Supplemental Essay and Questions Required for Honors College Applicants
Current IUP and Transfer Student Admission for Fall 2025 is Now Closed.
We are no longer accepting applications for admission for the Cook Honors College for fall 2025. If you submitted a CHC supplemental application and have not heard from us yet, we will be in touch with more information soon.
First, apply for admission to IUP. Indicate that you are planning to apply to the Cook Honors College by answering Yes to that question on the application (it’s in the Academic Plans section). After you submit your application, you will find the supplemental essay and questions in the Application Checklist section of your IUP admissions profile. You don’t have to complete the supplemental questions at the same time as the initial application. You can access your application checklist by logging in to your profile using your original username and password.
If you did not indicate that you would like to apply to the Cook Honors College when you initially applied to IUP, email application-docs@iup.edu, and we will gladly add the honors college supplemental form to your profile. After receiving confirmation, you will find the supplemental essay and questions in the Application Checklist section of your IUP admissions profile. (This process also applies to current IUP students desiring to enter the Cook Honors College after the first semester.)
Get more information about majors you are interested in and what honors students have to say about them.
Our Typical StudentA by-the-numbers look
Cook Honors College Application Preview
We value the opportunity to learn about our applicants' academic strengths as well as who they are as individuals. Below are the questions you will find on the Cook Honors College application if you want to prepare your responses before opening the application. You may save and return to your application as often as necessary to edit your responses before submitting.
Résumé Section
- Tell us your favorite:
- Book
- Movie
- Academic subject
- Saying/expression
- Please tell us how you have spent the last two summers, including any jobs you have held.
- List by author and title books you enjoyed most in the past year, indicating with an asterisk (*) the readings that were not required for class.
- List activities/clubs/organizations in which you’ve participated, noting any leadership roles.
- Identify the most meaningful school or community activity in which you’ve participated. How did your participation impact others in your school or community?
- List service/volunteer experiences.
Short Essays
- What, specifically, motivated you to apply to the Cook Honors College, and what unique characteristics or contributions will you bring to our honors community? [100–300 words]
- Describe how your high school transcript or test scores are, or are not, an accurate reflection of your potential for intellectual growth. [100–300 words]
Long Essay
In approximately 500 words, answer one of the following questions. Note that we seek developed essays, not short, single-paragraph answers. We realize that things like indents and spacing are difficult to represent on a web entry screen. Please know that your essay will be judged on content and not on formatting.
- Write about a moment that illustrated your shift from child to adult in your family or community.
- What book, artwork, film, or music has changed the way you think about the world? How so?
- Some students have a background, identity, interest, talent, or challenge that is so meaningful they believe their application would be incomplete without it. If this sounds like you, then please share your story.
- Think about someone you routinely see but never notice. Reflect on why you think this is. How might this newfound awareness change you?
- Some say social media is superficial with no room for expressing deep or complex ideas. We challenge you to defy these skeptics by describing yourself as fully and accurately as possible within the 280-character limit of a tweet. Use the rest of your word count to reflect upon this challenge.