Applying to The Honors College for the 2010-11 Academic Year: Current High School Seniors
All incoming UAlbany first-year students are eligible to apply for admission to The Honors College. About 125 incoming first-year students are admitted to The Honors College each year (about 5% of the university's entering class). Students must be accepted as incoming first-year students at UAlbany before they can apply to The Honors College.
Most students who enter The Honors College as incoming first-year students have achieved:
- a 90 or better average in their core academic subjects (math, language, science, social science, foreign language)
- no semester grade below a B
- an SAT score of 1300 or higher on critical reading and math, or a composite ACT score of 29 or higher
Many other students who apply to The Honors College with high school achievements slightly lower than these are admitted to The Honors College. Students whose applications have the most likelihood of being successful include:
- those with a 90 or better average in their core academic subjects and an SAT or ACT score somewhere between 1200-1300 or 27-30
- those with a record of taking honors and AP courses but whose core academic average is a bit below 90
- those with a core academic average close to 90 and whose average slipped below 90 because of poor performance in one or two courses
- those with an isolated semester grade or two below a B and with a strong academic record otherwise
- those with an average below 90 and whose academic performance has improved steadily during their time in high school
We encourage these students to take the time to apply to The Honors College. Many of them will be successful applicants. However, applying to The Honors College does not guarantee acceptance. Only a limited number of students can enter The Honors College each year, and so each applicant's likelihood of acceptance is partly influenced by the number of other applicants and their qualifications.
A note from Professor Haugaard: This past year I talked with several successful sophomore honors students who described having significant doubts that they were "good enough" to be admitted to The Honors College even though they had been very successful in high school. If you have been very successful in high school and will continue to be a serious student in college, I encourage you to apply to The Honors College.
The Application Process
Students who would like to apply to The Honors College should connect to the application website.
(the URL for the website will be available by December 15).
Any questions or concerns about admission to The Honors College can be sent to scholars@albany.edu
please call (518) 442-9067 or send email to honors@uamail.albany.edu.
