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Honors College Essay: Tips, Prompt Examples and How to Write

Writing honors college essay

An honors college essay is an academic paper that students typically complete to establish entrance into an honors college, program, or division. An honors paper seeks to test students’ research skills and focus their analytical abilities on a subject of academic interest. 

Due to the specialized focus of the paper, students benefit from serious attention to the college essay topics, which are vital in developing the essay.

An Honors College essay is unique in terms of its requirements, structure, and background. The purpose of this article is to provide advice on writing and structuring an Honors College essay.

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Which Universities do Ask for Honors College Essay

1. uci (university of california irvine) .

The UCI has two programs, the Academic Honors Program and the Honors Program. Both are popular with many members. They are not mutually exclusive, but they have different requirements and different goals.

The Academic Honors Program is for students who want to get recognized by their professors for academic achievement. It does not require an essay but several letters of recommendation from faculty members.

You should not apply to either program if you are only interested in one or the other because there is no guarantee that either program will accept your application or that you will gain acceptance into either program.

2. VCU (Virginia Commonwealth University)

The applicants must complete the 500-word Essay on Honors. The essay should address the following topics:

• Your interests and goals, especially as they pertain to your intended major(s) and career path(s). How do you feel about being a lifelong learner?
• Your ideas about leadership, including h
• How you would define leadership, what your leadership style is, how you would use your abilities as a leader to positively impact your community in and out of college, and how you would lead if given the opportunity.

3. NJT (New Jersey Institute of Technology)

NJT requires you to write an essay and submit it along with your application.

These honors college essays usually focus on your intellectual interests and experiences, using specific examples to illustrate your points. It’s essential to select an area you are interested in and know about. 

You should also pick something that you can write about easily; it will be evident if you are writing a research paper or other academic work instead of an honors college essay, so don’t try to fake it!

4. Purdue University

Purdue University’s Honors College focuses on scholarship, leadership, research, and engagement by integrating residential and co-curricular learning opportunities with academic classroom experiences.

Your college application essay needs to breathe life into your application. It should capture your genuine personality, explaining who you are beyond a series of grades, test scores, and after-school activities. 

Take a minute and think about the college or university admission officers who will be reading your essay.

5. Stony Brook University

The Stony Brook Honors College provides an exceptional opportunity for students who want to pursue a challenging course of study in the company of talented peers. Your essay should be no longer than three double-spaced pages and should address certain questions.

It is an opportunity to explain an event that took place on any day in history; what would that event be? Discuss why you chose this particular day. Also, as this question, what do you hope to learn/experience by being present?

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How to Write a Good Honors College Essay

Honors college essays follow a formal style with a clear structure. To get your honors college essay, follow these tips:

• Think about the prompt and what you want to say.
• Brainstorm.
• Organize your thoughts into a logical outline.
• Write your introduction.
• End with a conclusion that sums up the main points of your argument and connects those points back to the prompt.

Technically, the honors college essay can be a five-paragraph essay, but it should be more than that.

It should be closer to a 10-paragraph essay, with an introduction and conclusion paragraph that are each about four or five sentences long.

The introduction and conclusion paragraphs should be about the same size. The middle of the essay should be about three paragraphs long, and each of them should be about four to five sentences long.

1. Introduction 

The introduction should have a hook which is a catchy sentence or two that gets the reader interested in reading your essay. Furthermore, it should have an explanation of why you want to go to Honors College: This is usually possible in one sentence. 

Also, there should be a thesis statement. This is usually evident in one sentence at the end of the paragraph. The thesis statement tells the reader what you plan to write about in your essay. For example: “I want to attend honors college because of their strong pre-med program.”

Write the body of your paper using transition words to connect your ideas and explain the connections between them.

The middle paragraphs should include an explanation of why you have chosen your career path and why you are interested. 

3. Conclusion

End with a strong conclusion that ties together everything you discussed within your paper, providing important takeaways for readers as well as leaving them feeling satisfied with what they just read.

Takeaways 

• You are writing an essay, not a text message. In other words, please use complete sentences and correct spelling, grammar, and punctuation. If proper English is not your strong suit, enlist someone proficient at it to help edit your essay.
• Be specific about what you want to study and why. Do not just say that you want an education; tell the reader what kind of education you want and why. This is particularly important if you plan to study something that you did not find at your high school. 
• The readers do not expect you to know everything about the field you plan to enter. They expect that you give serious consideration to it and explain why you want to pursue it beyond the fact that “it sounds interesting” or “it pays well.”
• Proofread your essays before sending them in. Errors will distract from whatever else is in those essays and may give us a negative impression of your abilities.

Things to Remember about Honor Essays

The honors essay is one of your best chances to stand out in a meaningful way from other applicants, so be sure to invest time in crafting a great response.

The admission office is looking for the following:

• The office wants to know that you understand what makes the honors program special. We have a diverse group of students and faculty who are passionate about learning and interacting across disciplines.
• What do you think this will mean for you? How will you take advantage of being in an environment that values interdisciplinary thinking?
• Your accomplishments. Let the audience know your talents. Have you excelled academically? What leadership roles have you taken on, or awards have you won? They want to discover what drives your passion for learning, leadership, and service.
• Your plans for the future. The honors program will prepare you for success beyond your skills, whether that’s graduate school or medical school, or a career in a completely different field. 

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Examples of Honors College Essay Topics

• Considering your lifetime goals, explain how your present and future academic activities will assist you in achieving your goals. 
• Settle for an issue of importance to you, whether it is political, personal, local, or international related. Then, craft an essay to explain the significance of that issue to yourself, your community, and your generation. 

When not handling complex essays and academic writing tasks, Josh is busy advising students on how to pass assignments. In spare time, he loves playing football or walking with his dog around the park.

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Sat / act prep online guides and tips, 5 tips for writing an incredible fsu essay.

College Essays

Florida State University, or FSU, is a top-100 school and ranked number three in Florida Colleges . With a 25 percent acceptance rating , they’re considered to be a competitive school. That means you’ll need to impress them in your application, and a well-written FSU essay is one great way to go about it!

This guide will walk you through the FSU essay, including whether or not writing one is the right choice for you.

Feature image: Ayzmo /Wikimedia Commons

What Should You Know About the FSU Application Essay?

Unlike many schools, FSU’s essay is optional. You can apply using the Coalition or Common Application, or even FSU’s own app—the Coalition and FSU apps have the same prompts, whereas the Common app has its own set.

Whether you should use the Coalition, Common, or FSU-specific application depends on a few different variables. What application system do the other schools that you’re applying to use? Because these applications can be sent to multiple schools, you can use whatever one is most convenient.

If you’re not sure, read up on the pros and cons of each to help you make a decision. If you’re still not sure, you can always use FSU’s unique application.

FSU only requires one essay. You have five prompts to choose from if you’re using the FSU or Coalition Application, and seven to choose from if you’re using the Common Application. Regardless of what prompt you choose, your essay should be under 600 words.

If you're thinking about writing an FSU essay, you probably should.

Should You Write an FSU Essay?

Because FSU’s essays are optional, it’s natural to ask whether you should write one at all. You’re likely writing tons of essays for other applications, and maybe you just want a bit of a break from the whole process.

However, if you’re given the opportunity to expand on your application in an essay, it’s usually in your best interest to take it. Before you start, do some brainstorming about what aspects of yourself could use some fleshing out in your application. If you have an interest that hasn’t been covered elsewhere or an experience you want to share that will help make you a more appealing candidate for FSU, definitely write the essay—it’s your best opportunity to showcase that side of you, and those personal details are exactly what FSU wants to see.

I f you’re struggling to think of something to cover in the supplemental essay, spend some time brainstorming and looking through all of the available prompts . If you’re offered a place to write an essay, it’s best to take it, unless you truly feel that you have nothing to expand upon. If that’s the case, consider why that is—you may find that there’s an essay topic there, too!

Essentially, you should be writing an essay for this section, even if it’s optional. Taking this opportunity to expand on your application both demonstrates your commitment and shows your multiple facets. It won’t be the sole determining factor in your application, but if you have the opportunity to up your chances, do it!

A fresh notebook is one great way to get your brain in gear to write.

What Are the FSU Essay Prompts?

FSU’s essay prompts are determined by which application you choose to use— Coalition, Common, or FSU’s own application . If you choose the Coalition or FSU application, you have five prompts to choose from, and if you choose the Common Application you’ll have seven. You only need to write one essay, so choose whichever prompt resonates with you most strongly.

Because these are the same prompts used in the standard application formats, follow the guidelines for either the Coalition Application or the Common Application depending on which prompt you choose. Do feel free to get more specific than you would if the essay was going to every school, however—if you’re only sending it to FSU, tying your essay to something specific about the college can demonstrate that you’re more serious about attending!

Coalition Application/FSU Essay Prompts

• Tell a story from your life, describing an experience that either demonstrates your character or helped to shape it.
• Describe a time when you made a meaningful contribution to others in which the greater good was your focus. Discuss the challenges and rewards of making your contribution.
• Has there been a time when you've had a long-cherished or accepted belief challenged? How did you respond? How did the challenge affect your beliefs?
• What is the hardest part of being a teenager now? What's the best part? What advice would you give a younger sibling or friend (assuming they would listen to you)?
• Submit an essay on a topic of your choice.

Common Application Essay Prompts

• Some students have a background, identity, interest, or talent that is so meaningful they believe their application would be incomplete without it. If this sounds like you, then please share your story.
• The lessons we take from obstacles we encounter can be fundamental to later success. Recount a time when you faced a challenge, setback, or failure. How did it affect you, and what did you learn from the experience?
• Reflect on a time when you questioned or challenged a belief or idea. What prompted your thinking? What was the outcome?
• Describe a problem you've solved or a problem you'd like to solve. It can be an intellectual challenge, a research query, an ethical dilemma - anything that is of personal importance, no matter the scale. Explain its significance to you and what steps you took or could be taken to identify a solution.
• Discuss an accomplishment, event, or realization that sparked a period of personal growth and a new understanding of yourself or others.
• Describe a topic, idea, or concept you find so engaging that it makes you lose all track of time. Why does it captivate you? What or who do you turn to when you want to learn more?
• Share an essay on any topic of your choice. It can be one you've already written, one that responds to a different prompt, or one of your own design.

Having a plan from the start will help you write a better FSU essay.

5 Key FSU Essay Tips

As with all college essays, having a plan before you start is the best way to ace FSU’s supplemental essay. Don’t just jump in and hope for the best—start early, give yourself plenty of time to revise, and polish your essay as best you can to impress the admissions office with your achievements and individuality.

Remember everything you learned in school about brainstorming and outlining? Now’s the time to put it into action. If you brainstorm and outline a few different options to find the one that works best for you and that makes you feel the proudest of it, you’ll save yourself some time. A strong outline is the first step to a strong essay, and you won’t be losing hours and hours of work if you decide midway through that a prompt isn’t working for you.

Once you’ve settled on a topic and you have a firm idea of how you want to write it, it’s time to draft. Don’t worry about making your first draft perfect—nobody has to see it but you! Get your ideas out first, set them aside, and return to them after a few days to polish them into a state where you’re comfortable letting others see them.

#3: Seek Feedback

Now comes the hard part—letting other people give you feedback. Choose a few people you trust to give you honest and helpful advice on your essay, not just those who are going to tell you it looks great. When you receive feedback, don’t feel like it’s a personal attack or that you need to make every change people suggest—often, you can find a middle ground between readers not understanding what you meant and maintaining your own voice and writing style.

Revising is one of the most important steps in crafting a great essay. All that feedback you got in the previous step will help guide your next draft, giving you a roadmap to work from. Make notes on your draft, add and delete things, and read the whole thing aloud to make sure it flows well. Once you’re satisfied, put it away!

#5: Let It Rest

Letting your draft rest for a bit gives you some time to forget what you’ve written and come back to it with fresh eyes. When you read your essay for the first time in a while, you can start to see any errors that have crept in or any inconsistencies in your logic. Now that you’ve already gotten feedback and revised your essay, you can clean these last bits up and have an essay you’re really proud of!

What's Next?

If you're applying to FSU, you want to be sure that your standardized test scores are up to snuff. Whether you're taking the ACT or SAT , our guides will help you figure out where you are and where you need to be.

Part of college searching is figuring out what colleges you can afford and how much financial aid you'll need to cover. With our guide to FSU's tuition and financial aid , all your bases are covered!

Not sure if FSU is for you? Check out this list of other schools in Florida to find the college that suits you best.

Melissa Brinks graduated from the University of Washington in 2014 with a Bachelor's in English with a creative writing emphasis. She has spent several years tutoring K-12 students in many subjects, including in SAT prep, to help them prepare for their college education.

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FSU’s Admissions Director explains the college essay

If your student is a rising high school senior, now is the perfect time to start working on that college essay. Many students find the essay challenging because it’s not the academic exercise they’re accustomed to. To do it well, they must discover an authentic, personal voice—and that can feel quite vulnerable.

Hege Ferguson, Director of Admissions of Florida State University, says she never loses sight of that.

“Behind every application, there is a young person who put their time and effort into sharing a part of themselves,” she said. “We have a responsibility to treat each one of their applications with much respect and humility and recognition that that is not an easy thing to do.”

“The most important thing is the academic performance of the student from 9th through 11th grade: the courses they took, the rigor, the grades they earned; the AP, honors, dual enrollment classes,” she said, adding that admissions officers will check that the rigor continues with senior year classes. “What subjects did the student immerse themselves into?”

Admissions officers also look at test scores (the ACT or SAT) and extracurriculars throughout high school, as well as employment (including its duration), internships, summer jobs and responsibilities at home.

“The value of the essay will depend on all of these other factors,” she said. “So if you have an outstanding student with high grades, rigorous curriculum, leadership, etc., there’s not a lot of emphasis on the essay because they have a lot of those factors that are indicators of good success in college.”

The essay does not matter much for the top 25 percent of applicants or the bottom 25 percent, she said. That middle 50 percent is where the essay ends up having the most weight.

“The essay is an opportunity to learn about the student beyond what we can already see on the transcript and test scores and extracurriculars. It lets them lend their voice to who they are,” she said, adding that sometimes a parent or student who is not accepted will call her office to ask why. “They will say, ‘But you don’t know me.’ And I say, ‘What did you share about yourself? Did you share what you wanted us to know about you?’ ”

Ferguson painted a picture of how a student could maximize their essay’s impact. A student whose transition to high school is rough—with a 9th grade GPA reflecting that—could use the essay to talk about that difficult transition and how they overcame it.

Want more advice about the essay? Lance Bergman, a college resource adviser at Pine View School in Sarasota, shares his tips here . Good luck!

“Last year, a young man was on the bubble, with a few wobbles with his academic grades, so I dove into his essay,” she said. “And I learned that he was homeless. He was living out of his car and sleeping on friends’ couches. He had a really traumatic home situation. For him to, one, share that, took a lot of courage. But it also put a lot of perspective on what I was seeing. And then you look at his curriculum and you marvel with what he was able to accomplish.”

Ferguson also shared some basic pointers.

• Yes, good grammar and punctuation matter, because students will do a lot of writing in college and she needs to believe they will be up for that rigor.
• Start the application process early, and follow all directions closely.
• Because email is the primary method of communication, consider getting an email address just for college applications, and be meticulously organized about each college’s requirements and deadlines.
• Finally, if you’re applying to multiple colleges (and you probably are), be sure to swap out names for the proper institution.

“That sounds so simple, but every year I get essays that have that another school’s name in there,” she said. “What it says to me is that you didn’t take the time to look over the information before you hit that send button, so maybe I’m feeling like I’m not as high on your list as I would like to be.”

Contrary to what many think, Ferguson said her focus is on trying to admit students. She also wants to admit a student body that reflects the state and its diversity. Last year, she received close to 64,000 applications for an admission class of about 6,000.

“I have the opportunity every year to read applications from these fantastic students who are just resilient, forward thinking, innovative – they’re just a really cool group of people,” she said.

“I get to see the world through their eyes and feel blessed to be part of their journey.”

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Florida State University Undergraduate College Application Essays

These Florida State University college application essays were written by students accepted at Florida State University. All of our sample college essays include the question prompt and the year written. Please use these sample admission essays responsibly.

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College Application Essays accepted by Florida State University

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Although my tale is about a basketball player, it is not about a six-foot-eleven athlete whose name is splashed across the sports pages of daily newspapers and whose picture graces the tops of Nike and Adidas boxes. Rather, this is a story of one...

"Vires, Artes, Mores" Laura Jean Kepko

I am fortunate to be able to say that all of the ideas behind the words “Vires, Artes, Mores” are reflected in my life in some way.

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My Life as It Reflects Artes Anonymous

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Vires, Artes, Mores Anonymous

My yearning for the highest caliber of learning has taken me to Design and Architecture Senior High; it has been the driving force that wakes me up in the morning to prepare for an eight hour day as well as two hours of travel time, it has defined...

Vires, Artes and Mores Anonymous

“On my honor, I will do my best, to do my duty to God and my country and to obey the scout law; to help other people at all times; to keep myself physically strong, mentally awake and morally straight.” The scout law is how I incorporate Artes,...

My Life Jordan Williams

“Jooooorrrrddddannnnn,” my mom screamed with utter fear and panic in her voice. Surprisingly, amongst all of the chaos, her voice was all that I heard. I’m not sure if I was disoriented, bewildered or just in complete shock but at that particular...

My Taste of Abroad Malak Dounia Mahjoubi

If I ever felt like an outcast, now was the time. Loose brown hair, dark eyes, and olive toned skin, my Middle Eastern features were nothing like those of the other 500 or so passengers. As the plane rapidly reached a halt, the flight attendant...

The Spelling Bee Anonymous

At 9 years old, I thought I would never have to wrap my head around any words more challenging than the one that caused me to come in second place at the county’s spelling bee. Of course, I was a fourth-grader, not a psychic, and just one year...

Growing Up Anonymous

I can’t feel my legs.

That was my first thought when I woke up in a hospital room alone. I saw red when I opened my eyes; maybe it was the memory of my blood splattered on the car ceiling. Or maybe it was the memory of seeing that bright crimson...

Intelligent Life Arese Ediae

When faced with daunting writing tasks--including this one--that call upon me to convey uniqueness and summon eloquence, I have sought the assistance of a higher source: Intelligent Life. They beckoned to me from neon-bordered pages: Leaders whose...

Quietly Fail, Loudly Win Anonymous

What qualities or unique characteristics do you possess that would allow you to contribute to the UCF community? At first, I didn’t know how it could be done. Transforming six sheets of white foam board into a ‘Warhol-esque’ abstract version of a...

Why Engineering? Anonymous

Jimi is dead. My cousin has succumbed to the interplay of factors beyond his awareness or control. I am eleven years old. I lie on the hard wooden floor of my bedroom and gaze listlessly out the window. I think of my cousin's killer. Why did a...

Community Service Essay Anonymous

Sarah - with her floral, lilac shirts, bluish, clairvoyant gaze and bass-y Southern accent - is a remarkable woman. I met her whilst serving in the Chelsea House Ministry, several years after she was rehabilitated by the program. Inspired by the...

Life Lessons from Photography Anonymous

My brother stands frozen in time, trapped in eternal wonderment as the gray horse sculpture rears above his head. An open-air church service is being held behind him, underneath the shade of another great, restless beast. A preacher dressed in a...

Master of Answers Anonymous

My dad taught me my first science lesson. He knew it did not have to start at school, but rather the minute a mind starts asking questions. That is what science has always consisted of—a curiosity forming into a question and a question being...

Eye of the Storm Anonymous

Danger looms in this idyllic, Floridian community and I, the stranger, am alert to the seamless transitions. The carbon texture of the hardening skies, the desertion of once bustling streets, the tentative schedules that allow room for imminent...

Arcadia Anonymous

I spent much of my adolescence in Arcadia; a world illumined by artificial suns. There, people eschewed costly 'real' clothing for digitally enhanced 'shifts', government propaganda was broadcast hourly onto illusionary blue skies, and one could...

The Voice of Justice Anonymous

A string of jumbled and complex gibberish filled the air as a small group of kids gathered by the swings, rambunctiously joking with one another. I stood on the outskirts of the group, feebly looking from one face to the next, feigning a smile and...

Design in Chaos Anonymous

Here, a door; pale and pink. Two boarded windows painted blue to reflect a cloudless day. Here, the field will be perpetually filled with fragrant blooms because that is how we imagine it. I feel eerily calm as I guide little Grace's hand within...

Something Wonderful Isabella Escalona

Crouched behind my yellow closet door, hearing glass shatter and walls banged, I kept hoping that something wonderful was about to happen. My parents were arguing over my father locking me in my room again. Whenever my mom was not home, he would...

The Music in My Hands Aramis Gabriel Fernandez

For as long as I can remember, my mother has been a singer in my church. I would tag along with her each week to watch the worship band rehearse, and I can recall just sitting there, absorbing the music, with my eyes always fixed on the drum set....

Learning to Adapt Isabella Escalona

I had spent the whole morning preparing to execute an Olympic worthy backflip into my aunt’s community pool. It was the summer before 6th grade; I stood at the edge, took one deep breath, and launched myself into the air. I imagined the intense...

Quiet Anonymous

"Why are you so quiet?"

"Do you speak?"

Those few words would make the color of my pale cheeks turn to the brightest shade of red because they always sounded so judgemental. To many, it's only a simple question. Steaming curiosity formed from the...

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The first torch, Vires , is strength . Our focus in this area is rigor, grades, and courses taken while in high school. Each applicant is evaluated based upon the performance within the context of the student's academic environment.

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The second torch, Artes , is skill . We want to see how students use their out-of-classroom time, whether through sports, clubs, organizations, family responsibilities, employment, or other achievements.

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Our focus in this area is rigor, grades, and courses taken while in high school. Each applicant is evaluated based upon the performance within the context of the student's academic environment and coursework available at their high school.

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Test Score Information

Requiring a test score for admissions consideration is not an institutional choice. FSU, along with Florida's 11 other public universities, is subject to Florida Board of Governors admissions regulation 6.002 which requires first-year students seeking admission to submit a test score.

When evaluating students for admission, we use the highest earned ACT, CLT and SAT sub scores to calculate the highest ACT, CLT and/or SAT total score (a process known as "super scoring").

In May 2023, the Classic Learning Initiatives, Inc. published The Concordance Relationship Between the Classic Learning Test (CLT) and the Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT) , establishing a concordance table between the CLT and the SAT.

FSU does not accept self-reported test scores from the Common App. Students should self-report their test scores on the Application Status Check using the Self-reported Test Scores form.

At least one test score must be submitted before the application deadline, but additional tests may be considered if provided by the test score deadline:

How-to: Self-Report Your Test Scores to Florida State University

Essay & Resume

The essay and resume provide another opportunity to learn more about you.

The essay, a required component of the application, should be no longer than 650 words, and may be uploaded after the application has been submitted. Please choose a topic from the list below:

Application Essay Prompts

• Some students have a background, identity, interest, or talent that is so meaningful they believe their application would be incomplete without it. If this sounds like you, then please share your story.
• The lessons we take from obstacles we encounter can be fundamental to later success. Recount a time when you faced a challenge, setback, or failure. How did it affect you, and what did you learn from the experience?
• Reflect on a time when you questioned or challenged a belief or idea. What prompted your thinking? What was the outcome?
• Reflect on something that someone has done for you that has made you happy or thankful in a surprising way. How has this gratitude affected or motivated you?
• Discuss an accomplishment, event, or realization that sparked a period of personal growth and a new understanding of yourself or others.
• Describe a topic, idea, or concept you find so engaging that it makes you lose all track of time. Why does it captivate you? What or who do you turn to when you want to learn more?
• Share an essay on any topic of your choice. It can be one you've already written, one that responds to a different prompt, or one of your own design.

The resume should be no longer than two pages, and may be uploaded after the application has been submitted. It should include a list of activities such as (but not limited to) service work, employment, family contributions such as caring for siblings or sick relatives, and extracurricular and summer activities.

Please allow 3-4 business days for us to pull your essay and resume/activities if you submitted your application through the Common App.

Schoolhouse.world certifications

Schoolhouse.world is a free, globally available platform founded by Sal Khan of Khan Academy. Students can show subject mastery and tutor other students in courses including calculus, computer science, and statistics. Applicants to Florida State University can submit Schoolhouse.world certifications as an optional supplement to their application.

While these certifications do not fulfill official requirements like transcripts, they do help us better understand your academic preparedness and fit for Florida State University.

If you have certifications from Schoolhouse.world that you would like to share with us, please send us a copy of your Schoolhouse Portfolio to [email protected] with the subject line, "Schoolhouse.world Portfolio".

Earning both a High School Diploma and an Associate in Arts (AA) degree

A high school student earning both the standard high school diploma and an Associate in Arts (AA) degree through dual enrollment from the Florida College System or the State University System of Florida must apply to FSU as a first-year student. Applicants must adhere to the first-year admission deadlines. In addition, applicants may be subject to additional major deadlines/requirements. Carefully review all major requirements at Academic Program Guide .

Those students who are receiving an AA degree but do not meet the admissions requirements under the Florida Board of Governors Admission Regulation 6.002, may be considered for admission under Florida Board of Governors Admission Regulation 6.005. Students admitted under this regulation are first-time-in-college (FTIC) students although they are not required to submit test scores. However, they should meet the requirements for their selected major as listed in FSU's Academic Program Guide . If admitted, they must submit a $200 enrollment deposit, attend a first-year orientation session, and are eligible to apply for on-campus housing. Admitted students without a test score are not eligible to be considered for first-year merit scholarships from the Office of Admissions. Students considered for admission under FL BOG 6.005 will be required to submit all official college transcript(s) for evaluation prior to an admission offer being made; they must also provide a final official college transcript displaying the A.A. before enrolling at FSU. Any FTIC student admitted under this regulation must immediately notify the Office of Admissions if they will not receive their degree. All first-year students admitted under this regulation who do not receive the Associate in Arts degree will have their offer of admission revoked.

Home Education and GED Information

Florida State University considers applications from students who participated in a Home-Education program, or who have earned a GED. Home-Education applicants must complete the SSAR, while students earning a GED must submit official GED results along with an official, partial high school transcript. In addition, all applicants must submit at least one ACT, CLT and/or SAT test score by the application deadline to be considered for admission. First-Year admission is a holistic and selective process, and no single criterion guarantees admission to our university.

Admissions Resources

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Florida State University

FSU | University Honors Program

University Honors Program

Division of Undergraduate Studies

Students are accepted into the University Honors Program by application only. Prospective FSU students indicate interest in applying to University Honors on their general university application and subsequently complete a supplementary University Honors Application. Additionally, students also may apply for lateral admission to University Honors at the end of their first semester at FSU or apply as a transfer student from another institution at which they are a member of the Honors program or Honors college. 

Note: The application for the Presidential Scholars Program is the same as the Honors application.

Welcome to the application page for the Honors Program at Florida State University.

To apply to the Honors Program, make sure to read and follow everything below as it contains important information. The Lateral Application is for students in their first year at FSU.  To apply please follow the directions below: 1.) Click the log-in button in the top right corner and select "Sign in with FSUID" 2.) After logging into your account, you must click the "View programs" to access the application 3.) After finishing all questions, you will see a mark as complete box. Once you click that box, the submit button with appear. Applications are not reviewed unless you hit submit! Transfer students and students still in high school should not use this application to apply for honors.  If you have any questions or problems, please email the Honors Program at [email protected] .

Fsu honors program essay examples

Fsu honors program essay examples - intro.

For the Common Application, you can choose from the Common App prompts. Located just west of Tallahassee, Florida State University is a suburban public university that hosts over 41, students on its campus. If you choose to discuss a community service activity, make sure you differentiate your experience by highlighting your motivations and your emotions during the experience rather than describing simply the activity you participated in. Using too much of the essay for a description of the conundrum will render it ineffective in answering the latter two parts of the question. Want help with your college essays to improve your admissions chances? Prompt 1 Tell a story from your life, describing an experience that either demonstrates your character or helped to shape it.

With you: Fsu honors program essay examples

Fsu honors program essay examples not However, rather than discussing the trip as a whole, it would be more effective to focus on a particular moment or problem that you encountered during the trip. This allows the editing process to filter for the essence of the writing, instead of trying to add more content, thereby ensuring the fluency of the writing. The purpose of the essay is to help the admissions committee learn more about you as a person.

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Academic Performance

Build the rest of the essay around how you fsu honors program essay examples them to perceive you, and dedicate more than half of the writing to demonstrating that main point through various anecdotes, not general statements.

The key to this essay is making sure your motivations for the contribution are portrayed as personal and unique to you. This allows the editing fsu honors program essay examples to filter for the essence of the writing, instead of trying to add more content, thereby ensuring the fluency of the writing. You only need to choose one and write a word essay.

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FSU Honors Admission?

Hi there! I’m a rising senior in high school and I was wondering ballpark if anybody knew if my dream of FSU Honors is a reality or a far-reach. By graduation I will have taken 19 Honors Classes, 4 AP Classes, 4 passed exams AP hopefully, and 5 Dual Enrollment Classes. My current SAT score is 1940 old and 1390 new. My ACT score is 30. I want to major in Political Sciences and have above average experience in politics. Any help would be highly appreciated! Thanks for reading!

You should have a good chance of getting into the Honors Program.

@saxlady thank you!

According to the FSU website:

Also, it is impossible to get to a 4.7 W from a 3.8 UW GPA with 19 honors classes and 9 AP classes using FSU’s calculation methodology of +0.5 for an honors class and +1.0 for AP

@CaucAsianDad Sorry my wording was off I have a definite 4.7 weighted GPA and a 3.8 roughly unweighted GPA. And in my school it’s +1.0 for honors and +1.5 for AP

What your school does isn’t what FSU does. As mentioned above it’s 0.5 weight for Honors and 1.0 weight for AP.

You’ll want to recalculate your GPA to see where you stand.

You should be fine, but the overinflated GPA because your school does things differently can give you a false sense of security.

@Pasbal @CaucAsianDad ok just talked to my guidance counselor and my unweighted is 3.7

Based on the info you supplied above, I would estimate your FSU weighted GPA around a 4.3.

If you don’t get into the honors program as a freshman you can apply for lateral admission! I just got accepted, all you have to do is answer a few short questions in an application. They consider your answers and your first semester grades, so if you do well you’ll have a good chance of being accepted

@aaaammy123 when did you apply for the honors college and how long did it take to get an answer? Also how were u notified? Thanks!

Information from the Honors Program staff is that to be in the honors college, you basically have to have a University Freshman Scholar. To receive the University Freshman Scholarship requires a 30 ACT and a 4.0 FSU Weighted GPA in only core academic courses.

@rev mom… What if your gpa is like a 3.97?

Sorry @soyunchico but I didn’t ask that question.

Sorry I’m replying so late. I didn’t apply as a freshman, I only filled out the lateral application and was notified a day after final grades were posted.

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2 Successful Penn State Essay Examples

What’s covered:, essay example 1 – calligraphy, essay example 2 – collaborative learning, where to get feedback on your essay .

Penn State University is a selective research university. Writing a strong essay can help your application stand out. In this post, we’ll go over an essay a real student submitted to Penn State University and outline their strengths and areas of improvement. (Names and identifying information have been changed, but all other details are preserved).

Please note: Looking at examples of real essays students have submitted to colleges can be very beneficial to get inspiration for your essays. You should never copy or plagiarize from these examples when writing your own essays. Colleges can tell when an essay isn’t genuine and will not view students favorably if they plagiarized. 

Read our Penn State essay breakdown to get a comprehensive overview of this year’s supplemental prompts.

Prompt: Please tell us something about yourself, your experiences, or activities that you believe would reflect positively on your ability to succeed at Penn State. This is your opportunity to tell us something about yourself that is not already reflected in your application or academic records. (500 words)

When I started high school, I often had crumpled wads of paper sprinkled around my room and pens all over my desk. I was learning how to write in calligraphy but clearly, it was not going well. One stroke up and one stroke down to form each letter. It seemed very easy but my letters looked lopsided. I kept working on it and ruined many envelopes but for some reason, it was just not clicking. I decided to stop practicing and leave it alone. It was just an extra skill anyway so, no harm done.

Much later, I was really bored on a rainy Saturday with nothing to do. I figured “hey, maybe I’ll give calligraphy another shot”. I busted out more paper from the printer and my favorite Tombow Fudenosuke pens to get to work. I kept practicing the upstrokes and downstrokes but now, I was thinking less and feeling more. My hands started to move gracefully across the page with beautiful lettering left behind. My block had been mental and now finally, I could write in calligraphy. I have many experiences like this and they have all shaped me to realize that I want to become the most beautiful version of myself, like calligraphy is compared to regular writing.

At Penn State, I will strive to become more polished and refined. College will not be my final draft, rather it will consist of more editing. I know that I love science but now is the time for me to refine my interests. I can put my up and down strokes together to form letters. I look forward to taking advantage of the unique classes PSU has such as Science, Ethics, Policy, and Law, or Biology of Aging. These will create words.

I can intern at the Fox Chase Cancer Center to understand the ins and outs of a career in medicine and to interact with patients. I can be responsible for others besides myself in a different light and learn from other healthcare professionals. These experiences will help me form elegant sentences.

I will learn to make time for other things besides schoolwork to make my letters varied. I will be cheering in the stands on Football Saturdays, decked out in white for the white-out game. I can spend time with friends outside of Berkey Creamery in between classes. I can have dinner with my roommate on the other side of Pollock Road. I aim to have a holistic experience at Penn State and focus on more than just academics because I am more than my grades.  

My experiences at PSU will make me refined just like the sophisticated letters on my graduation invitations. I can picture it now: PSU in huge writing. The only question is, blue or white?

What the Essay Did Well

This essay is brilliantly written like a “ Why This College ” essay, where the writer shares specific information about activities they would get involved in if they were a student at Penn State University. Sharing details specific to Penn State University, such as “Berkey Creamery” and “Pollock Road,” shows that the student has done their research about the school and is excited about the possibility of attending. The writer also shares a variety of things about the school that they like. They share potential classes, internships, and events they’d participate in as a student. All of this helps the admissions committee see the writer as a student at Penn State University–which, as a hopeful student, is a great thing!

The language at the beginning is beautiful and pulls the reader into the story. Imagery like “crumpled wads of paper sprinkled around my room” and “one stroke up and one stroke down” paint a picture for the reader that clearly shows what the writer is saying. It also helps highlight a student’s talent at writing. 

Finally, by referencing calligraphy throughout the essay, the writer connects the two parts of the prompt together, an activity they like and how they’re going to succeed at Penn State University. This creates great continuity and flow throughout the essay. When you write your essay, reflect on how all the pieces and answers to each part of the prompt (if there are multiple) work together to contribute to your overall message.

What Could Be Improved 

This essay has a lot of sentences that start in a similar manner. There’s a lot of “I can…”, “I will…”, or “I” followed by another verb. It’s important to vary your sentence structure so that the essay flows better and doesn’t sound repetitive. Instead of ”I can intern at the Fox Chase Cancer Center to understand the ins and outs of a career in medicine,” the writer could have said something like, “Interning at the Fox Chase Cancer Center would help me to understand the ins and outs of a career in medicine.” This isn’t a big change, but it will help improve the overall style of the essay. This is a common problem in a “ Why School? ” essay when students write about what they would do as a student at a particular college, so make sure to look out for it. 

While this essay does a great job overall of being specific, there are moments where the writer could have provided more details. For example, they wrote: “I have many experiences like this… ” It would have been better if the writer had briefly specified these experiences. They could have written: “This experience and others like learning photography and to play the piano have shaped me to realize that I want to become the most beautiful version of myself.” This would provide more information about the writer’s interests and life that the reader wouldn’t otherwise learn. 

The clock ticked 09:25 a.m., exactly an hour left for my exam. Unlike other exam days, I was nervous. Well, it was understandable, I had spent a whole 2 months in a hospital bed and another week or two recovering and flushing out the heavy doses of medicines out of my body. Dizziness was still there, however platelet count has only crossed the bare minimum mark. My attention span dropped drastically and I found it hard to focus for longer hours.

Only I knew how I managed to climb up the stairs to the 3rd floor and walk across the classroom in midst of all the concerning and questioning gazes of “Where Have You  Been?” 

I was just setting up my books and stationary, when my friend came up and asked for my help in some topic related to the exam. It was in no means new, we usually discussed after our lectures and cleared our doubts. I’ve always believed that peers understand our perspective better than teachers, because they are as new to the topic as myself.  

I spent another 20 minutes explaining and making her understand the concepts. It turned out 2 more classmates had the same doubts and we ended up revising the whole chapter, along with quick summaries of other chapters as well.

The bell rang and it was time for the exam. We followed the same ritual for the following exams. We were 9 classmates; discussing problems, giving explanations and finding solutions, and giving our 100% in exams. Unknowingly we formed this study group that continued the whole academic session and helped us in the best way possible.

I wonder if it was my instinct for feeling responsible and agreeing on helping out my classmates or I was grateful that she helped me in escaping the questions coming my way that day.

This experience didn’t only help me in accelerating my studies, but also as I listened and asked questions, I soon noticed a variety of viewpoints and approaches to the same idea and problem. This helped me in developing critical thinking skills and collaboration abilities. 

This is an excellent practice for when I’ve finished school and out where I will find myself in similar group dynamics.

This type of prompt is extremely open-ended: tell us something (anything!) that shows that you could succeed at Penn State. While you have the freedom to say whatever you want, it is imperative that you pick a focus for your essay and stick to it. You don’t want to confuse or overwhelm your reader by going in a million directions at once. 

This writer does an excellent job of keeping their essay cohesive and easy to follow by structuring everything around one particular experience they had doing some last-minute studying before a test. Through their discussion of this experience, we learn that:

• They are REFLECTIVE — With the line “I wonder if it was my instinct for feeling responsible and agreeing on helping out my classmates or I was grateful that she helped me in escaping the questions coming my way that day,” the student shows their capacity for mature reflection after an experience.
• They are CARING — The fact that this student did not hesitate to help other students (who are presumably competition) shows kindness and selflessness.
• They are INSIGHTFUL — The sentence “I’ve always believed that peers understand our perspective better than teachers, because they are as new to the topic as myself” shows that this student observes the world around them thoughtfully, and trusts their powers of observation, even when they lead them to somewhat unconventional realizations.
• They are A LEADER — As the student describes the events of the morning, they position their informal leadership role as extremely natural. They are not a leader because it will improve their resume or win them awards, but because they want to share their skills with others.
• They are OPEN-MINDED — The collaborative approach to learning they describe doesn’t work without open-mindedness. This student recognizes the importance of diverse viewpoints.

While this essay is focused, the student also cashes in on the prompt’s suggestion that they tell admissions officers something that can’t be found elsewhere in their application. For this student, it’s their medical struggles during high school. 

We finish this essay with a much clearer understanding of what traits define this student, which helps humanize them in our eyes and better envision them as a member of the Penn State community.

While this student successfully seizes the opportunity to enlighten admissions officers about the medical adversity they have faced, the connection between their first few paragraphs (about medical struggles) and their later paragraphs (about collaborative learning) could be established earlier and more clearly.

It is not until the sentence “I wonder if it was my instinct for feeling responsible and agreeing on helping out my classmates or I was grateful that she helped me in escaping the questions coming my way that day” that things start to come together. Here, readers have this moment where we think: “Oh, the impromptu tutoring session helped the student to avoid questions about their medical situation. I get it now.” If the student had teased this connection earlier, confusion would have been avoided.

For example, after “I was just setting up my books and stationary, when my friend came up and asked for my help in some topic related to the exam,” the student could add:

“‘She saved me,’ I thought to myself.”

Or, after the sentence “I spent another 20 minutes explaining and making her understand the concepts,” the student could add:

“It had been months since I had gone more than 20 minutes without worrying about my legs.”

Additionally, the words that are allocated to the last two paragraphs could be used more strategically. In college essays, you are always wrestling with limited words, so it is important to use the words you do have wisely (and memorably). 

The paragraphs beginning with “This experience didn’t only…” and “This is an excellent practice for…” fall into the unfortunate trap of telling rather than showing. At this point in the essay, we already understand that the student listens, is open-minded, and works well in collaborative group dynamics. 

Rather than reiterating what we already know, the student could have more effectively used those 65 words elsewhere in the essay. For example, they could have given us specific bits of dialogue from conversations they had with their peers, or expand on the specific feelings they have during a collaborative learning experience.

Want feedback on your Penn State essay before you submit? That’s why we created our free Peer Essay Review tool , where you can get a free review of your essay from another student. You can also improve your own writing skills by reviewing other students’ essays. 

If you want a college admissions expert to review your essay, advisors on CollegeVine have helped students refine their writing and submit successful applications to top schools. One expert advisor on CollegeVine, Alexandra Johnson , provided commentary on the first essay in this post, to give you a sense of how useful expert advice can be. Advisors offer one-on-one guidance on everything from essays to test prep to financial aid. If you want help writing your essays or feedback on drafts, book a consultation with Alexandra Johnson or another skilled advisor to improve your chances of getting into your dream school!

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Home / News / Students & Campus Life / FSU students earn competitive language study scholarships  

FSU students earn competitive language study scholarships  

Five Florida State University undergraduate students have been selected to receive nationally competitive language study scholarships through initiatives funded by the federal government.

Three FSU students won Boren Scholarships, which are offered through an initiative of the National Security Education Program and two students won Critical Language Scholarships (CLS), offered through the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs . Both scholarships aim to expand the number of Americans studying and mastering foreign languages critical to national security and economic prosperity.

The Boren Awards allow students to study abroad for up to a year in areas of the world critical to U.S. national security. Named after David L. Boren, former governor of Oklahoma and three-term senator, the scholarship provides up to $20,000 for U.S. undergraduate students to study less commonly taught languages in regions that are underrepresented in study abroad programs and critical to U.S. interests, including Africa, Asia, Central and Eastern Europe, Eurasia, Latin America and the Middle East.

The 2024 Boren Scholarship recipients are:

Kate Alonso , 23, a senior double majoring in international affairs and philosophy with a minor in French, will spend her summer immersed in the Indonesian language and culture. In the future, she plans to attend graduate school with the goal of improving relations between the United States and Southeast Asia. She also has studied Arabic within the Department of Modern Languages and Linguistics and completed the U.S. Intelligence Certificate with the Askew School of Public Administration.

“Southeast Asia is rarely discussed outside of conflicts, international manufacturing, trade and military endeavors, yet it’s important to expand our discourse and understandings to include the culture, history and beauty of the region while advocating for human rights,” Alonso said. “Receiving a Boren Scholarship grants me the opportunity to study Indonesian language and culture at the intimate level needed to build relationships and foster connections to engage with communities on the ground, and I am beyond grateful for this experience.”

Shallom Tabib , 21, a senior pursuing a major in political science with a minor in Russian and Eastern European studies, will study Russian in Latvia this fall. Like Alonso, Tabib is also pursuing the U.S. Intelligence and National Security Certificate. After graduation, she plans to pursue a master’s degree in international affairs while continuing to study U.S Intelligence and National Security.

“Studying in Latvia will allow me to advance my novice Russian language skills and be better equipped to work with analysts in the target language,” Tabib said. “Moreover, mastering a foreign language is imperative when dealing with issues in foreign policy and can help bridge the gap between countries.”

Kaitlin Bell, 21, a senior pursuing a dual degree in international affairs and business management, will travel to Azerbaijan to study Turkish. After graduation, she hopes to join the Department of State’s Civil or Foreign Service.

“The Boren Award will allow me to study Turkish in an immersive environment and have the opportunity to connect with a diverse range of people, perspectives and cultures,” Bell said. “This cross-cultural experience will provide me with an invaluable foundation for a career in diplomacy.”

The Critical Language Scholarship (CLS), sponsored by the U.S. Department of State, provides American undergraduate students from diverse disciplines with 8 to 10 weeks abroad while studying one of 15 critical languages. The program’s goal is for each scholarship recipient to act as a citizen ambassador in their country while finding their place in a globalized workforce.

The 2024 CLS recipients are:

Rosalyn (Roz) Wadsworth , 22, a senior majoring in anthropology with a minor in Japanese language and culture, will study at Okayama University in Okayama, Japan. After graduating, she plans to pursue a master’s degree in anthropology at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa with a primary focus in archaeology.

“I am incredibly grateful to have been given the opportunity to immerse myself in Japanese language and culture,” Wadsworth said. “I am excited to expand my linguistic skills and connect these skills to my academic and professional pursuits in anthropological study.”

Auria Rembert , 20, a junior majoring in international affairs and studying Arabic, will study at the Jordan Language Academy in Amman, Jordan. Her goal is to work in diplomacy, specifically in the Middle East.

“I am deeply grateful to get this opportunity,” Rembert said. “My goal abroad is to be a sponge: Learning the culture, the food and, of course, developing in the language. I am truly honored and excited to broaden my global knowledge.”

For more information on scholarships and foreign language studies, contact the Office of National Fellowships .