I know I am applying to Clemson for sure, but I am debating on whether or not I should apply to the honors college. I have a few question to help me make my decision. Once you’re in the program, are you allowed to join a sorority as well? Or is that considered an academic sorority? As for housing, do you get to pick your roommate from other honors college students or is it automatically random selection? Also, I wanted to know the benefits of an honors program and possibly anyone’s experience in an honors program (preferably Clemson’s). If I do not get accepted to the honors college, will my application be considered as a regular application or am I just rejected?
Also if anyone knows, is Clemson’s engineering major one that has a limit on how many people they accept?
Thank you so much in advance! 
In order to apply to Clemson Honors , you apply to the school first. In order to apply to Calhoun Honors , you must have at least a 30 on the ACT or a 1320 on the SAT. At an info session we attended at Clemson , we were given the following stats: 71% of applicants scored 1400 or above , ACT 32 or above. 2/3s had a GPA of 3.7. 37% were Valedictorians. Most has at least 17 hrs if AP credit. Over 90 hrs of community service .( These were the most recent stats) There are 275 available spaces with approx 1400
Freshman applicants. You must apply by Dec 1 to be considered. Info is on their website about specifics.
You can also apply as a current student as long as you have completed one full semester at Clemson.
In terms of housing, we were told some of the honors students live in RISE the live/learn community for science and
Engineering. 38% of honors students are
from the science and engineering department.
At Clemson, you are not admitted directly into the engineering department. You have to complete a year of pre engineering.
Hope this helps. Most info can be found on their website.
Yes, you are free to join a sorority or fraternity. Being in the Honors program does not limit your other participation such as sports or clubs. Son just finished freshman year in honors and very much enjoyed it. It provided a nice community within the broader Clemson community. Access to priority course selection is helpful. He reported honors classes were a bit more intense. If you want to live in the honors dorm, your roommate will also need to be in honors, you can choose your own roommate and live outside of the honors housing. Son reports that he would have loved Clemson anyway, but Honors just gives an extra boost by providing a community of intellectually/academically oriented group of students. There are some events that are planned for the Honors students each semester which he also enjoyed. Good luck!
Smaller class size is one advantage. My daughter is a freshman this coming fall and when she signed up for a chemistry class there were 150 or so students in each section. The honors section of the same course was capped at 20 students.
You do not need to stay in the honors housing but are given an opportunity to “virtually” meet other incoming freshman honors students to talk about rooming together. My daughter choose to just be matched by the computer. It is not random, there is a questionnaire you fill out to try to match compatible students.
For the Calhoun honors college application, one of the essays asks why I should be admitted to their honors college. The issue is that I have to write this in under 140 characters, like a tweet. Has anyone else struggled with this and/or does anyone have suggestions. I’m quite clueless here.
@Laurenmargaret1 My son will be in the same boat you’re in . I’ve heard that’s the most difficult essay there is to complete. The one thing the advisor kept stressing to us when we spoke to her was"
What makes you different from anyone else applying?" I guess if you can answer that, that would be a good place to start .
Good luck.
@carolinamom2boys that’s what my college counselor said too but it’s just so hard! Well I’m sure I’ll figure it out eventually! Thanks and good luck to your son!
Do most of those accepted into the honors college get additional scholarship money beyond the 15k posted on the scholarship calculator? My daughter just applied out of state. Single score SAT math 800 and Reading 680. Second score Math 750 and reading 720. Top 9 percent at a very competitive high school. National AP scholar with distinction. 5 AP classes with an average score of 4.2. Taking 6 AP classes senior year. Over 250 hours community service. She is very interested in Clemson but we, her parents, are very price sensitive.
There is the possibility of additional scholarship funds from a program called
The National Scholars Program. Very competitive. I couldn’t link the website up but search Calhoun Honors National Scholars Program. Good luck.