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Application Update

The WWU Honors College application will reopen August 1 for mid-year applications (winter and spring quarters) and the 2025-2026 academic year.

Application Steps

Fall 2025 Application

  • Priority Deadline: December 11, 2024
  • Regular Deadline: February 12, 2025

Please note: To prevent the application portal from automatically timing out during your submission process, it is highly encouraged to have both the personal essay and writing sample prepared prior to opening your application portal.

Prospective Western Students

PROSPECTIVE Western students are individuals who are not yet enrolled in classes at Western at the time they apply.

Apply to Western! Students can access the Honors College application AFTER they submit their general Western application.

  • The Common App takes 24 hours after submission to appear in our system. Students can access the Honors application after that 24 hour delay.

Complete the Honors application for new students linked below. The login will be the same account you used to submit your WWU application.

Current Western Students

CURRENT Western students are individuals who are actively enrolled in classes at Western at the time they apply

Complete the Honors application for current Western students linked below.

  • Fall Quarter applications are due by the Priority and Regular Admission Deadlines listed above.
  • Winter Quarter applications are due the Friday before Fall Quarter finals week.
  • Spring Quarter applications are due the Friday before Winter Quarter finals week.

Required Honors Application Materials

Submit a sample of your best, analytical academic written work. Honors is interested in a student's ability to analyze issues, books, and so on, to frame and develop an argument. The writing sample should be an academic writing piece that provides an analysis or logical reasoning response for the committee to review. Most commonly these kinds of papers come from English and history classes. Although we do not need to see the graded work, we do ask that you refrain from updating your writing sample and submit your original work for the committee’s review.

Submit a personal essay answering both of the below prompts in a single document. This may be written as a single essay, in which the word count does not exceed 600 words. Or you may answer the prompts separately (but in the same document) keeping to a 300-word limit per prompt.

  • At WWU Honors, our motto is to cultivate community by striving compassionately for knowledge. How do you see yourself upholding these community values while at Western and beyond?
  • The Honors College curriculum is a combination of interdisciplinary study (the First-Year Sequence and Senior Seminars) and disciplinary study (Colloquia). Our courses unite around common conceptual pursuits, such as the nature of justice, power, and love; the processes by which humans make decisions and determine values; and the relationships between individuals and the communities they inhabit. Reflecting on your lived experiences, in what ways will/should these types of discussions contribute to your college experience and your future goals? 

Letter(s) of recommendation from a teacher or counselor are highly recommended but not required.

The Honors admissions team has access and will review all materials you submit to WWU - including letters of recommendation submitted with your general application. With that in mind, it is more beneficial for you to submit different letters of recommendation than the ones you have already sent to WWU.

Letters of recommendation can also be submitted by emailing them to honors@wwu.edu.