Tips for applying to Honors
The Honors application for UNL is a joint application, wherein students can apply to the University Honors Program and the Nebraska Business Honors Academy and/or the Raikes School of Computer Science and Management. The application is located in MyRed.
Applicants may start the application and save it to complete later. It will time out after 60 minutes, so applicants are advised to prepare their materials ahead of time in a word processing program and copy/paste them into the appropriate spaces in the application. Additionally, please note that the application is plain text, meaning any formatting (bold, italics, bullet points, etc.) will be lost when submitting the application. As such, please format materials accordingly.
Essay
All applicants will complete an essay addressing the following prompt. The essay should be 300-650 words.
Prompt:
At Nebraska Honors, we value the following:
- Intellectual Curiosity: The exploration of topics or projects that requires engagement on a deeper level.
- Diverse Perspectives and Experiences: Individual and/or varied life experience.
- Meaningful Service to the Community: Sustained service and/or volunteer work that serves the public interest.
We are looking for students who share these values and exhibit them in their daily lives. Choose one of the three values listed above. Using specific examples, A) demonstrate how you have lived this value in your own life and B) describe what you would contribute to the Nebraska Honors community in relation to this value.
Keep in mind that we already have your transcript and resume, but feel free to expand upon a particular experience from your resume if it is relevant to your response.
Short Answer
There are three short answer components on the resume.
All applicants are required to complete this prompt: Indicate your specific professional goals in 25 words or less.
All applicants have the opportunity to complete this optional prompt: Share anything unique about yourself or your experiences that would help faculty and staff to get to know you better. You may also use this space to elaborate on anything that needs further explanation, such as an academic deficiency.
Applicants to the Raikes School and Nebraska Business Honors Academy are required to complete these two prompts:
- In 400 words or less, explain your interest in continuing your education in business and/or computer science, specifically through the Nebraska Business Honors Academy and/or the Raikes School of Computer Science and Management. Support your answer with examples of your past experiences, interests and future goals.
- In 250 words or less, select one service or extracurricular activity that has had the strongest influence on you and describe how it has impacted your development. The activity you choose to write about here should be different than any activities you reference in your longer essay questions listed below.
Resume
All applicants will be asked to submit a resume. Your resume is how you provide faculty and staff reviewers information about your academic interests, skills, and other relevant experiences that make you an appealing candidate for the Honors Programs. For the purpose of this application process, your resume should be comprehensive but brief. Be sure to include the following:
- High school unweighted GPA (out of a maximum of 4.0).
- Class Rank (if available).
- ACT/SAT score.
- Activities, including grades of involvement and leadership roles (example: Marching Band, grades 9-10; Trumpet Section Leader, grades 10-11; Drum Major, grade 12).
- Service or work experiences, including number of hours/week (example: Nursing Home volunteer, grade 10, 2 hrs/week).
- Optional: Awards and Honors
Be aware that the application form removes all formatting, so it's important to keep your text layout as simple as possible. You can use a dash or asterisk in place of bullets, all caps, and line breaks to indicate headings or to draw attention to important information.
To see how it will appear for faculty and staff reviewers, copy and paste your resume into a plain text editor (e.g., Notepad for Windows users, TextEdit in plain-text mode for Mac users).
Sample Resume 1:
Taylor Husker
Unweighted GPA: 3.972
Class Rank: 18/392
ACT Score: 33
Leadership and Involvement:
--Theatre, Stage Crew, grades 9-10; Stage Manager, grades 11-12
--Basketball, grades 10-12
--School Council, grades 9-12; Homecoming committee chair grade 11; president, grade 12
--Newspaper, grades 11-12
--High School LGBTQ+ Pride Club, grades 10-12; treasurer, grade 10
Service and Work Experience:
--Sunday School volunteer, grades 9-12, 1 hour/week
--Stocker and Cashier at Hy-Vee grocery store, grades 10-12, 15 hours/week
Awards and Honors:
--Best editorial in student newspaper, grade 11
--Regents Scholarship to UNL
--National Merit Semi-finalist
Sample Resume 2
Jordan Husker
GPA: 3.76
Class Rank: Not available
ACT Score: 29
INVOLVEMENT/LEADERSHIP
Marching Band, grades 9-10; Trumpet Section Leader, grades 10-11; Drum Major, grade 12
National Spanish Honors Society member, grades 11-12; vice-president, grade 12
Speech and Debate, grades 10-12
Mock Trial, grades 9-12
SERVICE AND WORK EXPERIENCE
Food Pantry volunteer, grades 10-11, 3 hours/week
Nursing Home volunteer, grade 12, 2 hours/week
Cashier at Casey’s gas station, grades 9-12, 8-10 hours/week
AWARDS AND HONORS
3rd place in Nationals, Informative Speaking, grade 12
Senior Character award, grade 12