Applying to the Honors College
We encourage all incoming App State students interested in pursuing an Honors education to apply to join the Honors College! The Honors College at App State proudly practices holistic admissions. Admission to the Honors College is competitive, but please use that fact to motivate you to work hard on your application essays. Your GPA and class rank are important, but your goals, achievements, ambition, curiosity, service, resiliency, leadership, and commitment to make a difference mean even more.
After submitting the Common App, you will be invited via email to access your MyMountaneer portal where you can find a link to submit your Honors College essay. The Honors College will review your completed Common App, your App State interest statement, and your Honors College essay. Your task in completing these application materials is simple; write to:
- Teach us who you are, what experiences, values, interests, and goals contribute to your unique identity.
- Tell us why you are uniquely-suited, would benefit, and want to pursue an Honors education;
- Show us your academic achievement, resiliency, motivation, curiosity, and potential
- Explain how you have and will contribute beyond yourself, engage with the community and world;
- Get us excited about working with you and supporting your education—your intellectual, personal, and professional development—over the next four years and beyond.
Use your essays and your Common App activities list to provide evidence of your academic achievement, motivation, and potential as well as your engagement with the community and world: leadership, service in and/or beyond the family, co-curricular and/or extracurricular activities, creative endeavors, global awareness, resilience, and curiosity.
Please reach out to Dr. Vicky Klima, Interim Dean of the Honors College, if you would like to talk about Honors education at App State, the Honors College, or the application process. We welcome such conversations.
We are delighted to announce that all incoming first-year Honors College students live together in our Honors Community in Cone Hall. We make exceptions for students who choose to live in another residential learning community, such as the Watauga Residential College or Appalachian Community of Education Scholars (ACES).
Application Steps for First-Year Students
- Submit your Common Application by the November 1st Early Action deadline. Students applying for Fall 2024 admission to App State and to the Honors College need not submit ACT or SAT scores; we are officially test-optional for this application cycle; there will be no benefit to submitting or to not submitting test scores this year.
- Watch your email inbox. Within two to three days of submitting your Common App, you will receive an email message explaining how to access your MyMountaineer Portal. Log into the portal and open the Scholarships and Honors College Essay form. Complete and submit your Honors College Essay by November 15th at 11:59pm eastern time.
Key Dates and Deadlines
- November 1: Deadline to submit a First-Year application via Common App
- November 15: Deadline to submit Scholarship and Honors Essays through your MyMountaineer Portal
- March 29: Deadline to accept your offered admission, or ask for an extension up to May 1.