Honors Program Admission...apply without credentials?
May 3, 2011 5:22 AM   Subscribe

Should I try applying for the honors program at my school, even though I don't have the credentials?

I was recently admitted to Virginia Tech as a transfer student (into sophomore year). To be invited into their honors program, they require at least a 3.6 at your current institution to be eligible to apply to their honors program when you enter.

I had a 3.7 when I applied, but was not invited, and will not have a 3.6 after this semester when I turn in my final transcript due to a family death and two car accidents. Under these circumstances, I could not afford to pay for gas to go to school, thus my GPA went down to ~3.3-3.4.

Should I try and apply anyways, regardless if I wasn't invited? Their application is online and I have a really impressive resume that imbues academic thirst (challenging courses, aka no BS courses and academic endeavor outside of the classroom through federal internships).
posted by enroute888 to Education (6 answers total)
 
I don't know how firm honors programs generally are about their requirements, but why not try? You managed to maintain a good GPA with a death in the family and multiple accidents, which is really impressive. Is there any way that you can submit something documenting why your grades went down?
posted by Papagayo at 5:32 AM on May 3, 2011


You might have better luck by contacting someone first - "I'd really like to apply for the honors program, but I had some mitigating circumstances during the last semester so my GPA is slightly below the requirement," etc. Applying through an online form with less than the stated requirements might just get your application tossed without a second glance.

(And this is an aside, but not going to school because you couldn't afford gas sounds a little odd. So many students use buses, bikes, and rideshare, and lots of campuses offer free transportation. Not trying to split hairs, but I'd accept that your grades dropped because of grief over all that trauma without a second thought.)
posted by ella wren at 5:37 AM on May 3, 2011


Response by poster: thank you!

ella, that's partially true, but i commuted to an out of state school.
posted by enroute888 at 5:56 AM on May 3, 2011


enroute888 -- talk to your academic adviser about the possibility of applying now or later on. See how they feel about it.
posted by Think_Long at 5:57 AM on May 3, 2011


Yes, do ask someone at the honors office, but be aware that they probably won't buy it. They set GPA standards just for this reason, to filter out students of unfulfilled potential greatness, and select the students whose work actually reflects accomplishment. I wouldn't be surprised if you get the answer, "we'd love to have you but try next term when your grades have some back up." In any case, good luck!
posted by philokalia at 7:31 AM on May 3, 2011


Should you apply for the honors college? Unless the application is an large amount of work, there's no reason not to apply.

Should you do honors classes at your college? I dropped out of the honors program in my undergrad for a few reasons

1) The work was harder than non-honors, but they still had a minimum expected gpa in the honors classes of b+/a-
2) The classes themselves didn't line up with requirements for my degree.

I have no regrets for not staying with it. While the work was more interesting than the non-honors classes I would have taken for core-curricula, the only honors college benefit others would see was a notation on my degree.

So I'd recommend considering what you'd get short term, and long term out of the honors college before signing up for the extra work it will be.
posted by garlic at 1:09 PM on May 3, 2011


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