University Honors Program

The first-year application is for students who will be entering University of Idaho following graduation from an accredited U.S. or international high school or those who have been home-schooled. If you have completed advanced placement or dual-credit courses, you should apply as a first-year applicant.  

Applicant checklist

• Be admitted to University of Idaho.
• Complete the first-year honors application, including:
  • Unweighted cumulative high school GPA. (If unavailable, email honors@uidaho.edu.)
  • Your SAT or ACT test score (optional).
  • One high school writing sample. Upload as a Word document; Common App essays will not be accepted.
    • Two additional short essays based on a choice of three prompts. 

Essay prompts

You must submit two short essays (about 250 words each) with your application form. Make sure your essays are 12-point font, double-spaced and have 1-inch margins. You must submit either a Word document or PDF. Google Docs are not accepted.

Choose two of the three writing prompts.

If you’ve taken college or university credits after graduating from high school, you’ll apply to the Honors Program as a transfer or current U of I student.

Transfer students:

You’re eligible to apply if you’re transferring to University of Idaho from a community college or another university.

Current U of I students:

You can apply after completing at least one full-time semester at U of I. For example, if you started as a first-year student in the fall, you’d be eligible to apply once fall grades are posted and after meeting with Honors staff.

Applicant checklist

• Complete the transfer student or current student application.
• Submit previous college or university transcripts to University of Idaho.
• Have a cumulative transfer or U of I GPA of 3.5 or higher.  
• Participate in a pre-application advisement appointment with Honors Program staff to review completed coursework. 

To ensure timely enrollment in honors courses, your application and two compositions should be submitted at least two weeks prior to the beginning of the semester you wish to start.

All admitted students are automatically considered for honors scholarships and do not need to submit a separate scholarship application. 

Admission notifications will be sent by email within two weeks of a completed application. 

COMM 1101 Fundamentals of Communication  

• Registration details: CRN – 47366, Section No.14

CS 1120 Computer Science I

• Registration details: CRN – 47964, Section No.31

ENGL 2080 Personal and Exploratory Writing

• Registration details: CRN – 47438, Section No.02

ENGL 2570 Survey of Western World Literature

• Registration details: CRN – 47445, Section No.02

ENGL 3170 Technical Writing II

• Registration details: CRN – 50336, Section No.02

ENGL 4020 Internship in Tutoring Writing

• Registration details: CRN – 47467, Section No.02

ENGR 2100 Engineering Statistics

• Registration details: CRN – 48800, Section No.04

ENGR 3350 Engineering Fluid Mechanics

• Registration details: CRN – 49189, Section No.03

ENGR 3500 Mechanics of Materials

• Registration details: CRN – 48810, Section No.04

HIST 1101 World History 1

• Registration details: CRN – 47688, Section No.02

INTR 1400 Academic Engagement

• Registration details: CRN – 48851, Section No.01

INTR 4400 Honors Presentations

• Registration details: CRN – 48846, Section No.01

INTR 4540 Honors Program Seminar

• Registration details: CRN – 48850, Section No.01

INTR 4920 College of Science Ambassadors

• Registration details: CRN – 49712, Section No.02

IS 3100 The United Nations

• Registration details: CRN – 47534, Section No.02

MATH 1170 Calculus 1

• Registration details: CRN – 48784, Section No.07

ME 3220 Mechanical Engineering Thermodynamics

• Registration details: CRN – 49027, Section No.02

ME 3450 Heat Transfer

• Registration details: CRN – 49024, Section No.02

PHIL 1103 Introduction to Ethics

• Registration details: CRN – 48329, Section No.10

POLS 2370 Intro to International Politics

• Registration details: CRN – 48378, Section No.02

STAT 2510 Statistical Methods

• Registration details: CRN – 48844, Section No.05 

Admission review for first-year applicants right out of high school is based on a holistic approach, including an unweighted high school GPA, one high school writing sample and two short essay responses to Honors Program writing prompts. Applicants must  be admitted to University of Idaho before they apply online to the Honors Program.

Transfer and current students must have an GPA of 3.5 and meet with Honors Program staff to determine if they have enough university credit hours remaining to be able to complete the program.

Students who were admitted to the program for fall semester 2021 or later must complete a minimum of 21 Honors credits before graduating. Students may use a maximum of two Honors Program Course Contracts towards the Honors credit hour requirement. Students must also complete one engaged learning experience from the approved list and maintain a U of I cumulative 3.3 GPA.   

Honors Program coursework counts towards students’ degrees. Students are not required to take any additional courses. The courses are small, discussion-based and taught by select faculty members. 

The University Honors Program curriculum satisfies many general education requirements, and  students from all colleges participate. 

All first-year student applicants are automatically considered for Honors Program scholarships and do not need to apply again for scholarships. The scholarships are renewed up to three times  if GPA and program standards are met. 

Honors students may apply to live on campus in McCoy Hall or the Honors Living Learning Community. 

It does not cost more to be a student in the Honors Program. 

The benefits include studying in small, discussion-based Honors classes, priority registration for classes regardless of major and year, personalized advising, undergraduate research funding, Honors housing and numerous academic and cultural opportunities.