Honors Admissions
Transfer Student Admission
Students who are starting at USF directly from another college or university can apply to join the Judy Genshaft Honors College as a transfer applicant. Transfer students interested in joining the Honors College should complete their application for the same term that they plan on starting with USF.
Admission into the Honors College as a Transfer Student can be competitive and varies depending on factors such as capacity, major, GPA, and a student’s home campus. Applicants should have a working knowledge of the Judy Genshaft Honors College curriculum (see details below) and how these experiences will contribute to their personal and professional development.
RESTRICTIONS
Students will not be admitted into the Honors College if the additional academic courses
will cause students to accrue any excess credit hours or graduate in a manner inconsistent with USF’s Degree Progression Policy (beyond four years from the start of a student's bachelor’s degree, or two years
after completion of an associate degree).
For this reason, transfer students will only be admitted to the Honors College at
the time of transfer and must have at least two academic years (four Fall/Spring semesters)
remaining before graduation to be eligible for admission into the Honors College.
JUDY GENSHAFT HONORS COLLEGE CURRICULUM
In order to graduate with Judy Genshaft Honors College distinction, transfer students admitted to the Honors College must complete the following requirements by their graduation. For more detailed information about these requirements, please contact our admissions coordinator.
- Honors Academic Curriculum (Thesis or Capstone Track)
- Thesis: 2 Honors Seminar Courses + 2 Semester Honors Thesis
- Capstone: 3 Honors Seminar Courses + 1 Semester Honors Capstone Course
- Two Experiential Learning Activities
- Minimum 3.5 Overall GPA
APPLICATION POOLS AND TIMELINES
In order to be eligible to apply for the Judy Genshaft Honors College, prospective transfer students must have previously completed their general USF Admissions application by the deadlines outlined by the Office of Admissions online here.
Transfer students who are entering USF should apply to enter the Judy Genshaft Honors College at the same time as their intended entry term to USF. Honors transfer applications are broken up into specific applicant pools based on that entry term. Please refer to the chart below for the appropriate application deadlines and decision dates for you.
| USF Entry Term | Application Launch Date | Application Deadline | Decision Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| Spring 2025 | Sept. 16, 2024 | Oct. 18, 2024 | Nov. 4, 2024 |
| Summer 2025 | Jan. 17, 2025 | Mar. 17, 2025 | Apr. 7, 2025 |
| Fall 2025 | Apr. 18, 2025 | Jun. 16, 2025 | Jul. 7, 2025 |
Students can join our Mailing List for further information about our application process and to be notified once their available application launches.
APPLICATION
Interested students can access the transfer student application here:
The Honors transfer application is comprised of the following:
- General student information questions.
- Name, major, completed credits, intended home campus, etc.
- Two short, 500 – 750 word essay submissions to the following prompts.
- First, asking students to elaborate on why they are interested in joining the Judy Genshaft Honors College, and how they may benefit from an Honors curriculum.
- Second, asking students to provide some ideas regarding how they might intend to complete the Experiential Learning requirements.
- For students that are transferring from an Honors curriculum at their previous institution, there will also be the option to include a recommendation letter from a previous Honors advisor, faculty member, or administrator.
- A previous academic writing sample.
- There is no preferred format, course, or subject matter. Applicants may submit anything that they believe demonstrates their academic writing capabilities.