honors college: common questions
honors students dig deeper and explore further into courses to expand their knowledge of a subject.
but we know you will have questions about the program. below are some of the most common questions, but feel free to reach out if you have a question about a topic not addressed below.
the typical student will have a minimum act score of 28 or a minimum 1310 on the sat, have a 3.85 gpa and be in the top 10 percent of his or her class. however, we evaluate applications holistically, so students who have lower scores but demonstrate strong academic performance (ap/ib classes and/or honors classes and/or successful dual enrollment), supplemented by strong leadership and community engagement, will also receive serious consideration.
4-year students honors students will receive:
- mentoring for post-graduation decisions (for grad/professional schools, for employment, for national competitive scholarships)
- recommendations from the honors college for undergraduate research positions, internships, studying abroad and/or the presidential ambassador council
- financial support for presentations at off-campus conferences
- free or discounted admission to cultural events in nashville
- leadership experience, including an honors student advisory council
- early registration
- early move in to dorms
- greater accessibility to mentoring relationships with faculty
- competitive edge in applications to graduate school, professional school and jobs
students who are eligible for the honors college will be automatically reviewed during the admissions process. if you are offered a spot in the program after submitting your lipscomb application, you can accept your spot in your bison portal. if you have questions about your honors eligibility, contact your admissions counselor
admission to the honors college is competitive. those seeking admission to the college must complete an application process. incoming students usually have a minimum act composite of 28 (sat of 1300) and a high school gpa of 3.85 or above.
to remain an honors scholar, students must maintain a 3.5 gpa after their freshman year.
honors courses are not the college equivalent of ap courses. you will not be asked to do two to three times as much work as students in non-honors courses. nor will the classes move at an accelerated pace, covering twice as much material. instead, honors courses are designed to probe deeper into the topics in the course, to let you discover the material rather than have it all presented to you in lecture format, and to let you explore independently some of the topics which are of particular interest to you.
you may work harder in an honors class, but it's a different kind of hard. whereas your overall workload may be comparable to a non-honors curriculum, your level of engagement will have a greater academic depth. we aim for your academic work in honors courses to allow you plenty of time for work on your other courses and to have a life outside of the classroom.
studies in the journals of the national collegiate honors council report that honors students have a better gpa in honors courses than in non-honors courses. the reason is that honors students tend to lose interest in non-honors courses and/or assume that the material is so easy for them that they become lackadaisical in studying and keeping up with the material. consequently, they may not do as well on homework assignments or examinations. the intellectual stimulation of honors classes tends to keep honors students more consistently prepared throughout the semester.
yes! any student who has a 3.4 or higher gpa after the first semester and 3.5 or higher after the freshman year may apply to be admitted to the college provided space is available.
transfer students who have participated in an honors college or honors program at their previous institution may also apply to be admitted.
those entering the college after the first semester will need to meet with the director to determine how they will satisfy the requirements for graduation.
no. some of the courses you take in the honors college will still count towards your general education requirements if you decide not to complete the program requirements.
the senior project is required to earn the designation of honors college fellow. the senior project reflects your ability to design, manage, and complete a significant research project and/or a significant service project. you can opt for any one of several paths to completing it: a stand-alone project in honors, doing an honors contract in a major course requiring a senior thesis, contracting for significant service projects, or having a first-authored manuscript published on a refereed academic journal.