Goals and Expectations
Through flexibility, mentoring, and abundant academic resources, the Honors Tutorial College aims to give high-ability students every opportunity to further their intellectual development.
College requirements are kept to a minimum in order to allow students to explore a range of disciplines, engage in substantial creative and/or research work, acquire a high degree of proficiency in a particular subject matter, and participate in meaningful extracurricular activities. Tutorials allow individuals to work closely with accomplished scholars who take particular pride in helping Honors Tutorial College students fulfill their current and future ambitions. This special combination of freedom and guidance, which is one of the hallmarks of the College, is enhanced by the number of exclusive academic resources made available to its students. These include priority registration, special residence hall availability, enhanced library privileges, research support, eligibility to undertake graduate work, unique education abroad opportunities, and scholarship availability.
A tutorial-based curriculum requires highly developed academic abilities, but it also necessitates motivation, maturity, focus, energy, and a combination of self-confidence and humility. To succeed in the Honors Tutorial College, a student must recognize that she or he bears the responsibility for understanding each week's tutorial material. All tutorials are dialogues - exchanges of thoughts, questions, and possibilities - not lectures. There are no back row seats in a tutorial. At every tutorial, students are called upon to participate in an intellectual exchange in which quality is measured by thoughtful mastery of the subject under consideration.
In addition to being comfortable with the expectations of the tutorial mode of instruction, students must also consider other characteristics of the College. These include participation of all Honors Tutorial College freshmen in a seminar held in fall quarter and an expectation that membership in the College brings with it community service obligations. The seminar and community service work play a critical role in establishing camaraderie between students and maintaining a vibrant, active community of young scholars.
Prospective Students: Need more information?
Be sure to visit our Something Completely Different, Admissions Requirements, How to Apply, What is a Tutorial? and Scholars Residence Halls pages for prospective students or email the College to receive a viewbook. Please write "Viewbook request" in the subject line and include your full name and mailing address in the body of the email.