Admissions to the Honors & Scholars Program

Any full-time TCNJ undergraduate with a cumulative GPA of 3.0 or higher is eligible to apply for admission to TCNJ’s Honors & Scholars Program. First-year students may not apply in their first semester at TCNJ. Transfer students or students with a full semester of college coursework prior to matriculation may apply in their first semester at TCNJ. Applications for admission must be submitted in the Fall or Spring semesters; there is no option to apply during Winter or Summer sessions.

 

Deadlines

Students who want to be admitted to the program for the start of the Fall semester must submit their application no later than 11:59 p.m. of the first Friday of the preceding Spring semester. Students who want to be admitted to the program for the start of the Spring semester must apply no later than 11:59 p.m. of the first Friday of the preceding Fall semester.  Faculty recommendations (see below) are due at the same date and time.

 

Application Submission

Students must:

 1.  Submit the Google form:

1. 1. Complete the student information
   2. Upload a previous scholarly or creative work
   3. Explain how that work reflects two of the three Honors & Scholars pillars
   4. Explain the type of experiences they seek through the Honors & Scholars Program

• • Scholarly/creative product can be:
    • A scholarly essay of, at most, 2,000-2,500 words  (All scholarly work must include appropriate and consistently formatted citations; these citations are not considered part of the total word count.)
    • A creative work of up to 2000 words or approximately 10 pages
    • A 3-5 minute video
    • A website, webpage, or software with instructions
    • Sheet music with an accompanying audio/video performance
    • 3-5 original photographs
    • 3-5 documentation photos of a work of art or art installation
    • Mathematical work or a problem set

2.  Request Letter of Recommendation from a college faculty member.

• The faculty member completes their recommendation through a Google Form.  The applicant should send the link to the faculty member once that faculty member has agreed to complete the recommendation.

 

Application Review

Applications will be reviewed and evaluated by the Honors & Scholars Program Coordinator, in consultation with 3-4 members of the Honors & Scholars Program faculty, who will receive a stipend for their work. All applications will be scored using the rubric below.

Students will be notified of the result of their application no later than 11:59 p.m. on March 15th (for students who want to be admitted to the program for the start of the Fall semester) or Oct. 15th (for students who want to be admitted to the program for the start of the Spring semester). Students denied admission into the Honors & Scholars Program may reapply; however, a student may apply for admission no more than twice.

 

Scoring Rubric for Student Application

Score definitions:  

1 = poor or incomplete 

2 = fair (occasionally unclear and/or lacks detail)

3 = good (clear, but missing some detail that would strengthen response)

4 = excellent (clear, detailed, and compelling)

 

First Pillar Discussed Applicant clearly explains how the scholarly or creative work submitted is reflective of this pillar.	1	2	3	4
Second Pillar Discussed Applicant clearly explains how the scholarly or creative work submitted is reflective of this pillar.	1	2	3	4
Applicant clearly explains the experiences sought as a student in the Honors & Scholars program, and how those experiences will enhance growth with respect to seeking challenges, depth, and interdisciplinarity, and engaging in self-critique and reflection.	1	2	3	4

To be admitted, students must score ≥ 3 on all three criteria, with at least one 4.