<p>This is probably a very broad question, but I really have no idea how honors colleges admissions works. Specifically, I'm looking at OU (Oklahoma), KU (Kansas), Penn State, and UF honors colleges. I had difficulty finding any admissions statistics pertaining to the honors programs specifically online. So, how competitive is admission into these programs? My ACT is 34, and my unweighted GPA is 3.98, and I should qualify for NMSF. I'm also in state for Oklahoma. I don't want to know my "chances" or anything, just if those numbers are competitive enough for honors programs at those colleges (and also, honestly, if I should devote as much time to these essays as I will to my essays for more competitive schools overall). Anybody have any clue, because I'm still pretty clueless about honors programs? </p>
<p>I guess I should also address finances preemptively in case anyone wants to bring it up. Being an NMSF will get me a full ride at OU, and I’m an out-of-state legacy at KU with an ACT over 30, so I should qualify for the Generations Scholarship, worth $11k a year. So OU and KU are completely affordable. My parents told me that around $40k a year is what they can contribute, so I think Penn State and UF would also be affordable.</p>
<p>Just speaking to admissions, your stats look good. The essays? I wouldn’t blow them off, especially for the OOS colleges. You still have to sell yourself as better than the other OOS applicants. OU, your home state, looks like a sure thing, as long as you don’t come off as over confident in your essay.</p>
<p>You should be competitive for their honors programs. The websites of each school might even list average stats for honors program students.</p>
<p>Thank you! Does anyone know which one of those schools has the most competitive honors program?</p>
<p>Try looking at the web sites…</p>
<p>The websites don’t give any statistics about admission. They just give averages and cut-offs for acceptance into the program. I couldn’t find any “x number of kids applied and x number were accepted” type statistics for any of those programs. </p>
<p>Don’t the averages and cutoffs tell you anything?</p>
<p>I don’t think the averages and cutoffs tell me what I’m looking for. I don’t think admission to honors colleges is based solely on numbers, and so I want to know specifically how competitive the admissions process is. I don’t just want to look at the averages and figure I have a good shot of being accepted because my scores fall in that range. For example, I know only 300 kids are admitted to Penn State’s honors program, but there’s a huge difference between 1,000 kids applying for those spots and 5,000 kids applying for those spots. Also, UF’s cutoff for admission is a 33, so I’m barely past the cutoff. I would like to know if that means that my chances of acceptance are diminished.</p>
<p>The Honors Program averages at KU are 32 ACT and 3.95 GPA, so you are well above the average. </p>
<p>About half of the students in my high school applied to KU, and about 20 applied to the honors program. As far as I’m aware, all but one that applied got in (including someone with a 26 and 3.9). Based off my experience, they’ll pretty much accept anyone that is willing to jump through the hoop of writing an essay, barring any major turn offs like a 21 ACT or major disciplinary issues. I don’t know an exact percentage, but I’d guess that it’d be pretty high. Most students in my area don’t even know the honors program exists at KU, and thus not many apply. </p>
<p>I don’t know much about the other 3 schools, though. </p>
<p>Thanks @baileyj57! Was your high school in-state for KU?</p>
<p>I think you are good, but obviously don’t blow off your essay entirely either. I ended up using similar essays for a bunch of applications and it later helped out with scholarship applications, so if you have some time definitely put your best effort into them!</p>
<p>Yeah, my school is in Kansas. </p>