2 overall grade point average by the end of their junior year. Unlike some other universities' Honors programs, the chance to engage in Honors thesis research at Carolina does not depend upon your having taken Honors courses as a first- or second-year student.