First-Semester Entry

Current first-year UGA students in their first semester at the university may apply for acceptance into the Morehead Honors College. The first-semester entry application pathway is the only opportunity that current UGA students have to apply for Honors acceptance. First-semester entry is not available to transfer students.

You must meet the requirements below during your first semester to be eligible to apply:

• You are in your first semester at UGA as a first-year student
• You are currently enrolled in at least 14 hours of graded (A-F) courses
• You predict that you’ll have a cumulative UGA GPA of at least 3.8 by the end of the semester

Admission to the Morehead Honors College is highly competitive, and meeting or exceeding the requirements listed above does not guarantee admission. Because the Honors College is a small academic community, we are only able to offer admission to a limited number of highly qualified applicants. Acceptance rates vary, but the profile below offers a general sense of the selectivity of the Honors First Semester Entry process.

First-Semester Entry Profile

For Spring 2026, we received over 900 applications for approximately 250 open seats. The average cumulative UGA GPA of the incoming First-Semester Entry class was 3.98.

Important Dates

Fall First-Semester Entry application

• Open: November 1, 2026
• Due: December 2, 2026 by 5:00 pm (Reading Day)

Spring First-Semester Entry application

• Open: March 26, 2027
• Due: April 27, 2027 by 5:00 pm (Reading Day)

Additional Information

Credit hours earned through Advanced Placement, summer classes, or joint/dual enrollment courses will not be counted toward the 14-hour minimum credit hour requirement. However, grades earned through summer classes or joint/dual enrollment courses taken at UGA will be counted toward the minimum GPA requirement.

In all cases, you will not know your exact cumulative University of Georgia GPA before the application deadline. However, you must submit your application by the deadline to be considered. Admissions decisions will not be made until all grades have been posted.

Students who apply for entry during their first term will be notified of the college’s decision via their UGAMail account prior to the beginning of the next semester and, if accepted, given the opportunity to register for Honors courses for that semester.

Essay Questions

• Essay A: Tell us what draws you to your major. What big questions and issues fascinate you most, which aspects of your major are you most interested in exploring further as you finish your degree, and why? (300 words maximum)
• Essay B: What unique interests and talents would you bring to Honors, and what would you hope to gain from the Honors experience? (300 words maximum)
• Essay C: Tell us about your most meaningful leadership or service project (your example can be from high school). Describe the work you did and share what you learned about yourself and others through this work. (300 words maximum)

Letter of Recommendation

The First-Semester Entry application requires a letter of recommendation from one of your first-semester instructors. Plan to request your letter several weeks in advance of the application deadline so your instructor has sufficient time to write a strong recommendation. You will receive a confirmation email once your instructor has submitted the letter of recommendation on your behalf. Additionally, if the letter has not yet been received, you will be notified two weeks and one week prior to the application deadline. Please note that the Morehead Honors College will not contact instructors to obtain letters of recommendation on an applicant’s behalf, and any letters received after the application deadline will not be accepted, resulting in the application not being considered.

When completing your application, you will be prompted to enter the name and UGA email address of your recommender. Please be sure to enter your instructor’s UGA email address carefully. Once your application is submitted, your instructor will receive a letter of recommendation request via an email sent from [email protected]. Please let your instructor know to expect this email and to check their junk or spam folder if it does not appear in their inbox.

If you need to make an update to your letter of recommendation writer or their email address, you will be able to do so via the change request form you will receive in your application submission confirmation email.

First-Semester Entry Webinar

To learn more about the process of First-Semester Entry and the benefits of Honors, the recruitment and enrollment office in the Morehead Honors College has provided a pre-recorded webinar, available below.