Honors
Program
Application for Entering First-Year
Students, Jane E. Cooper Honors Program
Deadline for receipt of application materials:
Early decision: March 1st for fall semester
Final decision (pending availability of space in the program): July 1st for fall semester
The Jane E. Cooper Honors Program provides outstanding students the opportunity for an
enhanced and supportive intellectual and social experience connected to the honors mission of
academic excellence with integrity, building a global awareness, and leadership and civic
engagement. Honors scholars become critical, independent thinkers who are active in the design
and pursuit of their own education, and prepared to lead successful and fulfilling professional,
civic, and cultural lives.
A student wishing to apply to the Cooper Honors Program must:
 Maintain a minimum university cumulative GPA of 3.40 each semester and at graduation.

Be regularly enrolled in Penn State University, continuously enrolled in honors courses,
and participate in the required co-curricular Honors Program activities (orientation,
Socratic Symposium, Literary Launch, etc.).

Complete a one-credit thesis preparation course (L ST 301H) in the junior year and give a
presentation in a public forum of his/her honors senior thesis.

Support the honors mission of academic excellence with integrity, building a global
awareness, engaging in leadership and civic engagement.
Honors Program Requirements
 Complete at least eighteen (18) honors credits during your first four semesters, of which
at least half are completed in your first academic year (fall/spring/summer).
o Enroll in ENGL 030 (Honors Freshman Composition, 3 credits), L ST 100H
(Information Search Strategy, 1 credit), and STS 130H (World Food Problems, 1
credit) in your first fall semester.
 Complete an additional fourteen (14) honors credits or more during the remainder of your
undergraduate career.
 Submit a Thesis Proposal Report (TPR) one year before your intended graduation.
Defend and submit a thesis before graduation.
Application
Name (Last, First MI):
Permanent Address (street, city, state, zip code):
Email (if you already have a Penn State email, please list your PSU account):
Phone:
Proposed major(s) or field of interest:
Do you expect to bring in AP credits? If so, please list the AP courses & exams you have taken:
Do you expect to graduate from Penn State Brandywine, from the Penn State – University Park
campus, or another institution?
Essays
Essays should be no more than 500 words each. Essays will be evaluated on content as well as
form (spelling, grammar, and punctuation).
Essay #1: Agree or Disagree: Access to basic sustaining resources (food, water,
health care, etc.), is the greatest challenge facing humankind in the 21st
century. (box will expand as you type)
Essay #2: If you had the opportunity to do research on an author, an artist, a
musician, a philosopher, a scientist, a politician, or a historical site, whom or
what would you choose? Explain your answer. (We are interested in what you wonder
about – what particular figure or site intrigues you. So focus your essay on why you are
interested, not on how much you already know.) (box will expand as you type)
By typing my initials in the box at the end of this statement, I am acknowledging the following:
The information contained in this application is accurate to the best of my knowledge, and I am the author
of the essays accompanying this application. I understand that the above information will be verified. If it
is found to be incorrect in so far as I do not meet the qualifications, I will not be admitted into the Cooper
Honors Program. I understand that meeting minimum admissions standards does not necessarily guarantee
admission. I also understand that if I am admitted into the Cooper Honors Program, I must begin
participation by completing three required honors courses during the fall semester.
I have read and understood the above statement (type initials in box):
Honors Office Use Only
Received Date
Reviewed Date
Decision
Decision to admit made by
Notification of acceptance
Acknowledgement of acceptance
Begin participation