Please upload your short-answer question responses as a single Word or PDF document and limit your total word count, for all three questions combined, to no more than 1,200 words. Your short-answer questions should be a concise snapshot of what has shaped your educational experience — and an illustration of your ability to convey those influences with clarity and brevity.

1. Help us learn about you, your life, and your experiences. List no more than five items (clubs and organizations, work experience, community service, awards and recognition, extra-curricular interests, personal or family obligations, etc.) in descending order of significance (list the most significant item first). For each item, explain your role, time commitment (both amount of time you devote to the activity and the year(s) in which you were involved), and responsibilities. 
2. How have your experiences affected your sense of who you are and what you hope to accomplish in college? There are no wrong answers. 
3. The Honors Program intends to attract students who make the most of the opportunities available to them. Based on the availability of courses at your school, how did you select the courses you chose to take? Is there anything you want the admissions committee to know about your transcript?

The essay section allows for you to develop your ideas around a particular theme or question in a more expansive way. Your essay will be evaluated for the quality of your writing and your ability to provide a focused response to the question you choose. Your response should demonstrate intellectual curiosity and should be thoughtful, well-organized, and free of grammatical and spelling errors. Limit your response to 500 words answering one of the three prompts (prompts below).

1. The Kansas state motto “Ad Astra per Aspera” is Latin for “To the Stars through Difficulties.” What stars are you aiming for, and how have you learned/prepared to face challenges along the way?
2. There are many questions to ask and problems to explore. If you were to choose a question, problem, idea, or issue (personal, systemic, local, or global) to explore during your undergraduate years at KU, what would it be?  What might you create, design, invent, or engineer to explore this topic? 
3. As Jayhawks, our community is committed to a set of core values: To actively foster unity, strive for innovation, advocate for inclusion, and value engagement. Community might refer to your cultural group, extended family, religious group, neighborhood or school, sports team or club, co-workers, etc. Describe the world you come from and how you, as a product of it, might add to the KU community.

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The Honors application is a competitive admissions process with an holistic approach in which the following factors are considered:

• GPA and completed coursework
• 500-word essay (see prompts below)
• Short-answer questions detailing involvement (see below)
• Capacity to complete the Honors graduation requirements

Essay Prompts (choose one) 

• Option 1: There are many questions to ask and problems to explore. If you were to choose a question, problem, idea, or issue (personal, systemic, local, or global) to explore as you continue your undergraduate years at KU, what would it be? What might you create, design, invent, or engineer to explore this topic?
• Option 2: As Jayhawks, our community is committed to a set of core values: To actively foster unity, strive for innovation, advocate for inclusion, and value engagement. Community might refer to your cultural group, extended family, religious group, neighborhood or school, sports team or club, co-workers, etc. Describe the world you come from and how you, as a product of it, have added (or will add) to the KU community.
• Option 3: How has a previous experience or challenge affected your sense of who you are and what you hope to accomplish at KU and beyond? What lessons did you draw from that experience?​

Short-Answer Questions (respond to both) 

1. Help us learn about you, your life, and your experiences. List no more than three items (clubs and organizations, work experience, community service, awards and recognition, extra-curricular interests, personal or family obligations, etc.) in descending order of significance (list the most significant item first). For each item, explain your role, time commitment (both amount of time you devote to the activity and the year(s) in which you were involved), and responsibilities.  You can include an activity from high school if you would like, but your main focus should be on your life and experiences since starting college.
2. The Honors Program intends to attract students who make the most of the opportunities available to them. What goals and objectives shaped your selection of courses and experiences? Is there anything else you want the admissions committee to know about your academic record or activities?

 

The Honors application is a competitive admissions process with an holistic approach in which the following factors are considered:

• GPA and completed coursework
• 500-word essay (see prompts below)
• Short-answer questions detailing involvement (see below)
• Capacity to complete the Honors graduation requirements

Essay Prompts (choose one) 

• Option 1: There are many questions to ask and problems to explore. If you were to choose a question, problem, idea, or issue (personal, systemic, local, or global) to explore as you continue your undergraduate years at KU, what would it be? What might you create, design, invent, or engineer to explore this topic?
• Option 2: As Jayhawks, our community is committed to a set of core values: To actively foster unity, strive for innovation, advocate for inclusion, and value engagement. Community might refer to your cultural group, extended family, religious group, neighborhood or school, sports team or club, co-workers, etc. Describe the world you come from and how you, as a product of it, have added (or will add) to the KU community.
• Option 3: How has a previous experience or challenge affected your sense of who you are and what you hope to accomplish at KU and beyond? What lessons did you draw from that experience?​

Short-Answer Questions (respond to both) 

1. Help us learn about you, your life, and your experiences. List no more than three items (clubs and organizations, work experience, community service, awards and recognition, extra-curricular interests, personal or family obligations, etc.) in descending order of significance (list the most significant item first). For each item, explain your role, time commitment (both amount of time you devote to the activity and the year(s) in which you were involved), and responsibilities.  You can include an activity from high school if you would like, but your main focus should be on your life and experiences since starting college.
2. The Honors Program intends to attract students who make the most of the opportunities available to them. What goals and objectives shaped your selection of courses and experiences? Is there anything else you want the admissions committee to know about your academic record or activities?