Summer 2026 for 10th Graders: The Activities That Actually Matter for College Admissions
The families who talk to me sophomore year have a genuine head start. Not because their student needs to be stressed about college at 15, but because the decisions made in the summer before junior year shape the application story that gets written 18 months later. Here is what tenth graders should actually do this summer.
The summer between sophomore and junior year is arguably the highest-leverage summer in the college admissions timeline. It is the last full summer before the junior year that admissions readers scrutinize most carefully, and it is the first summer where students are old enough and prepared enough to pursue meaningful activities that go beyond what they could access in ninth grade.
The goal is not to fill a resume with impressive-sounding programs. The goal is to do something genuine and substantive that will either develop a skill your student will write about or deepen a commitment that already exists and will be part of their application story.
What Admissions Readers Are Actually Looking For in Activity Histories
When a UC reader or private college admissions reader looks at a student’s activity list, they are asking one question: is there depth and commitment here, or is this a collection of things done to fill a list?
A student who spent three summers in a row developing a skill, building a project, or contributing to the same community demonstrates the kind of sustained commitment that admissions readers value. A student who has a different impressive-sounding activity each summer with no thread between them often reads as someone who is resume-building rather than genuinely engaged.
The summer after sophomore year is when students who have a developing interest can either deepen that interest meaningfully or begin to establish one if they genuinely have not found one yet. Both situations are manageable. The mistake is using the summer on things that look good but do not connect to the student’s actual story.
The Best Types of Activities for Sophomore Summer
Research experiences. If your student has a genuine academic interest, particularly in science, engineering, social science, or public policy, a research experience in that area is the highest-value use of a summer. This does not need to be a formal program. It can be an arrangement with a professor at a local university, a community college research lab, or an independent project with structure and measurable output. What matters is that the student produces something: data, findings, a written report, a project they can describe specifically.
Work and internships. Paid employment is undervalued in the college admissions conversation and overvalued by admissions readers who understand context. A student who works a part-time job to contribute to the family, develops responsibility in a real workplace, and manages that alongside academic demands is demonstrating exactly the kind of maturity and work ethic that top universities want. Do not let the idea that a summer job is not impressive enough stop your student from doing one.
Skill-building with clear progression. Music performance, athletic training, coding projects, language study, art development. Any skill pursued with genuine effort over a summer produces a student who has something specific to show for it: a performance, a portfolio, a project, a measurable improvement. The output is what matters, not the activity category.
Community contribution. Volunteering in the community is valuable when it is genuine and involves responsibility. Running a camp program for younger students, coordinating a community event, or taking a leadership role in a service organization does more for the application than passive participation. Responsibility and initiative are the signals.
Summer Programs for 10th Graders: What to Know
There are hundreds of summer programs marketed to high school sophomores. Some are genuinely valuable. Others are expensive prestige experiences with limited educational substance. Here is how to evaluate them.
Programs that are genuinely competitive and selective, where the program itself is worth noting on a college application, include RSI at MIT, PRIMES at MIT, SSTP at Connecticut, and Governor’s Schools in states that have them. These are legitimately hard to get into and provide substantive academic experiences. Most sophomores should apply as stretches and not count on admission.
Programs that are worthwhile for the experience but should not be presented as selective accomplishments include summer sessions at universities where admission is open to any student who applies and pays the tuition. These can be good learning experiences if the courses are genuinely interesting to the student. They do not carry the same admissions weight as selective programs.
The rule of thumb: a summer program is worth the cost and time if your student would be genuinely excited to attend it even without any college admissions benefit. If the only reason to attend is the line on the resume, there are almost certainly better uses of that summer.
Junior Year Planning Starts This Summer
The summer before junior year is also the right time to begin SAT or ACT preparation if your student has not started. The PSAT is in October of junior year. The SAT is typically taken for the first time in spring of junior year. Summer prep that is structured, consistent, and focused on actual weak areas, not general review, sets students up to walk into their junior year with a testing plan in place.
Course selection for junior year is also finalized in spring of sophomore year, which means the decisions about AP and honors courses your student should take junior year are being made now. This is the conversation to have with the school counselor before junior year begins, not after. The academic trajectory of junior year is more important than any single summer activity.
Frequently Asked Questions
What should a 10th grader do the summer before junior year for college admissions?
The most valuable activities are those that develop a genuine skill, deepen an existing commitment, or produce a concrete output like a research project, portfolio, or performance. Research experiences, meaningful work, skill-building with clear progression, and substantive community contribution are more valuable than collecting program names.
Are summer programs worth it for high school sophomores?
It depends on the program. Genuinely selective programs like RSI or state Governor’s Schools carry real weight on an application and provide substantive experiences. Open-enrollment university summer sessions are worthwhile if the student is genuinely interested in the content, but they should not be misrepresented as selective accomplishments on a college application.
Is working a summer job good for college applications?
Yes. Admissions readers value students who demonstrate responsibility, work ethic, and real-world experience. A summer job that contributes to the family or develops skills in a real workplace is a genuine and respected part of a college application. Many admissions readers look favorably on students who work because it shows maturity and context.
When should a 10th grader start SAT or ACT prep?
The summer before junior year is an ideal time to begin structured SAT or ACT preparation. The PSAT is in October of junior year and can be used as a diagnostic. The SAT is typically taken for the first time in spring of junior year. Beginning prep the summer before junior year gives students five to eight months to prepare before their first real test date.
What is the most common mistake 10th graders make in summer planning?
Choosing activities based on how they look rather than genuine interest. A student who spends a summer doing something they do not care about produces weak material for application essays and has wasted time that could have gone to something they are actually motivated by. Admissions readers can tell the difference between genuine engagement and resume-building.
Tony Le is a former UC Berkeley Admissions Reader and UCLA Outreach Director with 15+ years of college admissions coaching experience. A full-ride scholarship recipient to UCLA, UC Berkeley, and UCI, Tony has helped 500+ students gain admission to top universities including Stanford, Harvard, UCLA, UC Berkeley, and Columbia. Featured in the Wall Street Journal. Official TikTok College Admissions Educational Partner. Founder of egelloC.
Tony works with a focused group of families each year. Book a free strategy call to see if it is the right fit.
UC San Diego Admissions 2026: What California Families Need to Know About UCSD
UCSD is one of the most underestimated universities in the entire UC system. Families talk about UCLA and Berkeley first. They should be talking about San Diego first. Here is why, and here is what the actual admissions picture looks like for California students applying in 2026.
UC San Diego has an overall freshman admit rate that has fallen to approximately 24 to 27 percent in recent cycles. A few years ago it was closer to 30 percent. The direction is consistently downward. UCSD is not UCLA in terms of brand recognition, but it is not far behind in actual academic quality, research output, or the career pipeline it creates for students in science, technology, and medicine.
For California families who have UCSD lower on their list than UCLA or Berkeley primarily because of name recognition, this guide is the reset. UCSD is a top 15 public university in the world by multiple research rankings, home to a Nobel Prize-winning faculty, and a genuine first choice for students who know what they are looking at.
The UCSD Applicant Profile: What the Numbers Show
The middle 50 percent of enrolled UCSD freshmen have a UC weighted GPA between approximately 4.08 and 4.26. That range is broadly similar to UCLA’s lower end and higher than most CSU campuses. For the most competitive programs at UCSD, specifically Jacobs School of Engineering programs and the Bioengineering and Bioinformatics majors, the admitted student GPA profile runs higher, and the admit rate for those majors is considerably lower than the campus average.
For the SAT, submitted scores at UCSD cluster in the 1330 to 1530 range for the middle 50 percent. UCSD is test-optional, and a significant share of enrolled students did not submit scores. If your student’s scores are at or above the 25th percentile for their target major at UCSD, submitting generally helps. Below the 25th percentile, not submitting is typically the better choice.
Unlike some UC campuses where certain colleges or departments are more accessible, UCSD tends to have more consistent competitiveness across its six residential colleges. The college system at UCSD is a residential and academic structure unique in the UC system. Students apply to a major and a residential college simultaneously. The college selection should be thoughtful because each has a distinct general education curriculum, residential culture, and academic philosophy.
What Makes UCSD Different From Other UC Campuses
UCSD is the UC system’s biomedical and health sciences powerhouse. The UC San Diego School of Medicine is nationally ranked. The Salk Institute is adjacent to campus and collaborates extensively with UCSD researchers. The Scripps Institution of Oceanography is part of UCSD. For a student interested in biology, medicine, neuroscience, oceanography, or public health, the concentration of world-class research infrastructure at UCSD is matched only by Berkeley in the UC system and arguably exceeds Berkeley in the biomedical space specifically.
Computer science at UCSD is consistently ranked among the top 10 programs nationally. The Halicioglu Data Science Institute is a relatively new but rapidly growing center that has produced strong placement into tech companies and graduate programs. For a student aiming at software engineering, data science, or artificial intelligence research, UCSD’s La Jolla location within San Diego’s growing biotech and tech corridor is a genuine career advantage.
The residential college system is one of UCSD’s most distinctive features. There are six colleges: Revelle, John Muir, Thurgood Marshall, Earl Warren, Eleanor Roosevelt, and Sixth College. Each has its own general education requirements, residential community, and culture. Students should research the colleges before ranking their preference on the application. The GE requirements at Revelle, for example, are significantly more math-science intensive than at some other colleges. That is not a problem for a pre-med student but is a heavier lift for a humanities-focused student.
UCSD vs UCLA vs Berkeley: How to Think About the Comparison
The comparison families make most often is UCSD versus UCLA. UCLA has the stronger brand name in the sports and entertainment sense. It has Westwood, which is an urban campus environment that many students love. UCLA’s acceptance rate for California freshmen is around 9 to 11 percent. UCSD admits at roughly 24 to 27 percent overall.
If your student is applying to both, the question is not which school is ranked higher by US News. It is which school has the stronger department for their specific major, which campus culture fits them better, and which school they would be genuinely excited to attend on its own merits, not as a consolation for the other. UCSD in biomedical sciences is not inferior to UCLA in biomedical sciences. In some sub-disciplines it is superior.
For Berkeley, the comparison is similar in kind. Berkeley is more selective and has the stronger humanities and social science programs. UCSD is more accessible and has comparable or superior programs in the hard sciences and engineering. They are not the same school. The right choice depends entirely on what your student wants to study and where they will thrive.
What Matters on the UC Application for UCSD
UCSD uses the same UC comprehensive review process as every other campus. The 13 factors include GPA, course rigor, test scores if submitted, Personal Insight Questions, activities, honors and awards, and context.
The PIQs matter significantly. UCSD readers are looking for intellectual curiosity, evidence of initiative beyond what is required, and self-awareness. The PIQ that shows a student who pushed beyond the classroom experience, whether through research, independent projects, or community involvement, reads well to a UCSD admissions audience that values research culture.
Major selection also affects outcomes. Applying to a highly competitive major like Bioengineering when the applicant profile is at the lower end of the competitive range is a higher risk than applying to a major with more capacity. This is not a reason to misrepresent interest. It is a reason to be intentional about which UCSD major actually aligns with your student’s genuine interests and academic profile.
Frequently Asked Questions
What GPA do you need to get into UC San Diego?
The middle 50 percent of enrolled UCSD freshmen have a UC weighted GPA between approximately 4.08 and 4.26. Highly competitive programs like Bioengineering and Computer Science have higher profiles. Students with UC weighted GPAs below 3.9 should treat most UCSD programs as reaches.
Is UC San Diego better than UCLA?
In certain fields, yes. UCSD’s biomedical sciences, neuroscience, computer science, and oceanography programs are among the best in the world and compete directly with or exceed UCLA in those areas. UCLA is more recognizable by name and stronger in the arts and some social sciences. The better school depends entirely on the student’s major and goals.
What is the residential college system at UCSD?
UCSD has six residential colleges, each with its own general education requirements, housing, and campus culture. Students list college preferences on the application and are assigned to one college for their undergraduate career. Research each college’s GE requirements before ranking preferences. Revelle has more math-science requirements. Sixth College is known for a culture, art, and technology interdisciplinary focus.
Does UCSD have strong research opportunities for undergraduates?
Yes. UCSD is one of the leading research universities in the country, and undergraduate research access is a genuine strength. Programs like UCSD’s Undergraduate Research Scholarships and the McNair Scholars Program provide funded research opportunities. Students in science and engineering who pursue faculty labs from sophomore year typically find entry points. Earlier is better.
How does applying test-optional affect UCSD admission?
UCSD is test-optional and a significant share of admitted students do not submit scores. If your student’s scores are competitive for their target major, submitting helps establish academic profile strength. If scores are below the 25th percentile for that major, not submitting avoids a data point that could weigh against the application.
Tony Le is a former UC Berkeley Admissions Reader and UCLA Outreach Director with 15+ years of college admissions coaching experience. A full-ride scholarship recipient to UCLA, UC Berkeley, and UCI, Tony has helped 500+ students gain admission to top universities including Stanford, Harvard, UCLA, UC Berkeley, and Columbia. Featured in the Wall Street Journal. Official TikTok College Admissions Educational Partner. Founder of egelloC.
Tony works with a focused group of families each year. Book a free strategy call to see if it is the right fit.
College Deposit Rules After May 1: What Happens If Your Student Changes Their Mind
Families pay the college deposit, and then something changes. A waitlist spot comes through. Financial aid is renegotiated. Someone has a change of heart. It happens more often than you think, and the rules around it matter. Here is what you need to know.
May 1 is National Decision Day. Your student pays a deposit, which is typically between $200 and $1,000 depending on the school, to reserve their spot in the incoming class. But May 1 is not always the end of the decision process. Waitlists are still moving. Financial aid can be renegotiated. And sometimes a senior just changes their mind in the weeks after committing.
Understanding the rules around what happens after the deposit is important for navigating those situations without making a preventable mistake. The short version: deposits are almost always nonrefundable. Double depositing is an ethical violation with real consequences. And there are right ways to handle a change of plans that do not close doors unnecessarily.
Is the Enrollment Deposit Refundable?
In most cases, enrollment deposits are nonrefundable. The deposit secures your student’s spot in the incoming class, and if your student does not enroll, the school keeps it. This is standard practice at nearly all colleges and universities.
There are limited exceptions. Some schools refund deposits if the student provides documentation of a significant change in family circumstances before a specific date, typically before a certain point in the summer. Military service, documented family financial hardship, or medical situations are sometimes accepted as grounds for refund consideration.
The practical planning implication: when you pay a deposit at a school while waiting on a waitlist or a better financial aid offer elsewhere, that deposit money is gone if the other offer comes through. This is the expected cost of keeping your options open, and it is a reasonable investment when the stakes are high. Plan for it financially.
Double Depositing: What It Is and Why It Matters
Double depositing means paying an enrollment deposit at two or more colleges simultaneously, with the intent to decide between them later. This is considered an ethical violation in college admissions and is explicitly prohibited by the National Association for College Admission Counseling’s Statement of Principles of Good Practice, to which most colleges subscribe.
Why does it matter? When a student double deposits, they hold two spots in two incoming classes. One of those spots is unavailable to another applicant on a waitlist who might have a genuine commitment to attend. Colleges plan class sizes and housing based on committed deposits, and double depositing disrupts that planning.
Colleges do share information. There are mechanisms by which institutions can identify students who have committed to multiple schools. If a double deposit is discovered, both commitments can be rescinded, leaving the student with no enrolled spot. The risk is real. Do not double deposit.
The correct approach if your student is genuinely unsure between two schools and may receive a waitlist offer: commit to one school by May 1. Pay one deposit. If a waitlist offer comes through, withdraw from the first school before accepting the waitlist offer and paying a deposit at the second school.
What to Do If a Waitlist Offer Arrives After May 1
Waitlist offers can arrive any time from April through late summer as enrolled students decline offers and space opens. If your student receives a waitlist admission offer after they have already deposited somewhere, the process is: first, confirm the new offer is genuine and get the acceptance and deposit deadline for the waitlist school. Second, if your student wants to accept the waitlist offer, notify the first school immediately that they are withdrawing. Do this before paying any deposit to the waitlist school. Third, pay the deposit to the waitlist school by their deadline.
You will lose the first deposit. That is expected and acceptable. You will not lose the first school’s admission by withdrawing politely. You will have a clean commitment at the waitlist school. The withdrawal from the first school should be a brief, professional email thanking the admissions office and notifying them of your decision. Nothing more is required.
What If Your Student Changes Their Mind Without a Waitlist
Students do genuinely change their minds after May 1 without a waitlist offer as the catalyst. Maybe the admitted student day changed everything. Maybe a family conversation shifted priorities. Maybe a scholarship offer came through from a school they had not originally committed to.
The process is the same: notify the current school in writing before accepting any other offer. If no new deposit has been paid, your student is not double depositing. If they want to accept a spot at a school they previously declined, contact that admissions office directly and ask if the spot is still available. In some cases it will be. In others it will not. Asking is always appropriate.
Do not assume that a school you declined will hold a spot or that withdrawing from one guarantees acceptance at another. The admissions office at the school you want to join second will make that decision based on available space in the class.
What About Housing, Orientation, and Other Deadlines
Many schools have housing application deadlines within two to three weeks of May 1. If your student changes their commitment after paying a deposit, the housing and orientation registrations at the original school will need to be cancelled. The new school’s housing and orientation deadlines may have already passed, which can affect freshman housing priority.
Contact the housing and orientation offices at the new school as soon as the commitment changes to understand what options are still available. Late housing assignments happen. It is better to know the situation clearly and plan accordingly than to assume the same options that were available in April are still available in June.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is the college enrollment deposit refundable?
Almost never. Enrollment deposits are almost universally nonrefundable. They secure the student’s spot in the class and are forfeited if the student does not enroll. A small number of schools allow refund requests for documented extenuating circumstances before a certain date. Check the specific school’s enrollment terms before submitting the deposit.
What is double depositing and why is it a problem?
Double depositing means paying enrollment deposits at two schools at the same time with the intention of deciding later. It is prohibited by NACAC guidelines that most colleges follow, it holds spots that could go to waitlisted students, and if discovered, it can result in both acceptances being rescinded. The correct approach is to commit to one school and manage waitlist situations sequentially.
Can my student still get off a waitlist after May 1?
Yes. Waitlist activity continues well past May 1 at many schools, sometimes through June and July as enrolled students’ plans change. Your student should have actively confirmed their waitlist position before May 1 if they want to be considered. If a waitlist offer comes through after your student has already committed elsewhere, contact the new school with a deposit deadline and withdraw from the first school first.
What if my student wants to switch schools after paying the deposit?
Notify the current school in writing before accepting any other offer. Losing the deposit at the first school is expected and acceptable. Contact the school you now want to attend to ask if a spot is still available. Admissions offices handle these situations regularly and will tell you directly whether there is space.
What happens to housing if a student switches schools after May 1?
Cancel the housing registration at the first school immediately upon switching. Contact the new school’s housing office to understand what options remain. Late commitments often result in less preferred housing assignments, but guaranteed housing is sometimes still possible. Call rather than email for the fastest answer.
Tony Le is a former UC Berkeley Admissions Reader and UCLA Outreach Director with 15+ years of college admissions coaching experience. A full-ride scholarship recipient to UCLA, UC Berkeley, and UCI, Tony has helped 500+ students gain admission to top universities including Stanford, Harvard, UCLA, UC Berkeley, and Columbia. Featured in the Wall Street Journal. Official TikTok College Admissions Educational Partner. Founder of egelloC.
Tony works with a focused group of families each year. Book a free strategy call to see if it is the right fit.
Honors Programs at Large Universities: Are They Worth the Extra Work?
Honors programs get mentioned a lot in college decisions. Families treat an honors program offer as a sign that the school is taking their student seriously. That is sometimes true. But the actual value of an honors program varies enormously by school, and understanding what you are evaluating is more useful than just being flattered by the invitation.
When a large public university offers your student admission into their honors college or honors program, the instinct is to count it as a win. You chose a school that might not have been the top name on your list, and now there is an honors designation that makes the choice feel more validated. I understand that. But the question worth asking is: what does this honors program actually provide, and does it match what your student needs?
Honors programs are not all created equal. Some are transformational experiences that provide small-class intimacy at a large university, research access, and a genuine community of intellectually serious peers. Others are primarily a residential clustering arrangement and some priority registration perks, with more obligations than benefits. Knowing the difference before your student commits to one is the kind of research that pays off.
What the Best Honors Programs Actually Offer
The strongest honors programs at large public universities provide several things that make a meaningful difference in the undergraduate experience.
Small seminar classes. At a university where most introductory courses have 200 to 500 students in a lecture hall, an honors program that puts your student in seminars of 15 to 20 students changes the learning experience fundamentally. Professors know their names. Discussion is possible. The reading goes deeper. If the honors program at a school your student is considering genuinely delivers small classes taught by strong faculty, that is a meaningful differentiator.
Research access. Many honors programs have direct connections to faculty research labs, undergraduate thesis requirements, and research funding that general students do not have access to until junior or senior year. For a student who wants to attend graduate school or pursue a research career, this access is not a minor perk. It is a competitive advantage in an environment where research experience matters for graduate admissions.
Priority registration. At large universities, the difference between registering for courses on day one versus week two of enrollment can mean the difference between getting into a course that fills up in minutes and waiting a year to take it. Priority registration is a practical benefit that affects your student’s ability to complete requirements on time and pursue the courses they want.
Honors housing. Some programs place honors students together in residential buildings or floors. This can create a community of academically motivated peers that persists beyond the classroom. It can also feel socially limiting compared to living in a more mixed residential environment. The right answer depends on the student.
What Weaker Honors Programs Look Like
Some universities use honors designations primarily as a recruitment tool to attract higher-GPA students who might otherwise choose a different school. The indicators of a less substantive honors program: the courses are regular university courses with an honors label added and a discussion section bolted on. The thesis requirement can be fulfilled with minimal original work. The advising is the same as the general student advising system. The research connections are limited to what the student finds independently.
The way to tell the difference: ask specific questions before your student commits. How many of the courses in the honors curriculum are exclusively for honors students versus open to the general population with an honors add-on? What percentage of honors students complete an honors thesis? What is the average size of honors seminars? Can you speak to a current honors student? The answers to these questions reveal whether the program is substantive or primarily a branding exercise.
The Trade-Offs: What Honors Programs Cost
Honors programs typically require students to maintain a minimum GPA, often 3.5 or higher, to remain in the program. Some require students to complete a certain number of honors credits per semester. Most require a thesis or capstone project in the senior year.
These requirements are not burdensome for students who are academically motivated and have the bandwidth to take on more challenging work. For students who are already managing a full course load, a demanding extracurricular schedule, or significant personal responsibilities, the honors program requirements can become a source of stress rather than enrichment.
The student who should fully embrace an honors program is the one who would otherwise feel under-challenged in large lecture courses, who wants to know faculty as mentors rather than classroom voices, and who has a genuine interest in completing a research project or thesis before graduation. That student will find the honors program worth every extra requirement.
The student who should think carefully is the one who chose the school primarily because it was affordable or the right location, who already has a demanding major with required coursework, or who prefers broad social integration over an academically clustered residential experience. That student might find a strong honors program a genuine fit, or might find it an obligation that crowds out the parts of college they would value more.
California-Specific Honors Programs Worth Knowing
The Regents and Chancellor Scholars programs at UC campuses are merit scholarships with honors program access, not full honors colleges in the traditional sense. They provide financial recognition and some priority benefits but are different from the residential honors programs at many large public universities outside California.
UC Berkeley’s Haas Scholars Program, the Undergraduate Research Apprentice Program, and the College of Letters and Science Honors programs are distinct tracks within Berkeley’s broader structure. They are competitive and substantive. UCLA has similar programs within its academic departments and through its Undergraduate Research Center.
For California students looking at out-of-state universities like University of Michigan, Ohio State, University of Washington, or Arizona State, the honors colleges at those schools are often full residential programs with their own admissions processes. They are frequently the reason a student with a strong academic profile chooses a larger public university over a smaller private college.
Frequently Asked Questions
Are honors programs worth it in college?
It depends on the program and the student. The best honors programs provide small classes, research access, and priority registration at large universities where those advantages are otherwise unavailable. Weaker programs offer fewer substantive benefits and add GPA and credit requirements. Research what the specific program actually delivers before committing.
Do honors programs look good on graduate school applications?
Yes, if they involve substantive work. An honors thesis, research project, or senior capstone completed through an honors program is meaningful on a graduate school application. Simply listing that you were in an honors program without completing substantive work adds less value. The thesis and research components are what matter to graduate admissions committees.
Can students opt out of an honors program after accepting it?
Generally yes. Most honors programs allow students to voluntarily withdraw at any point. Leaving the program typically means losing the associated benefits like priority registration and honors housing. The process for leaving varies by institution. If your student is unsure whether to continue, speaking with the honors program advisor is the right first step.
What GPA do you need to stay in an honors program?
Most honors programs require a cumulative GPA of 3.3 to 3.5 to remain in good standing, with some requiring higher. If a student’s GPA falls below the threshold for two consecutive semesters, they may be removed from the program. Knowing the specific GPA requirement before committing helps students assess whether the additional honors coursework is manageable alongside their regular academic load.
Do honors programs at state schools compare to private liberal arts colleges?
The best honors programs at large state universities are designed to replicate the small-class, engaged-faculty experience of liberal arts colleges within a larger institutional framework. For students who want research resources and breadth of program options of a large university with the intimacy of smaller classes, a strong honors program can be a genuine match.
Tony Le is a former UC Berkeley Admissions Reader and UCLA Outreach Director with 15+ years of college admissions coaching experience. A full-ride scholarship recipient to UCLA, UC Berkeley, and UCI, Tony has helped 500+ students gain admission to top universities including Stanford, Harvard, UCLA, UC Berkeley, and Columbia. Featured in the Wall Street Journal. Official TikTok College Admissions Educational Partner. Founder of egelloC.
Tony works with a focused group of families each year. Book a free strategy call to see if it is the right fit.