Admissions FAQs

No, the L&S Honors Program is not considered an “Honors College.” At UW-Madison, students have the opportunity to pursue various high-impact learning experiences, tailored to their interests. We generally refer to these broad options as Wisconsin Honors.

The L&S Honors Program is just one of the options open to students. L&S Honors is a degree-granting program within the College of Letters & Science. Students in the L&S Honors Program are fully integrated into the UW and L&S experience with all students. We do not seek to separate students from the general population. Rather, we hope to provide more engaging and enriching experiences within the many other amazing opportunities offered at UW.

A liberal arts education is one of the oldest traditions in higher education. The root of the word “liberal” is the Latin liber, meaning “free and unrestricted.” The term “liberal arts” traces back to the philosopher Plato, who outlined several artes considered essential for a free-thinking person.

At UW-Madison, students in L&S pursue a liberal arts degree that incorporates breadth and depth of study across disciplines in the humanities, social sciences, and natural sciences. This includes subjects ranging from Afro-American studies to economics to zoology. Furthermore, degrees from L&S emphasize discussion of ideas with a wide range of people and ongoing engagement with subjects beyond a chosen major. This form of education prepares L&S graduates to work flexibly, think independently, and approach complex problems from numerous angles.

Former Honors Program Director and Professor William Cronon has written about Ten Qualities of a Liberally Educated Person.

Within the L&S Honors Program, you may opt to pursue the Honors in the Liberal Arts track. In doing so, you elect to complete Honors coursework in each of the disciplines described above. Honors courses will then become a portion of what you do here!

First and foremost, you would likely pursue L&S Honors if you were excited about learning and wanted to maximize your time at UW. The L&S Honors Program provides a community for many of UW-Madison’s most engaged and motivated undergraduates. Among the benefits of the Honors Program are:

• small, Honors-level courses and discussion sections led by faculty members
• grants to financially support research experiences, study abroad, and community leadership projects
• a dedicated academic advising team that supports students throughout their undergraduate education
• informal networking and professional development events with faculty and staff from a variety of disciplines
• social and service events with other Honors Program students, including events hosted by the Honors Student Organization

There are approximately 1400 students in the L&S Honors Program. This number includes students pursuing the Honors in the Liberal Arts, Honors in the Major, and Comprehensive Honors degrees.

The typical incoming Honors first-year class has 400 (+/- 10) students.

There is no residence hall specifically for Honors students at UW-Madison. The L&S Honors Program does, however, recommend that students consider residing in one of the learning communities through UW Housing. Many first-year L&S Honors students choose to live in the various learning communities.

Learning communities include Chadbourne Residential College, Bradley Learning Community, GreenHouse, a range of International Learning Communities, the Multicultural Learning Community, and Women in Science and Engineering (WISE). The Chadbourne Residential College (CRC) has an emphasis on liberal arts education, which can complement the Honors in the Liberal Arts experience well.

To learn more about residential learning community opportunities at UW, please visit the UW’s learning community website.

The L&S Honors Program offers several grants and scholarships for continuing L&S Honors students. These opportunities often focus on supporting undergraduate research, travel, and other student-led activities.

The L&S Honors Program does not offer scholarships to incoming students.

Only College of Letters & Science students are eligible to complete the L&S Honors in the Liberal Arts degree track. Students outside of L&S are encouraged to explore Honors opportunities and programs within their respective colleges.

Note: Students in the School of Education can apply to participate in Honors in the Liberal Arts as continuing students after their first semester.

In certain cases, students in a different college who also have an L&S major can work toward Honors in the Major for the L&S major.

No. Incoming students are only eligible to apply to Honors in the Liberal Arts. Honors in the Major may be declared after students begin their undergraduate careers at the UW and officially declare their major. Students interested in Honors in the Major as incoming students should plan to meet with their prospective major and/or Honors advisors during the fall semester to discuss their options.

As an incoming student to L&S, you can apply to the Honors in the Liberal Arts degree track. You can read more about the Honors degree tracks on our Honors Overview page.

Please note that entry into the L&S Honors Program as a first-semester, first-year student is not your only opportunity to apply for admission to the Honors Program — it is just the first opportunity. Continuing students and transfer students can apply to Honors in the Liberal Arts on a rolling basis. Students can also discuss the Honors in the Major with advisors once on campus.

There are several application deadlines throughout the spring, and decisions will be made based on when you apply. You will find more information on our incoming L&S student admissions page.

We encourage students to apply by the deadline immediately after admission to UW, as space is limited.

The components of the application can be found on the Incoming L&S Student Admissions page. We would like to know more about who you are and what interests you. The application also allows you to share how you engage in and reflect upon your learning and involvement.

The Honors in the Liberal Arts application does not include a review of essays you submitted as part of your general UW application. Other aspects of your UW application may be considered as part of a holistic review process.

Students who are admitted to the College of Letters & Science will receive an email invitation to apply to Honors within a few weeks of their admission. The email will be sent to the email address you used for your UW-Madison application. If you cannot find your invitation email:

• Confirm that you were admitted to L&S and not another one of UW’s schools and colleges.
• Check your spam or bulk folders.
• If you still cannot find the email, please contact the Honors Program at honors@honors.ls.wisc.edu and have your campus ID ready (10-digit number that likely starts with 908).

Students can also access the application directly by logging into MyUW, opening WiSH, completing the general application, and then searching for “Honors in the Liberal Arts.”

Yes! Admission decisions for incoming students are driven largely by limited capacities in Honors courses. We wish we could admit all interested students! Not receiving admission as an incoming student is not a reflection of your capacity to be successful at UW-Madison or within the Honors Program.

Once you begin your undergraduate career at the UW, you will be considered a continuing student rather than an incoming student. The L&S Honors Program offers rolling admission for continuing students. More information about admission to the Honors Program for continuing and transfer students can be found on our Continuing and Transfer Student Admissions page.

Yes! The L&S Honors Program offers rolling admission for continuing and transfer students. More information about admission to the Honors Program for continuing and transfer students can be found on our Continuing and Transfer Student Admissions page.

Your best resource in deciding Honors is to schedule an advising appointment with an Honors and/or Major advisor, depending on which Honors track you wish to pursue. If you have already completed most or all breadth requirements without Honors, it can be challenging to complete the Honors in the Liberal Arts track. However, requirements for Honors in the Major vary by department and are best addressed by major advisors.

The Honors Program offers several options to earn Honors credit. The three types of Honors courses are called Honors Only, Honors Optional, and Accelerated Honors.

Honors Only courses are intended to be discussion-based, faculty-led, enriching and student-focused.

Honors Optional courses allow students to pursue projects that complement the other work for the course and gain additional insights and experiences related to course topics. These types of Honors courses may require additional time compared to non-Honors coursework, but they are not designed to be “harder” or unnecessarily difficult. In many cases, students find that Honors courses are more engaging than their other courses and that extra contact with the professor can help them succeed.

Some departments offer Accelerated Honors courses for students with a particularly strong background and interest in the subject.

Honors advisors look forward to helping you identify Honors course options that align with your interests and goals.

No honors-like experiences or specific coursework is required for admission to the Honors Program. We seek students interested in being genuinely engaged and curious about all areas of study!

Honors in the Liberal Arts (HLA) and Honors in the Major (HM) requirements can overlap with regular L&S degree requirements. Honors advising can also help students proactively plan for requirements. As a result, the vast majority of students complete all degree requirements in four years or less.

You can withdraw from the Honors Program at any time during your undergraduate studies. You can also add or switch Honors degree tracks, if you determine that a different path fits better with your experiences and goals. Honors advisors look forward to sharing more information and helping you explore your options.

No. While AP or other test credit may earn credits at the UW, that credit can not be used to satisfy any Honors requirements.

The L&S Honors Program is unable to award honors credit for coursework completed at any institution other than the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Although Honors credits earned at another institution will transfer as general credits, they will not count towards any of UW-Madison’s three honors degrees (HLA, HM or CH).

Information sessions (and a host of other experiences) can be found in the Visit Bucky portal.

The L&S Honors Program offers information sessions for prospective and admitted students in both the fall and spring semesters. Dates, times, and locations can be found through Visit Bucky or on our incoming student admissions page.

No information session on the day you’re visiting campus? Email honors@honors.ls.wisc.edu to have questions answered.

We frequently have current Honors students join our information sessions.

We do not offer individual prospective student sessions nor do we arrange conversations between prospective and current students.

L&S Honors Program staff would be delighted to answer any questions you have via email. Please email honors@honors.ls.wisc.edu.