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Requirements

  • Curriculum

    • To fulfill the Honors curriculum requirements, students must complete 22 credit hours selected from honors courses and honors sections of department courses, subject to the following limitations:

      • Three of the 22 credit hours must be from one of the following writing courses: WRTG 150H or PHIL 150H
      • A minimum of 10 credit hours must be Honors Program courses (HONRS)
      • No more than four credit hours can be from honors sections of religion courses
      • No more than four credit hours of HONRS 100R, 290R, and 292R can be used to meet this requirement

      All BYU students must complete up to 41 credit hours to meet general education requirements and 14 credit hours to meet religious education requirements. Honors options are available for all of the general education requirements. Honors 499R (Honors Thesis) does not count as credit for the Honors Curriculum Requirement but can be used as credit for completion of the Thesis Requirement if your major department does not have a 499R undergraduate thesis number.

  • GPA

    • Honors students are not necessarily those with the highest GPAs, although most perform very well in their classes. Rather than select easy courses to receive high grades, Honors students tend to seek challenging courses taught by excellent professors, and they participate in a variety of activities. Honors students are expected to perform well academically, defined as a minimum cumulative GPA of 3.5 at the time of graduation.

  • Advanced Languages & Math

    • Honors students must gain experience in both a foreign language and math. The foreign language requirement can be met by completing coursework or an exam that qualifies the student for placement in a 200-level language course. The math requirement can be filled by completing one course from Geog 222, Honrs 250, Math 112, 112H, 113, 113H, 118, Stat 121, 121H or 321, Phil 305, Pl Sc 328, Psych 301 or providing evidence of an exam score that substitutes for any of the courses listed above.
    • Find out about language-testing opportunitites: http://fye.byu.edu/honors/content/language-credit.

  • Great Works

    • Students have studied the classics for two primary reasons: (1) such works of genius represent, in Matthew Arnold's phrase, "the best that is known and thought in the world¨; and (2) they create a common ground for thoughtful discourse in the western world. Similarly, other cultures also value "classic¨ texts works that endure the test of time, provide the foundation of education, and inspire further thought and creativity.

      In the Honors Program we strive to continue this venerable tradition, adapted to meet the demands of a later, more multicultural and multidisciplinary age. We have broadened the notion of a classic to include works in other media and a variety of disciplines, including music, theatre, the visual arts, film, and science and technology. We have also included examples from cultures throughout the world and from diverse historical periods. Even so, the fundamental goals of our Great Works requirement remain the same: (1) to expose students to works that represent the best that is known and thought in the world¨ and (2) to allow students to gain familiarity with primary works of literature, theatre, visual art, film, music, and science and technology in western and other cultures. These are works that have influenced and continue to influence our basic assumptions about the world. We hope that this requirement will help students develop a life-long habit of seeking out the greatest and most influential works of human history.

      Students must meet this requirement while they are undergraduates. (They may not count works they studied in high school.) Students will find it easiest to meet this requirement if they spread it out over four years, rather than attempting to fit it into one or two semesters.

      BYU offers multiple opportunities to meet this requirement both within its course offerings and through the numerous concerts, plays, exhibits, films, and lectures that are sponsored every semester and term. The Honors Program also provides a Great Works card that entitles enrolled Honors students to discounts to many campus performances. In addition, many recitals and exhibitions are free and open to the public.

      The Honors Program has produced a packet that provides detailed information about the Great Works Requirement as well as a log that will enable students to keep track of their progress in completing it. The packet is available through the Honors Advisement Center (350 MSRB). It may also be downloaded as an electronic document (in pdf format) by clicking on the link below.

      Download/View Great Works Packet

  • Portfolio

    • The portfolio represents primarily a collection of the student's best work throughout his or her tenure as an undergraduate student. However, the portfolio is not a scrapbook; it contains samples of the student's best work, which may include class papers, exams, laboratory reports, musical compositions, paintings, designs, articles submitted for publication, etc. Depending on a student's major, the portfolio may contain other appropriate evidences of academic progress or achievement (e.g., artwork). When submitted for examination at defense, the portfolio should contain, but is not limited to:

      • A one-page outline or summary, semester by semester, of the major highlights and achievements of the student's undergraduate experience.
      • A one-page description and assessment of the student's most memorable service experience while a student at BYU. Why or how was this experience formative for the student? How does the student plan to serve the larger community once he or she has left the university?
      • A current transcript or ABC report indicating a GPA of at least 3.5.
      • A list of three faculty members who know the student and can recommend his or her academic record.
      • A representative collection of the student's best academic work that reflects his or her educational progression throughout the undergraduate years.
      • The Great Works requirement: the Experience Log with a list of 72 Great Works and 12 Great Works response papers or the new option of 36 Great Works and 6 Great Works responses (longer responses expected).

  • Thesis

    • The Honors Thesis is the culmination of an individual's Honors effort and constitutes a piece of original research or creative work that will be a unique labor of love for the passionate Honors student. The student works under the mentorship of a faculty advisor of their choosing who serves as a councillor and coach through the research and composition process. Upon completion and defense of the thesis bound copies are kept in the department, BYU library, Honors program, and given to the student.
      • Attend Thesis Orientation (junior year)
      • Submit Honors Thesis Proposal (junior year)
      • Submit one copy of Honors Thesis final draft
      • Complete Thesis Defense (last semester)
      • Submit a pdf file and four final thesis copies for binding (month before graduation)

  • Deadlines

    • These dates are final deadlines. All materials should be turned in to the Honors Advisement Center, 350 MSRB--they will not be accepted if they do not have the proper submission forms and signatures, so please make sure they are complete.

      For graduation in:
      April
      June
      August
      December
      Final draft of thesis and portfolio submitted to Honors Program by:
      January 15 (portfolio)

      January 30 (thesis)
      April 15 (portfolio)

      April 30 (thesis)
      May 15 (portfolio)

      May 30 (thesis)
      Sept. 15 (portfolio)

      Sept. 30 (thesis)

  • Service

    • Students who participate in Honors are invariably gifted and highly motivated. The Honors Program encourages students to share their gifts with others through meaningful service.

      To complete this requirement, students must participate in some form of service that draws upon their unique talents and abilities during their undergraduate years. This requirement is flexible in that it allows students to define the form of service they plan to use to meet this requirement. Their contribution may be in a single project or spread out over several projects. There is not a defined time requirement; no service log is necessary. When students graduate, they will provide a one-page summary of some significant service experience that they had.

      Examples of service projects that students have used to complete this requirement include volunteer tutoring of high school or college students; assistance in programs that benefit people who are differently abled, elderly, ill, or impoverished; service as a volunteer in museums, hospitals, parks, or other public faculties; and participation in restoration or conservation projects. Service can be part of activities sponsored by educational, religious, government, business, or charitable organizations, including BYU, or students can plan and carry out service on their own. Only two types of service will not meet this requirement: first, service that is done primarily for the benefit of members of one¡¦s family (caring for a grandmother¡¦s lawn, for example), and second, service that is purely religious (for example, volunteering at the MTC or doing temple work). Students should seek out opportunities to contribute meaningfully to the community at large. For ideas where to serve near campus, see Y-Serve.

      For those students who serve full-time LDS missions, the service that meets this requirement should be carried out while a student and should be in addition to any service while a full-time missionary. Missions often provide students with skills and opportunities that they can use to provide significant service after their full-time missions are completed.