Prospective Freshmen: Fall 2022

Admission expectations

After being admitted to IUPUI, incoming freshmen with a 3.75 cumulative GPA or higher can apply for admission and competitive scholarships to the Honors College through the IUPUI Scholarship Application. 

In order to be considered for admission to the Honors College, students must first apply to IUPUI by November 1.

All additional application materials must be submitted by the November 15 deadline via the IUPUI Scholarship Application.

Please note that the earlier you apply to IUPUI, the more time you will have to complete your Honors College Admission and Scholarship Application.

Application checklist

Incoming freshmen may apply via the IUPUI Scholarship Application for admission and competitive scholarships to the Honors College. The IUPUI Scholarship Application is accessible after you have applied and been admitted to IUPUI. The Honors College application is available to all students who meet the Honors College admissions expectations and can only be accessed through the IUPUI Scholarship Application. You may apply for one or more of the Honors College Scholarships.

Each scholarship has a different essay topic. You must type or copy and paste your essay directly into the online application. View the essay topics below:

Chancellor's Scholarship essay (Required for admission to the IUPUI Honors College):

The IUPUI Honors College is committed to developing an inclusive and welcoming community of scholars that upholds the values of diversity, civic engagement, academic excellence, and engaged learning. In a 400-to-600 word essay, please describe how you demonstrate these values in your own life. Why do you believe you are a strong candidate for our inclusive community?

Bepko Scholars and Fellows Program:

In an 800- to 1,000-word essay, describe your experiences in community service and volunteerism, specifically addressing your role(s) and lessons learned. What social issues did you become aware of as a result of your service experiences and what effect, if any, did this have on your worldview? Discuss one social issue in which you’d like to continue your involvement with in college and why this issue is important to you.

Herbert Presidential Scholars Program:

In an 800- to 1,000-word essay, discuss a successful leadership experience you have had during high school. Describe the skills that make you a successful leader and how you developed them. How do you plan to get involved and use these skills to help you accomplish your personal and professional goals at IUPUI and the IUPUI Honors College?

Plater International Scholars Program:

In an 800- to 1,000-word essay, discuss the importance of globalization and cross-cultural competency. What have you done to improve your global awareness and understanding of different cultures? Have you taken any initiatives to promote these values in your community? As a Plater International Scholar at IUPUI and the IUPUI Honors College, what international experiences would you like to pursue and why?

In completing your IUPUI Scholarship Application, you will be asked to list all activities, involvement, and awards. Students interested in applying for the Bepko, Presidential, or Plater Scholarships will be required to complete an additional resume detailing experiences relevant to the scholarship.

When applying for admission to the Honors College you will be required to submit one reference form from your school counselor*. We will ask you to provide their name and email address, and we will contact them with the required form. Please make sure that you give them adequate notice so that we can receive their response by 5 p.m. on November 15.

If applying for the Bepko, Presidential, or Plater Scholarship, you will additionally be asked to submit a reference form specific to the scholarship itself. This recommender must be someone other than the school counselor that will be providing your reference for admission to the Honors College, and cannot be a family member. We strongly suggest that you share the details of the scholarship to which you are applying with your recommender. You will be asked to provide the recommender’s name, affiliation, and email address. Please make sure that you give them adequate notice so that we can receive their response by 5 p.m. on November 15.

*If you are a home-schooled student and do not have a traditional school counselor, an appropriate substitute would be the coordinator of your home school program.

All applicants must provide a sample of academic work. Our review committee is looking for evidence of your potential for success in an honors curriculum.

Your submission may be from any discipline regardless of your intended major as long as it is your original, individual academic work. A research paper from an AP English course would be an example of an appropriate choice, though we anticipate many students will wish to submit an academic artifact that is not a traditional writing sample. Examples may include, but are not limited to, a science project or lab report; an electronic portfolio; a class, forensics, or science fair presentation; a capstone, research, or seminar project.

Applicants are encouraged to select an artifact that best represents their academic ability. If the submission includes a grade, the review committee will not factor that grade into their decision. For that reason, we recommend that you select a sample of your work that has been edited and revised over time. Examples of unacceptable submissions would be a quiz, test, or group project; we want to see something that is your individual work that took some time and effort outside of a single class period to produce.

You will also submit a paragraph explaining why your chosen artifact is a strong example of your academic ability and potential for success in the IUPUI Honors College. In conducting our review of your application, this paragraph is crucial to helping us understand the learning represented in your academic artifact. In this paragraph, be sure to reflect on the artifact and the learning process you went through to create it: what did you accomplish in your chosen artifact and what did you learn about the subject, yourself, your educational growth, and your potential for success as an Honors College student.

Finally you will be asked to provide a name and email address of a teacher or other academic professional who can verify that the artifact is your original work.

If you’ve already applied and submitted your high school transcript to IUPUI, we'll work with the Office of Undergraduate Admissions. The IUPUI Honors College review committee will look carefully at your transcript to assess course selection and performance in each individual course.

Your transcript should include:

  • Senior academic schedule: List the courses you took—or will take—during your senior year of high school
  • Classes designated as an honors course
  • Advanced Placement or International Baccalaureate credit: List the AP and IB course names and dates attended
  • College or university credit: List the names of any institutions where you’ve received college or university credit. Also, include the dates of attendance, courses taken, and grades received. If applicable, this information must be provided. You do not need to provide your official transcript from the college or university

Once you have been admitted to IUPUI, you will be able to apply for the IUPUI Honors College through the IUPUI Scholarship Application. If you do not see the Honors College Application, but feel that you are a strong candidate for admission, please contact the Honors College at honors@iupui.edu. 

Regarding standardized test scores

The IUPUI Honors College will no longer require the submission of SAT / ACT scores. If you choose to submit your standardized test scores when applying to IUPUI, the Honors College will not factor them into our review of your application. Please note that while the Honors College no longer requires these scores, there may be other schools or programs that require SAT or ACT scores for scholarship consideration. Please check with your degree-granting school directly for further information.

Scholarships, financial aid, and cost of attendance

If you are receiving aid from multiple programs, institutional scholarships may be reduced to equal your official cost of attendance (COA) for the year. Only financial aid in the form of external scholarships or the Pell Grant may be awarded to exceed the COA.

Occasionally due to the timing of additional scholarships being awarded, the scholarship may not be paid-out in the form of cash funds (i.e., as money paid into your Bursar account), but instead, may reduce already released aid such as your student/parent loan burden, or other federal, state, or institutional aid by the amount awarded.

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