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Honors Transfer Information
The Honors Program
What is an "Honors Student"?
Who is Eligible?
What Former Honors
Students Have to Say
Benefits of Being an
Honors Student
Honors Book Award Scholarship
What is an Honors Coordinator?
The Honors Program
The Honors Program serves self-motivated and qualified students by
providing exceptional and intense learning experiences in classes that
are usually highly interactive. Topics are explored in depth; typical
assignments emphasize critical thinking, extensive reading and writing,
and student presentations and critiques. Activities may also include
opportunities for individual research projects, close interaction with
faculty, and participation in community and cultural events.
Writing and critical
thinking skills are at the heart of the Honors Program curricula. The
ability to write and communicate clearly and effectively are central to
a student's success in school and career. A strong foundation in English
will help you to organize and present complex ideas and to read
challenging written works accurately and critically. Success in all
courses, including mathematics and the sciences will depend upon your
ability to read, write and think.
The Honors
General Education Core Curriculum consists of a group of courses already
approved for transfer to campuses of the University of California and
the California State University. In this curriculum, students encounter
a range of historical, technical and cultural points of view. The
emphasis on interactive classroom settings, critical thinking, library
research, strong writing skills and group presentations and critiques
anticipates the rigor and intensity of the university experience. At the
same time, the personal attention extended by committed and caring
professors, counselors and classmates guarantees a supportive
atmosphere.
The
Honors Contract is a special opportunity to elevate your learning
experience to the honors level, even if you aren't enrolled in an
official honors class.
Click here to learn
more or apply for the Honors Program.
What is an “Honors Student”?
For some students and their professors, traditional classroom
experiences, interactions and grading systems are simply not enough.
Stepping up to Honors means searching out one’s own limits and finding
new ways to cope with challenges and to extend one’s “comfort zone.”
Honors students are as diverse as any average group of college students
in every way possible - culture, economic status, political affiliation,
ethnicity, sexual orientation, gender, and age - but, they share the
following qualities.
Honors
students are:
inquisitive
goal-oriented
enthusiastic
supportive
skeptical and questioning
eager to discover their potential
and of
course,
determined and hard working.
Above all, honors
students seek challenges and consistently strive to achieve excellence!
If you are that above-average, self-directed student, or feel that you
have the potential to be, the Honors Program offers you the opportunity
to put your abilities to the test and achieve at a higher level than you
ever before imagined. Still not sure? Remember that every journey worth
taking begins with a willingness to succeed and a single step in the
right direction. Believe in yourself! Honors students are people just
like you!
Who is Eligible?
The Honors Program is open to all new and continuing students (part-time
or full-time, day or evening) and can be found in a variety of
disciplines (vocational, liberal arts, fine arts, sciences, business,
etc.). The Honors Program has established the following general criteria
for admission to the Honors GE Core Curriculum and strongly advises
students to comply:
If you have previous college-level work, you must meet ONE of the
following:
-
3.25 overall GPA in 12 units or more; or
-
3.50 GPA in courses taken in the honors discipline; or
-
a successful interview with a coordinator and
determination to succeed.
If you have no previous college-level work you must meet ANY
ONE of the following:
-
high school GPA of 3.50; or
-
high school GPA of 3.00 with two letters of
recommendation from persons familiar with your academic work and
potential, preferably your current teachers; or
-
minimum score of 1100 on the SAT; or
- minimum score
of 25 on the ACT; or
-
qualifying scores on the City/Mesa/Miramar college
placement test; or
-
a successful interview with a coordinator and
determination to succeed.
To maintain standing as a student in the Honors General
Education Core Curriculum you must maintain a 3.25 GPA in all course
work.
What Former Honors
Students Have to Say
--Paul Sterios, Investment banker, New York City; former
Honors Program student; Harvard University, Class of 1994
![Quote: I am so thankful to the Honors Program because it prepared me very well for UCLA. Without the Honors students and teachers, I would have been much less prepared, and likely not even be here [UCLA] at all.](default_files/image002.gif)
--Jack
Agamba, Film Editor, Los Angeles; former Honors Program student; UCLA
School of Cinema and Film, Class of 1994; Phi Beta Kappa
--Patty Warner, former City Honors Core student,,
University of San Diego, Summa Cum Laude, Class of 1997, Kappa Gamma
Phi, Phi Sigma Tau (National Philosophical Honors Society), President
Emeritus-Theta Chapter, U.S.D. Department of Philosophy Carlin Book
Award Scholar,
-- Thandi Guile, former City Honors Core student,
currently a senior at the University of California at San Diego majoring
in Economics.
Benefits of Being an
Honors Student
Honors courses offer motivated, goal-oriented students an opportunity to
learn in an energetic, academic environment that enables students and
instructors to explore subjects at a greater depth than would ordinarily
be possible in a non-honors course.
An Honors designation automatically enhances the impact of a student’s
transcript on a potential transfer institution because it shows a
student’s dedication to academic challenge and excellence. For students
who perform well and complete the Honors General Education Core
Curriculum or its equivalent, there are additional benefits including:
-
access to nearly twenty special transfer agreements with
prominent public and private universities, including UCLA, UCSD, UCI,
SDSU, CSU Fullerton, Pomona College, Pitzer College, Chapman
University and more. Additional agreements are in negotiation.
-
expedited transfer to many other universities who tend
to give higher consideration to applicants based on “academic rigor of
program completed”;
-
personalized academic and career planning with a
designated honors counselor;
-
opportunities for special honors scholarships, both at
the community college level and at transfer universities;
-
guidance in writing college admission essays as well as
personal letters of recommendation from honors faculty or
coordinators.
To maintain standing as a student in the Honors General
Education Core Curriculum you must maintain a 3.25 GPA in all course
work. The San Diego Community College District Honors Program takes
pride not only in its reputation for academic excellence and integrity,
but in the exceptional quality and diversity of the students who
transfer from our program to universities throughout California and the
United States.
Honors Book Award Scholarship
All full and
part-time students who enroll in an honors course, or who participate in
the Honors Program via Honors Contracts, are eligible to apply for an
Honors Book Award Scholarship, providing that they are deemed eligible
by the college for financial aid. These awards, sponsored by the San
Diego Scholarship Foundation, are available each semester and may be
renewable for students who continue to enroll in at least one honors
class per semester and maintain an acceptable honors-level GPA. For more
information about Honors Scholarships, contact your campus Honors
Program coordinator.
Honors students
who choose to participate in the campus chapter of AGS (Alpha Gamma
Sigma) or Phi Theta Kappa (PTK) may also be eligible for additional
scholarship opportunities as a result of their high GPA status and
membership in this statewide honors organization. For more information
about AGS membership and scholarship opportunities, contact your campus
AGS representative through the office of Student Affairs.
What is an Honors Coordinator?
Honors Coordinators
are members of the college faculty who share a special dedication to
maintaining the quality, rigor, excitement, challenge and benefits of
the Honors Program. Honors Coordinators manage all of the administrative
details of the Honors Program including screening and approving future
honors courses and core students, coordinating all honors program
scheduling, promotion and special activities, maintaining contact with,
and an updated database of, current and former honors students,
facilitating the development and growth of Honors Contracts, as well as
developing new program benefits such as the San Diego Scholarship
Foundation Honors Book Award Scholarships. In spite of the breadth of
their responsibilities, above all, Honors Coordinators always place
students first. Your campus coordinator is accessible and available to
answer questions about the program, to give guidance and support, or to
simply talk to you about your future goals. Get to know them, not only
to benefit from their valuable experience and assistance, but because
they really care about your success!
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