Description
This resource provides information on encouraging and supporting high-ability students.
Who are high-ability students?
The College of Liberal Arts (CLA) undergraduate population is increasingly able and well prepared. Attracting high-ability students, helping them discover their unique talents, and keeping them challenged and engaged is essential to the intellectual life of the college. Such students enliven classrooms with their curiosity and excitement about learning, their willingness to discuss and debate issues, and their desire to excel.
Some high-ability students already have exceptional records of academic achievement when they begin college; others are late bloomers, who may be surprised to find themselves earning high marks and recognition from instructors.
Honors in the College of Liberal Arts (HCLA)
There is the potential for any CLA adviser to work with a high-ability student. However, in CLA, the Honors program specializes in working with high-ability students. Most freshman-admitting undergraduate colleges at the U, including CLA, have honors programs. CLA’s Honors Division brings high-ability students together inside and outside the classroom, offering them opportunities to learn from each other and to expand their academic horizons.
Honors advisers assist honors students in developing rigorous academic programs, choosing and developing thesis topics, preparing for graduate or professional school, and planning for careers.
The Honors program develops its own honors curriculum to supplement the regular CLA coursework. Honors courses, including interdisciplinary honors seminars as well as departmental honors courses and sections, enable students to explore topics in depth in small classes that emphasize discussion and collaborative learning. The program also encourages and supports students who are interested in integrating internships and service learning programs into their educational curriculum.
Participation in the honors program and fulfillment of certain requirements entitles students to graduate with Latin honors (cum laude, magna cum laude, and summa cum laude). To graduate with honors, students complete an honors project or thesis: an opportunity for sustained, focused research and writing under the guidance of faculty.
The Honors program also offers extracurricular events. Aside from various social and academic events sponsored by the Honors, students are also encouraged to participate in the Honors Student Association, which is a student-run organization that sponsors social, cultural, academic, and community service activities.
Students can be admitted to honors as incoming freshmen, or may apply to the program after completing coursework at the University of Minnesota. For students seeking admission after they have completed coursework, the requirements are as follows:
- The student has a 3.5 cumulative GPA (in 30-75 college credits)
- The student must have at least three semesters of coursework left at the University to allow time to complete the honors opportunities required for graduation with honors.
Advising high-ability students
All students, but especially the late bloomers, may need prodding from advisers to recognize their own abilities and potential. Those with strong academic records may need encouragement to continue challenging themselves, rather than playing it safe out of fear of marring a high GPA. Strong academic performers may also benefit from advising conversations that help them to differentiate their own interests and passions from the expectations other people have for them. Some students excel in more than one area of knowledge and may need help figuring out how to synthesize or focus their interests into a manageable academic program. Here are some additional suggestions for helping CLA’s top academic performers make the most of their education. CLA students who meet the eligibility requirements should be encouraged to apply for admission to the Honors program. Contact the HCLA Office to find out if this is possible to get permission.
Faculty contact
Students who are struggling in classes are routinely advised to consult their instructors regarding ways to improve their performance. It is just as important that advisers encourage students who excel to talk to their instructors, especially their U of M professors. One-on-one and small group discussions with instructors clarify, deepen, and personalize subject matter. Faculty mentors can help students focus their academic interests, get involved in research and community service, and develop postgraduate plans. Recommendations from professors who can comment in detail on the student’s interests, abilities, and personal qualities are crucial to most graduate and professional school admissions. Students should be urged to get to know professors by taking small classes taught by faculty whenever they can, asking questions and expressing opinions, visiting faculty during office hours or in appointments, getting involved in activities in their major departments, and attending departmental functions.
Scholarships
The College of Liberal Arts has numerous merit-based scholarships for continuing students, including the Birkelo, Waller, and CLA Alumni Scholarships. Applications for the CLA scholarships are available through Honors by early November. All CLA students pursuing a CLA degree are eligible to apply.
The CLA Honors Division coordinates the campus nomination process for many national scholarships and provides information and advice to potential applicants from any undergraduate college of the U (non-HCLA as well as HCLA students). Students with exceptionally strong academic records may be eligible to apply for national scholarships such as the Rhodes and Marshall Scholarships for graduate study in the U.K., the Harry S. Truman Scholarships for undergraduate and graduate study leading to a career in public service, the Barry Goldwater Scholarship for undergraduates planning careers in scientific research, and the Andrew W. Mellon Fellowships in Humanistic Studies.
The personal statements students must write when applying for scholarships require them to think through and articulate their goals, thus providing useful practice for the graduate and professional school applications they may write in the future.
Special educational opportunities
Advising conversations with high-ability students often emphasize the wide range of options available to students who are eager for new challenges or who wish to reach beyond the established curriculum. These students are likely to be interested in and appropriate candidates for study abroad programs, Undergraduate Research Opportunities Program, the MacArthur Honors Program in International studies, and other special programs. They are also likely to be valuable contributors to campus and community activities. Students with diverse talents and interests may wish to pursue double majors or individualized majors/degrees.
Coping with academic difficulty
Even superb academic performers may find themselves in academic difficulty due to personal problems, illness, or unrealistic curricular choices. There is evidence that depression, in particular, is more prevalent among high-achieving students than among the general undergraduate population. Since many high-ability students take pride in being self-reliant, they may need proactive urging from advisers to seek help for their problems. A drop in grades can be particularly devastating to a student whose self-worth is closely bound up with academic achievement or who intends to apply to highly competitive graduate or professional programs.
Advisers have a crucial role in helping students to put their academic difficulties in perspective, learn from them, and get on with their lives and studies. In most cases, students in academic difficulty eventually are able to return to their previous level of performance.
Students who have had to overcome difficulties and setbacks may be asked by a prospective employer or graduate program to explain why their grades dropped in a particular semester or year but should not expect to be judged harshly for difficulties that they overcome.
