How to Apply

The University Honors Program at California State University, Long Beach, aims to recruit students who are not only academically high-achieving but who are also planning to be meaningfully engaged in the CSULB campus and its surrounding communities as stewards of their environment, global citizens, creative thinkers, and risk-takers in their education.

For students pursuing a major in Engineering, CSULB offers a distinct Engineering Honors Program with specific application criteria and procedures outlined in the second section below.

University Honors Program (for all majors except Engineering)

Application Criteria

Incoming Freshman Applicants:

High school graduates with a GPA of 3.5 or higher and strong SAT scores are encouraged to apply to the University Honors Program at CSULB.

Incoming freshmen applying for admission into the Honors Program for the Fall 2013 semester must submit their applications no later than Friday, May 31, 2013. Freshman applications received after this date will be considered for Spring 2014 admission.

Continuing and Transfer Applicants:

Continuing CSULB students with a GPA of 3.5 or higher as well as students transferring from other institutions to CSULB who meet the 3.5 GPA minimum and who still need nine General Education units are also invited to apply.

Continuing CSULB students and incoming transfer students are admitted into the Honors Program on a rolling basis and may apply throughout the year.

Important Note: Students with unusual extenuating circumstances who do not meet the requirements for their admission category should explain their situation in the application to the Director, who will then consider those applicants on a case-by-case basis.

Application Procedures

All students who wish to apply to the University Honors Program must complete the following:

Application Form:

This Application Form is a fillable PDF document. Please complete all fields on the form appropriate to your situation and print the form for inclusion in your Honors application packet.

Transcripts:

Please include a copy of your high school transcripts if you are an incoming freshman applicant or college transcripts if you are a continuing or transfer applicant; these transcripts may be unofficial and may include ungraded work-in-progress.

One Letter of Recommendation:

Please include a letter of recommendation from one of your high school teachers if you are an incoming freshman applicant or one of your college instructors if you are a continuing or transfer applicant. Academic counselors/advisors may also provide your letter of recommendation. We request that the letter of recommendation be included in your Honors application packet, in a separate sealed envelope with a signature across the lip to ensure its confidentiality.

Personal Statement:

Below are four essay questions crafted by last year’s incoming Fall 2012 cohort of Honors freshmen and inspired by the University of Chicago’s famously “out-of-the-box” admissions prompts. Please choose one of the four prompts and, in a well-crafted essay, write your response in no more than two pages double-spaced.

What is “beautiful”?
If you could have any collection, what would you collect and why?
If you could travel to any historically significant event, which would it be and why?
You are a superhero. What are your powers and to what end do you use them?

Mail or drop off complete application materials to:

University Honors Program

California State University, Long Beach

1250 Bellflower Blvd. LIB 214

Long Beach, CA 90840-1901

Engineering Honors Program (for Engineering majors only)

Application Criteria

Incoming Freshman Applicants:

For first-time freshman applicants, minimum criteria for admission involve an evaluation of academic aptitude that emphasizes mathematical ability; these include the following: SAT-M ≥ 650 and SAT-CR ≥ 600 or SAT-W ≥ 600 and high school weighted GPA ≥ 3.50 as well as the preferred criterion of AP Calculus AB score 3 or IB Math - Higher Level score 4 (or equivalent of Calculus I, MATH122).

Incoming freshmen applying for admission into the Engineering Honors Program for the Fall 2013 semester must submit their applications no later than Friday, May 31, 2013.

Incoming Transfer and Native Junior (Continuing) Applicants*:

For incoming transfer or native junior (continuing) applicants, minimum criteria for admission involve an evaluation of academic aptitude that fits the upper-division honors student’s profile; these include a major GPA ≥ 3.50 and completion of preparatory course requirements. Students who have successfully completed junior-year upper-division major courses with a grade “B” or better have a higher likelihood of admission.

Incoming transfer students applying for admission into the Engineering Honors Program for the Fall 2013 semester must submit their applications no later than Friday, May 31, 2013. Native junior (continuing) CSULB students are admitted into the Engineering Honors Program on a rolling basis and may apply throughout the year. Applicants within this category must be native juniors (defined as students who were admitted as freshmen to CSULB and have completed 60 semester units) and must meet the transfer applicant criteria.

* Application deadlines vary for incoming transfer and native junior (continuing) applicants.