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Students must first apply to the University of South Florida before applying to the Judy Genshaft Honors College. Admission into Honors is contingent on admission to USF. To apply to the Judy Genshaft Honors College, students must activate their USF NetID and password. This requires the student's USF-issued UID (i.e. U12345678) that they receive via email 24 to 48 hours after they have applied to the university.
APPLY
The First Time in College (FTIC) application asks students to submit a short essay (Application Criteria 1) and a list of extracurricular activities (Application Criteria 2). Please read through the criteria below to learn more and apply.
Select one prompt from the list of three below and write a 500-750 word essay (double-spaced). Each essay prompt is paired with one of our College’s core values for you to learn more about us and our philosophy. We created these essay prompts for you to think creatively and critically and to learn more about your ideas, passions, and how you think. We want to learn about YOU, not the “college admissions” version of you. So be authentic and answer honestly!
In the Judy Genshaft Honors College, our small, discussion-based interdisciplinary classes combine knowledge and methods from several fields of study to create unique solutions to real-world ideas and problems. For example, in our course Experience Japan - From Hospitals to Hospitality (Omotenashi), students explore Japan through the disciplines of architecture, psychology, cultural studies, and medicine as perspectives on the concept of “care” and how it is expressed and experienced in Japanese culture.
PROMPT 1: If you were to teach a course as part of the honors curriculum, what would you name it, what topics would be covered, and how would the class be taught? For more examples, you can view our full class list here.
We believe the people, places, and ideas in our local community offer lessons that complement and reinforce classroom-based learning. First-time-in-college students in the Judy Genshaft Honors College perform a minimum of 50 community service hours during their academic career. We believe this helps create better-informed scholars and citizens by engaging with issues affecting their local surroundings and becoming more cognizant of the political, social, and economic climate of our country as a whole.
PROMPT 2: Based on your personal experiences and/or observations, tell us about a change you would like to see in your community, and how you could contribute to the change.
In this increasingly globalized world, we believe it’s vital for every Judy Genshaft Honors College graduate to be exposed to diverse people, places, and ideas. The College is committed to making global citizenship a critical element in the education of twenty-first-century leaders. Our students develop cultural competence by completing two global/cultural requirements during their time at USF that range from studying abroad, learning a new language, completing internationally-focused research or internships, and more.
PROMPT 3: The Judy Genshaft Honors College encompasses students from different cultures, nationalities, and majors, challenging their peers to think in new ways. Describe a time when you encountered a culture, belief, or value system different from your own. How did you respond and what did you learn from the experience?
List up to five extracurricular activities you were involved in during high school, either inside or outside the classroom, what your role was, and how long you participated in each activity. There is an option to add additional information (and file upload and/or portfolio link, if applicable) about each activity that you would like us to consider. These activities can include, but are not limited to: