Frequently Asked Questions
General
The Virginia Tech Honors College is a one-of-a-kind educational experience, where collaboration and experiential learning combine to drive discovery and innovation. Honors students gain access to industry, nonprofit, government, and university partners to address real-world problems. Our emphasis on transdisciplinary learning is guided by a belief that by embracing diverse perspectives and moving beyond simple answers, we can prepare students for life in a complex and constantly evolving world.
If you join the Honors College, you can expect to experience the benefits of an inclusive and active intellectual community, including unique opportunities, individualized support, leadership possibilities, and the ability to break away from a checklist mindset to individualize your education and make an impact at Virginia Tech and beyond. Feel free to explore the rest of this website to decide if Honors is right for you!
If you’re visiting and want to speak with an Honors representative, you can schedule an appointment, which are held Monday through Friday during regular business hours. To schedule an appointment, call us at 540-231-4591 or email honors@vt.edu.
There are 1700-1800 students in the Virginia Tech Honors College, which represents about 5% of the total Virginia Tech undergraduate population.
The Honors College does not charge any fees for participation in the College or for its courses. The Honors College does not control pricing for its Living Learning Communities; you can refer to your housing contract information for pricing or visit the VT Housing and Residence Life website.
Academics
Honors College students work towards earning the Honors Laureate Diploma, which is the academic certification that shows a student has completed their Honors College education. To learn more about the requirements of earning an Honors Laureate Diploma, check out our Honors Laureate Diploma page.
There are several academic requirements and expectations associated with being a part of the Honors College, including a GPA requirement. Find out more about your specific requirements on our Honors Laureate Diploma page.
Students are expected to consistently earn honors credit. Successful students typically earn at least 6 honors credits each year.
For information on how to earn Honors credit, see our Honors Laureate Diploma page.
The Honors College curriculum emphasizes collaborative discovery, experiential learning, and transdisciplinary collaboration. The Honors Laureate Diploma is tailored to provide a variety of ways to earn Honors Credit that align with these goals; learn more on our Honors Laureate Diploma page. Honors students take many of the same classes as non-Honors College students, and can earn Honors credit for courses that are not Honors College-specific by completing Faculty-Student Agreements or taking Departmental Honors courses, which are often smaller than non-honors sections and may be taught in a unique way.
Honors College advising exists in the form of Honors Peer Advisors, who can offer one-on-one advising to help you complete your Honors College education; learn more on our Honors Peer Advising Center page. Peer advisors can also offer guidance to current Virginia Tech students who are considering applying to the Honors College. The Honors College does not have specific advisors for each student and peer advisors will not replace the services of your department- or college-specific advisors.
Admission
There are multiple entry points to the Honors College. Please see our Admission to Honors page for more information.
Honors College admissions decisions for first-year and transfer students are available online in the Virginia Tech admissions portal on the same day that Virginia Tech admissions decisions are released. For more information, see our Admission to Honors page.
The choice is yours; you are not required to accept your Honors College offer (but we hope that you do!). Your decision will not affect your overall Virginia Tech admissions decision.
Due to our application volume, we do not consider appeals. However, you are free to re-apply during a later semester at Virginia Tech; see the Admission to Honors page for information about how to apply in the future.
Honors Opportunities
Yes. There are two honors living-learning communities (LLCs), the Hillcrest Honors Community and the Honors Residential Commons. The honors LLCs are multidisciplinary and multigenerational, housing first-years, sophomores, juniors, and seniors. An honors LLC is an academically passionate community where students can supplement their honors experience with an active and robust intellectual community, while building relationships that last a lifetime. Learn more on our Honors Housing page.
No. We love when honors students get more involved through our living-learning communities, but you are not required to live in a certain residence to be an honors student, unless you have a recruitment scholarship requirement.
The Virginia Tech Honors College offers recruitment scholarships to select incoming first-year students and other opportunities to receive merit-based scholarships at several points in a student’s academic career. See our Scholarship Opportunities page for more information.
Yes. The Presidential Global Scholars program (PGS) is a collaborative living-learning and research community in which ambitious Honors students work together with award-winning faculty to discover, commit to, and act upon a compelling personal interest in a pressing transcultural issue. Students in the PGS program reside in the elegant Villa Maderni at Virginia Tech's Steger Center for International Scholarship amid the beauty of the Swiss Alps. You can find more information on our Presidential Global Scholars page.
The Honors College provides its students access to distinctive professional development programming, which helps set them apart in competitive scholarships, graduate school applications, and job opportunities after graduation. Learn more on our Professional Development page.
Yes. The Honors College offers a variety of leadership opportunities to its students to help further their leadership capabilities. These opportunities include:
- Serving on the Honors College Student Council, which represents the greater Honors College student body and serves as an advisory group to the Dean of the Honors College.
- Serving as a Peer Advisor in the Honors Peer Advising Center or becoming an Honors Peer Educator to lead an Honors Reading Seminar centered on a compelling topic of your choice. Students interested in these roles receive training and support through the Honors Peer Education Practicum course and can earn credit toward their Honors Laureate Diploma.
- Getting involved in our Living-Learning Communities by serving on the Commons Council within the Honors Residential Commons (HRC) or the Hillcrest Hall Council within the Hillcrest Community.