Please fill out the application form here.
You should formally apply for admission to the Honors Program in your Junior year to participate in your Senior year. Students may also now apply to participate in the program Spring to Fall to accommodate early graduation.
DEADLINE To APPLY: October 20th, 2023.
Students must complete the online application form and attach a writing sample and unofficial transcript (as one pdf). The writing sample must be an unmarked copy of a paper submitted in an English course. The paper should demonstrate your abilities in close reading and your capacity to work with a critical methodology; the paper must be approximately 6-8 pages.
The minimum grade point average for application to any CAS departmental honors program is 3.65. The average GPA of admitted English majors is generally higher. In addition, you should have completed the four core courses by the end of the first semester of your Junior year. By the end of your Sophomore year, you should have completed three of the core courses and at least one of the distribution requirements (Pre-1800, Critical Theories; completing your Critical Theories requirement before senior year is preferable).
Admission to the Honors program is competitive. The major factor in admission, beyond your overall GPA, is your performance in your English courses. In considering your application, the Director of Honors reviews your transcript and writing sample and may consult with your instructors.
NOTE: The CAS Presidential Honors Program and the English Honors Program are distinct programs. Admission to the former does not guarantee admission to the latter. Every student wishing to pursue the Honors Program in English must submit a full and complete application to the English Department.
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SCHEDULES FOR APPLYING TO HONORS & THE HONORS YEAR TRAJECTORY
Sophomore year:
Ensure that, by year’s end, you will have taken at least three core courses plus at least one distribution requirement. If you plan to study abroad, shape your course selections accordingly* (see below). At the end of the year, begin assembling your materials for application to the Honors Program.
Junior Year Fall semester:
By the end of this semester, you should have completed the four core courses AND two or more of the distribution requirements.
Students submit an Honors Application Form and Writing Sample to Mary Mezzano, the Undergraduate Administrator in the English department.
Students will usually be notified before Spring registration begins in mid-November whether they have been accepted into the Honors program. You will be able to select your spring Junior year courses accordingly.
Junior Year Spring semester:
Students will ideally be taking a Senior seminar. The Critical Methods and Theories course is also recommended before the Honors year. Students admitted to Honors will need to earn an A/A- in their Senior seminar to remain in the program.
Toward the end of the Spring semester of their junior year (usually in late April), students submit anHonors Thesis Proposal to Mary Mezzano in the English Department. Note: your thesis topic may well change direction over the summer, between your junior and senior years—but you must submit a plausible proposal for a thesis by the spring Junior year deadline.
Senior Year Fall semester:
Students attend the Senior Honors Colloquium in both the Fall and Spring semesters of their senior year, and work closely with their faculty advisor on their thesis research and the writing process. The Honors Colloquium—the course in which all Honors students meet together—is an intensive experience; students should expect to work both independently and in groups.
Students also register for the Senior Honors Thesis. You may register for this course in either semester—this reflects your ongoing yearlong work with your advisor, but credit is officially given in only one semester.
Students may wish to register for an additional, optional Senior Seminar in the Fall semester if a course is being offered in their area of thesis research.
Senior Year Spring semester:
Students continue working closely with their advisor and the Senior Honors Colloquium as they draft their thesis. The final version of the Honors Thesis is due in March, either right before or soon after Spring Break; a brief 250-300-word abstract of your Thesis is also due at the same time.
In late April, the English Department Honors Program sponsors The Honors Thesis Jamboree/Honors Thesis Defense, in which students make short presentations about their Thesis topics to faculty, fellow students, and interested members of the community and participate in a focused Q&A. Participation in the Jamboree is the final crucial element of the Honors Program.
Accelerated Experience:
Students who plan to graduate in three, not four, years, will have an accelerated experience and should apply to the Honors Program as follows: in the Fall of your Sophomore year, submit your application and supporting materials by the deadline, just as if you were a Junior; if accepted, you will follow the Honors track as a fully participating student, observing the same deadlines and fulfilling the same course requirements as the Juniors on the standard track. In your third and final year, you will be treated as an Honors Senior—taking the same Honors Thesis courses and writing your thesis in your final year.
*STUDY ABROAD
The English department encourages its majors to study abroad. If you hope to be admitted to the Honors program and intend to study abroad in your Junior year, you should discuss your schedule with your advisor or with the Director of Honors before deciding when and where to study. Students contemplating study abroad must carefully review and shape their plans of study from their Sophomore year onward to ensure that they are prepared for upper-level work, as well as meeting all Departmental and Honors requirements.
Students studying abroad for part or all of their Junior year must meet the same requirements and deadlines required of on-site students (e.g. submitting their application for Honors in the Fall of their Junior year, submitting a Thesis proposal in the Spring of their Junior year). Students studying abroad must take extra care, then, to stay on track if they wish to apply to and participate in the Honors program—carefully planning coursework and submitting relevant materials by the mandated deadlines. The Department will of course make every effort to assist you as well.
Sophomores planning to study abroad in the Spring of their Junior year should plan on taking a Senior Seminar in the Fall of their Junior year. Those abroad for their entire Junior year—not ideal, but not prohibitive for Honors—will take their Senior seminar in their Senior Fall. Students who wish to study abroad for part or all of their Senior year cannot pursue Honors: the required year-long Honors Colloquium is offered only on-site at the New York City NYU campus, and the Honors Program is a communal as well as self-directed intellectual enterprise.
Students who plan to graduate in three, not four, years, will have an accelerated experience and should apply to the Honors Program as follows: in the Fall of your Sophomore year, submit your application and supporting materials by the deadline, just as if you were a Junior; if accepted, you will follow the Honors track as a fully participating student, observing the same deadlines and fulfilling the same course requirements as the Juniors on the standard track. In your third and final year, you will be treated as an Honors Senior—taking the same Honors Thesis courses and writing your thesis in your final year.