The Warren College Honors Program!

Hello everyone!

I am a transfer orientation leader, but that does not mean that I can't tell you about one of my favorite parts of Warren College-The Warren College Honors Program. Many of your high schools probably had honors classes, but the Honors Program at Warren is very different.

If you are entering UCSD as a freshman and had a GPA of 3.8 or above, plus scores of 700 or above on the SAT Critical Reasoning, Writing, and Quantitative sections, or a GPA of 3.8 or above and scores of 31 or above on the ACT English, Reading, Math, and Writing sections, then congratulations, because you are already in the Honors Program! If you don't fall into this group, then you can qualify for Honors during winter quarter, as long as you take 12 graded units and earn a GPA of 3.7 of higher here at UCSD.

Now that you know how to qualify for the Honors Program, let me tell you why you would want to do so. First of all, you don't have to do any extra work to be in Honors-you've worked hard enough in your classes so we aren't going to make you fill out any forms or take any extra classes. Thus, the first perk of Honors is that it doesn't entail any additional work on your part.

Honors does however offer many exciting opportunities for students. First of all, the Honors Program schedules a couple of field trips each quarter, both on-campus and off (with transportation provided). In my two years at UCSD, I have gone on a behind-the-scenes tour at the Wild Animal Park's Center for Reproduction of Endangered Species, attended a special reception with former U.S. District Attorney David Iglesias, enjoyed a performance by the Emerson String Quartet, gone on a grunion run, and taken a tour of the San Diego Zoo, all through Warren Honors.

In addition to these engaging field trips, Honors also has a Faculty Speaker Series, in which we invite distinguished members of the UCSD community to come speak to a small group of Honors students. I have attended Speakers Series on topics ranging from linguistics to honeybees, and always enjoy the opportunity to get to interact with professors outside of the lecture hall and to hear them speak on topics about which they are very knowledgeable and passionate.

Perhaps one of my favorite things about the Warren College Honors Program is the fact that Honors students play an instrumental role in guiding the program as members of the Warren College Honors Council. Honors Council members such as myself are responsible for helping to plan field trips and inviting professors to be part of the Faculty Speaker series, as well as reaching out to prospective and incoming Honors students. Being a member of Honors Council has taken my enjoyment of Warren Honors to a a new level, and I would encourage any other enthusiastic Honors students to apply.

I hope that I have given you a solid overview of the Honors Program, which is truly one of the highlights of Warren College. If you would like additional information, please visit http://warren.ucsd.edu/academics/honors/index.html. I hope that you have a wonderful experience at Orientation next week, and I hope to see you at Honors events next year!

Rachel G.
Warren College Honors Council member
Transfer Orientation Leader Group 5