To prospective Honors freshmen,

The December 1st priority application deadline is approaching! Those who apply by this date will receive priority consideration for our merit-based freshman scholarships. Students who submit their application by the final deadline (January 15th) will also be considered for any remaining awards.

To clarify, your recommendation (whether submitted online or by mail) does not have to be submitted by this deadline for you to qualify for priority scholarship consideration. Your recommender will not receive the email request until you finish and submit your application, and we understand that there will be some delay between your application and the recommendation.

ALL application materials must be submitted or postmarked by January 15th, 2010. This includes BOTH your application and the letter of recommendation. If you plan on waiting until the last minute to submit your application, your recommender will have only a short time to submit their online recommendation - you should communicate with your recommender to ensure that their letter is submitted online or in the mail by January 15th!

For students whose recommenders may have deleted the initial email request, we have created a quick guide for submitting another request through your application account. The Honors office is unable to generate this special email - it must be submitted via your online account.

Sincerely,
The Honors Staff

View the recommendation reminder instructions »
Read the 2010 freshman application instructions »
Read the freshman admissions FAQ »

"I'm a poet with a doctorate," Honors Writer in Residence Frances McCue says. For Frances, writing is a way of learning. She sees her role as one that encourages writing beyond the traditional research paper and hopes that students will have opportunities to write poems, stories, blogs, memoirs, essays, vignettes and robust letters as well as academic papers.

After spending last year as a Fulbright Senior Scholar in Morocco, McCue's view of writing has deepened: "Giving people a voice matters in our democracy. Writing allows us to express ourselves, utilize language as a craft, and find out more about the world." She's back, ready to talk to students about their work. McCue also teaches a three-term sequence on "What We Know and How We Know It," "Teaching What We Know" and the final quarter culminates in student internships. All three courses use writing to explore new reading and life experience.

"I want to help the honors students use writing as a way to connect the world of research to their own lives and to their communities," McCue says. This is work she has done before, in other contexts. For ten years, she was the founding director of Richard Hugo House, a literary center here in Seattle. She has also worked in K-12 schools, community colleges and here at the university. Her book, The Stenographer's Breakfast won the Beacon New Women Poets Prize and her two forthcoming books, The Car That Brought You Here Still Runs, along with a poetry collection, will be out this spring.

To reach her, email frances@francesmccue.com or visit her website at www.francesmccue.com.

Learn more about Frances McCue »
Visit the Richard Hugo House website »

HSAP (the Honors Student Advisory Panel) is hosting an Honors Open Mic Night this quarter! Below, we have reposted the information and added the link to the catalyst survey students should fill out if they want to perform. We hope you will all attend!

• Where: Café Allegro (in the upstairs room) on 42nd and 15th
• When: December 3rd from 6 - 8:30 PM
• Who: Anyone who has something artistic to share - all forms of expression are welcome - poetry, musical ensembles, artwork, etc.
• Why: Because you all are AWESOME! There is so much creative talent within the Honors community we want you all to have a space to express and share it!

Be sure to get in your submissions before Thanksgiving weekend and feel free to contact Beth Hasseler at ehass7@u.washington.edu if you have any questions.

Fill out the Open Mic Night Signup Form »
Get directions to Café Allegro »

To Prospective Freshmen:

The UW Freshman Application for Autumn 2010 is now online! There are a few major changes for the Honors portion of the application (more details available on our Freshman Application Information and Admission FAQ pages):

• New Essays - Applicants must respond to two Honors short essays (one mandatory, one of your choosing), each no more than 300 words.
• Online Letters of Recommendation - If you submit your application online, your recommender can now submit their recommendation letter online! We strongly urge you to take advantage of this opportunity to ensure that all of your materials are received and matched promptly.
  
  The recommender you specify will receive an email with a special web address after you submit your application . They will then log into the system and paste the text of their recommendation into the form provided - no postage, no waiting for the mail, and your letter will be immediately matched to your application!

Sincerely,
The Honors Staff