Incoming First-Year Students
Incoming first-year students of outstanding academic achievement and promise will be invited to apply to the Honors Program after their acceptance to the College. Acceptance to the Honors Program is based on multiple criteria, including:
- the Common Application essay, letter(s) of recommendation, high school GPA, ACT, or SAT (optional), and high school record of achievements in leadership, service, the arts, athletics and/or extracurricular activities;
- a short answer response and original essay; and
- potential contributions to the Honors Program community.
Planning a visit to campus? Contact us at honors@springfield.edu to schedule an appointment with an Honors Program faculty member during your visit.
Frequently Asked Questions about the Springfield College Honors Program
Are Honors courses more work than non-Honors courses?
No, but they’re usually different work. We actually want our students to have opportunities to make connections across subjects and disciplines, so we encourage our faculty to design their courses very thoughtfully, and we give our faculty professional development opportunities to do so. Our Honors courses don't typically feel like high school AP or IB courses, for example. In fact, we usually have to encourage our students to slow down so they can do the kind of deep work that we’re looking for.
Are Honors courses harder work than non-Honors courses?
Not really. The courses typically require different kinds of projects and in-class activities than the majority of non-Honors courses do--typically more discussion, more student choices for projects, more guest experts consulting with the class, and more out-of-class learning experiences.
Can I be in a rigorous major and also in the Honors Program?
Absolutely! We have many students in very demanding majors, and they thrive in the Honors Program, too. Most of them really welcome the opportunity to study topics beyond their majors.
Can I be a student athlete and also be in the Honors Program?
Yes! The proportion of students in the Honors Program who are scholar-athletes matches the proportion of student-athletes at the college as a whole. Of course time management is essential, but our scholar-athletes have performed extremely well in both academics and athletics.
Can I join Honors later, after my first semester?
Maybe. Each spring we accept a small number of rising sophomore students to join the Honors Program in the next fall and to participate in it for their remaining undergraduate years. However, year one is the best time for students to join, because our curriculum requirements overlap with many of the courses that you'll be taking in year one. And students in accelerated programs (that is, those majors that finish undergraduate requirements in six or seven semesters) who join the Honors Program after year one miss out on more opportunities than they would have had if they joined as first-year students.
