<p>When will the online application for Fall 2011 become available? Are admission decisions made on a rolling basis and how soon after all admission materials are submitted will I be notified if I apply in the Summer, e.g early July? What are the requirements (GPA, etc.) to be admitted to the Walton School of Business?</p>
<p>Thank you.</p>
<p>Hi Riggo,
The Fall 2011 Application went live last week and should be available to all prospective students at [University</a> of Arkansas Admissions – Apply Now!](<a href=“http://apply.uark.edu%5DUniversity”>http://apply.uark.edu) . Admissions decisions are made on a rolling basis, which will start by September 1st, with the first notifications going out the first week of September. Applications will be processed in the order they were received as complete (transcripts, test scores, and completed online application), so if you submit your application now, you should still be in the first group of students to receive notifications. Admissions decisions are normally sent out within 7-10 business days of processing, but during peak applications times in the fall it may be 2-3 weeks. Currently the University does not have separate admissions requirements for the individual colleges. That said, there are separate requirements for Honors College consideration for the Walton College. For overall admissions purposes, we will need a minimum 3.0 GPA (4 point scale) and a minimum 20 or higher on the ACT (without the writing score) or a minimum 930 or higher on the SAT (CR+M). There also needs to be no areas of remediation in the test scores for full admission, in other words, categorical scores of a 19 or higher on the ACT or 470 or higher on the SAT. Those scores are the baseline for admissions consideration for regular degree programs. If you’re interested in the Honors College ([University</a> of Arkansas Honors College Home](<a href=“http://honorscollege.uark.edu%5DUniversity”>http://honorscollege.uark.edu)), you will need a 28 or higher on the ACT (without writing) or a 1240 on the SAT (CR+M) and a 3.75 or higher GPA for entry into the Honors College as a Walton College of Business student. </p>
<p>I believe you’re probably looking at the Honors College, so in case you haven’t had a chance to read through their website, I’ll post a little introductory information here. There are some very nice perks to the Honors College. As an Honors student you are part of a small group of students (around 2,000 students) backed by a separate $200 million endowed Honors College. You will receive priority Orientation and class registration, smaller Honors class sizes with specialized Honors faculty, access to hands-on undergraduate research opportunities (Honors students are required to do research and defend a thesis prior to graduation to receive an Honors degree), additional Honors-only study abroad opportunities, and an Honors residence hall. They also offer a variety of different fellowships and scholarships to incoming Honors students. If you want to apply for those awards you will need to be admitted and fill out the scholarship/fellowship application and submit supporting materials no later than November 15th. Essay prompts and details will go on their website most likely in August or early September, but you can look through last year’s essay prompts, fellowship descriptions, and additional material requirements here: [University</a> of Arkansas Honors College Fellow_apply](<a href=“Home | Honors College | University of Arkansas”>Home | Honors College | University of Arkansas) . As a business student, you would also be eligible for the Boyer Fellowship: [Prospective</a> Students - Sam M. Walton College of Business](<a href=“http://waltoncollege.uark.edu/students/prospective/display.asp?show=scholarships]Prospective”>http://waltoncollege.uark.edu/students/prospective/display.asp?show=scholarships)</p>
<p>I hope that helps, let me know if there are any other questions I can help with.
-Matt</p>
<p>If you choose to be a part of the Honors College at U of Ark, do you have to live in the honors dorm. I am interested in the Honors College, but know I would want to live in Reid or Maple Hill West. Is it mandatory to live in the honors dorm?</p>
<p>Are the GPA and ACT/SAT requirements absolutes? For example, if one had a 2.8 GPA (extremely competitive HS from under-represented state), but 1320+ SAT, would that person be eliminated from consideration? Best not to apply? Can a high ACT/SAT compensate for a lower GPA?</p>
<p>Thank you for your insights.</p>
<p>jkjmdalton- Honors students are not required to live in Pomfret Hall, but it is encouraged. Maple Hill is a very nice complex though, and Pomfret may not be for everyone, so they will certainly understand if you want to live up on top of the hill. Pomfret Hall is scheduled to undergo a full renovation in the next few years, but I don’t know if it will be done in time to benefit you or not, or where the Honors College will shift students while the renovation is in progress.</p>
<p>Riggo- We will take high school rigor, grade trends, and test scores into consideration for students that don’t meet the standard requirements. It is absolutely still worth applying- all this means is that the committee will review your file and render a decision instead of an admissions counselor taking care of your file. As long as we don’t see any areas of concern with your test scores or grades (downward GPA trend, etc.), I believe that a 2.8 from a very competitive high school not known for grade inflation and a 1320+ SAT (w/o writing) would be looked favorably upon by the admissions committee. </p>
<p>The Honors College will likely take a more hardline approach to their requirements- I’ve not heard of them making an exception from their 3.5 or 3.75 GPA requirement. However, there are two ways to enter the Honors College and not being admitted to it as a new freshman does not mean you are out of luck. If you have a 3.5 GPA at the end of your first semester here, you can then be admitted into the Honors College and still graduate with a four year honors degree and enjoy the benefits of the Honors College from there on out (provided you keep your GPA up, of course). This first-semester 3.5 GPA route was designed by the Honors College to allow high-ability students that were not eligible for initial admission to the program for whatever reason to still have an opportunity to demonstrate academic ability and then be entered into Honors.</p>
<p>Hope that helps!
-Matt</p>
<p>Matt (aka mmcnell):</p>
<p>You are a gentleman, a scholar, and a true asset to the University of Arkansas!!!</p>
<p>Thank you! If anyone has questions, feel free to keep them coming and I’ll do my best to keep the answers coming too.
-Matt</p>
<p>Am I to understand that you can apply for admission now, before entering senior year? My son really wants to attend University of Arkansas but before his finals he had a 2.9 and 1140 SAT (math/reading). We are hoping he was able to raise his GPA but won’t know until he gets back to school in August. What are his chances?</p>
<p>McKinneymomma,
You are absolutely correct- the application normally opens by July 1st for the next year’s fall session, and students with their 6 semester (end of Junior year) transcripts can apply and be admitted.
I am very glad to hear your son wants to join us here in Fayetteville! You have a couple options for your son’s application. With a 2.9 (is that weighted, or unweighted? We will add weight for AP classes) his application would go to the committee. As long as there are no areas of remediation on the SAT (it does not sound like there are) and no downward trend in grades, I think the committee would most likely admit him, but it might be on a conditional basis of keeping a specific first semester courseload and GPA. However, I am just “guessing”, I can’t say that with any assurance.
The second option is to just wait a little bit on the application. The rolling cycle begins September 1st, so right now we are in “collection” mode. We will start making admissions decisions on September 1st, and will process applications in the order they were received. The housing contract will not open until October, and the Priority Application period is until November 15th, so he still has time to get to school in August and see if his GPA is over a 3.0. If it is, then when applies an Admissions Counselor will work with his application and if everything else looks good, he will be fully admitted without having to go through a committee process.
It’s up to your son on when to apply of course. He can apply now if he’d like and have new transcripts sent in August if that GPA will be higher, and we will update his file to the new GPA before processing his application in September. If he is working on the Non-Resident Tuition Award, he will need a 3.25 GPA by the end of his senior year, so just keep us updated on that and let us know if he hits a 3.25.
If you have any questions, feel free to ask them in here, or by messaging me. We will of course be in McKinney this fall for your college fair!
Thanks,
-Matt</p>
<p>Is there a way to go online and check your application status to determine if all materials have been received by the University of Arkansas? If not, what would be the best way to check your status?</p>
<p>Thank you.</p>
<p>Hi Riggo,
You can check your application status in the Student Center portion of your ISIS account (myisis.uark.edu). Your login and password for ISIS are the same as those for your email account and you can access ISIS once you’ve activated your email through the passweb site. Alternatively, you can call the admissions office and we’ll let you know: 800-377-8632.
Best,
Michelle</p>
<p>There appears to be a dilemma here. You need a UARK email account to get into ISIS. To set up an email account, you need a University ID. At this point, the applicant has neither an email account or University ID, so getting into ISIS is problematic.</p>
<p>Riggo,
It’s probably best to call your admissions counselor if you’ve not received information regarding your user name and ID yet. They’ll be able to tell you what materials they’ve received so far.
-Matt</p>