Frequently Asked Questions
FAQs for Newly Admitted Students
You can learn more about the Honors College by reviewing other parts of our website and attending the Honors College sessions at the Make It Miami! events. Your Admission counselor can also answer many questions about Honors. We would love you to connect with the Honors College on Instagram @MiamiOHhonors!
Yes! Attend a Make It Miami! accepted student event. These events will offer you and your family the opportunity to meet our nationally ranked faculty and current Miami students, and explore Miami's many academic, extracurricular, and residential opportunities. The Honors College has specific sessions at Make It Miami! events, including a panel of students who share what it is like to be a current Honors College student.
Yes, Miami’s Honors College is a residential college requiring all first-year Honors students to live in the Honors residence halls (Hillcrest, Hodge, and Young Halls). The residential component of the Honors College fosters a comprehensive and transformative experience by combining community activities with courses and enhanced academic support. Students living in the HRC residence halls become involved in the Honors community by building a network of peers through active participation in intellectual engagements, coordinating community service projects, and participating in social events. The HRC Honors buildings are newer, modern residence halls with unique, community enhancing floor plans. More information about our residential buildings can be found on the Residential College page.
First-year honors students who choose to commute and are exempt from the residency requirement are not required to live in the Honors Residential College.
Yes. Honors students joining the Honors community as first-year students are required to live in the Honors Residential College with other Honors College students. The Honors Residential College is designed to provide students with a dynamic community experience and many Honors students find lifelong friends in their Honors residential community.
During the housing application process, we encourage incoming first year students to be proactive and thorough in filling out the roommate matching section of the housing application as early as possible. This will enable you to search for potential roommates who are compatible with you during your first year of college and living on campus. The details you provide in this section will be viewable by other incoming Honors students who are looking for roommates as well. Students are encouraged to engage with this process prior to May 15. Requests for specific roommates must be submitted no later than May 19 to in order to allow time for processing of assignments. Please refer to Campus Services Center, the office that manages the on-campus room selection and housing assignments, for more information.
Honors College students residing in the Honors Residential College will move in on Thursday, August 22, 2024. More specific details related to the staggered time of arrival will be communicated over the summer via the Campus Services Center. Students will participate in a variety of community building events with the Honors College and the Honors Student Advisory and Activities Board on Thursday evening and throughout Friday before participating in the University-wide Welcome Weekend schedule of events. Honors College students are also welcome to participate in any of the Miami Bound pre-semester programs.
Students can learn more about the move-in process from the Office of Residence Life.
Any student who declines admission into the Honors College directly from high school, but who still attends Miami University, is automatically ineligible to apply for admission into the Honors College through our current student admission process. Participating in the Honors College as a first-year requires living in the Honors Residential College.
Read the Honors Residential College (HRC) related questions above and visit the HRC page for more information about the Honors Residential College. The HRC page includes details about the buildings and a 360 immersive building tour video that we encourage everyone to view.
Additionally, housing rates are available on the Campus Services Center website. Please note, all three HRC buildings are billed at the "Standard" hall occupancy rate. The exact housing rate will depend on if the student is placed in a double, triple, or single occupancy room. Most rooms in the HRC are double occupancy. Students entering Miami University in fall 2024 are in the "2024-2025 Tuition Promise Cohort" and should look at that information for reference.
Contact the Campus Services Center about specific housing placement and housing rates questions. Students should indicate they are incoming first-years in the Honors College in correspondence.
The Honors College curriculum requires students to complete six (6) Honors Experiences and the Honors Senior Project over the course of their undergraduate studies. This averages to one (1) experience per semester over the first three years, then the Honors Senior Project. The breakdown of requirements is:
- Two (2) Honors courses during the first year
- Four (4) Honors experiences selected from the following for the second and third years:
- Honors courses, which are often courses full of engaged students
- Honors course extensions, which allow Honors students to develop a project that digs deeper into the content of regularly offer Miami course with faculty mentorship
- Undergraduate research, mentored by faculty
- Study abroad
- Internships, co-ops, or other pre-professional opportunities
- Significant community service, teaching, creative, or leadership projects
- Honors Senior Project in the final year
- More details can be found on the Academics page
Honors students must maintain a 3.25 cumulative GPA, meet with their Honors advisor each academic year, and make continuous progress towards completing the Honors College requirements listed in the question above to remain in the Honors College. Students need to earn a 3.5 cumulative GPA and complete their six Honors experiences and the Honors Senior Project in order to receive the Honors transcript notation and recognition for having earned University Honors in the Commencement bulletin.
Honors Experiences are active learning opportunities in which students engage in thoughtful planning and reflection to connect their experiences to their academic, personal, and professional goals. Examples include:
- Honors courses
- Course extensions
- Undergraduate research
- Study abroad
- Internships and other pre-professional activities
- Significant community service, leadership, teaching, and creative projects
Honors courses are often smaller courses that incorporate research, connections to concepts outside of the classroom, and student-led learning in the course curriculum, while meeting the learning outcomes of the regularly-offered Miami course. The Honors First-Year courses are two Honors classes you are required to take during your first year: one course in the Fall Semester and one course in the Spring Semester. More information about the Fall 2024 courses will be provided before Orientation this summer.
You are only required to take Honors courses during your first year at Miami. After that, you can choose to complete other types of Honors Experiences, as outlined within our program requirements.
Students who earn credit for courses through AP, IB, or CLEP exams or through post-secondary coursework will be able to apply this credit toward their total credit hours needed to graduate from Miami University with a bachelor’s degree.
During Orientation this summer, you will work closely with an advisor in your intended major/area of interest as well as an Honors advisor to determine more specifically how your previous credit affects your schedule of courses for your first semester.
Come to orientation with an idea of what credits you will be bringing in. Even if you do not have your AP/IB scores from senior year yet, your advisors will help you choose classes with these tests in mind.
Yes. All Honors courses recommended for first-year students can help you make progress with either Miami Plan requirements, major requirements, and/or other degree requirements, in addition to satisfying Honors College requirements. If you are in the College of Arts and Science, some Honors courses can count towards your CAS Requirements. If you are in the Farmer School of Business, some Honors courses can count towards the Business Core courses.
You can access a guide for AP scores and what Miami Plan Foundation areas they cover so that you can see which areas of the Miami Plan you have already completed.
From an Honors standpoint, the only required course is an Honors course of your choosing during fall semester. Your Honors advisor will assist you in selecting an Honors course during Orientation. There are no other required courses that Honors students must take during your first semester related to your Honors requirements.
No. The Honors College curriculum is designed to be completed over four years, averaging to one Honors experience per semester. During your first two semesters at Miami, you will take two Honors courses as part of your Honors First-Year courses requirement. After that, you have a variety of ways to individualize your completion of the Honors College requirements with your other Honors experiences, leading up to the Honors Senior Project you will complete during your final year.
The Honors College is designed to support a four year degree completion path. Highly motivated students can complete all Honors College requirements in three years with advanced planning and close communication with their Honors advisor.
Yes, during their final undergraduate year, Honors students will pursue an Honors Senior Project to earn University Honors. This achievement requires the proposal, development, and completion of a large-scale research project or application of scholarly work to a real-life setting via intensive creative, community, or pre-professional based work. Honors advisors will work closely with Honors students to help them plan for their projects and all Honors Senior Projects are mentored by faculty or staff. See examples of previous projects on the Undergraduate Research page.
Advantages include:
- Individualized advising to support students' studies, guide students in completing Honors Requirements, and foster networking connections across fields of study
- Access to smaller, rigorous Honors courses that connect students to other high-achievers
- Funding for research or independent projects
- Unique opportunities to engage with guest speakers and distinguished scholars-in-residence
- Access to Honors experiential learning opportunities, such as Honors-exclusive study abroad programs and the Urban Leadership Internship Program
- Opportunities to be a part of a close-knit learning community that shares a love of learning and commitment to academic excellence
- Modern, uniquely designed buildings of the Honors Residential College, in which all first-year Honors students are required to live
- Priority registration for all Miami courses
The Honors College knows you are an important part of your student’s support system and we are here to help your student succeed. Below are resources for you.
There are approximately 2,000 students in the Honors College. Between 500-600 students join the Honors College community each year.
Review the other parts of this Admitted Honors Students website. Contact us by sending an email to honors@MiamiOH.edu.
Honors College
