By: Jessica Pike, Staff Writer
The Honors Program provides high-achieving students with a diverse & rigorous curriculum; a collaborative environment that emphasizes research, community engagement, leadership, social responsibility, international experience, and intellectual independence. Run by Rebecca Nisetich at USM, it is an exceptional program to help students along with their graduation from college. A great deal of students at USM may not know much about the program, so the following is some helpful information.
The program’s goal is for students to achieve the confidence that comes from developing their own ideas, hone their communication skills, become better able to tackle complex challenges while working respectfully with others while receive an education that is prized by employers and graduate schools. Admission to the Honors program is by invitation. As part of the general USM application process, honors status is automatically granted to recent high school graduates with stellar records. Students also have to have a high school GPA of 3.5 along with a combined, new SAT score of 1150.
Students are benefited by having small, dynamic courses that fulfill USM Core requirements, honors-specific study abroad experiences in the North Atlantic, personalized internship placement that can aid in post-graduation employment, merit-based scholarship opportunities that stimulate engagement with the community, and honors student organizations and living-learning communities
The Honors Minor is an interdisciplinary pathway through the USM Core Curriculum. In the first two years, students fulfill Core Curriculum requirements with Honors versions. Exceptional students who share a passion for learning, first-year students, transfers, sophomores, juniors, adult learners, part-time students, and students across all majors.
The Honors program is different from the Russell Scholars program because everyone is allowed to join the Russell Scholars Program, as long as you’re recognized as a degree candidate at USM. Instead of being called an Honors program, it is called a success program. Students are mostly scouted by faculty within the program before the school year starts, but students can also inquire about joining. There are merit scholarships for students in the Honors program.
The Honors Program does its best to help challenge students as well as broaden their learning experience. It may not be for everyone, but it can help students to try harder and reach the point that they could be accepted into the program.