FAQ

Students with a cumulative GPA of a 3.5 or higher, graduate with the distinction of President’s Honors.  Students with a cumulative GPA of a 3.25 to 3.49 graduate with the distinction of All-University Honors.  After the degree is awarded, the honors distinction is placed on the student’s transcript.  If you graduate with a cumulative GPA of 3.24 or lower, you will not receive the distinction of honors at graduation. 

No.

The Scholars 3 requirement is intended to give the student an experiential learning experience. Internships, study abroad, a clinical experience, or a substantial role in a musical or theatrical production would satisfy the requirements. The activity should encompass at least 30 hours of time committed to the activity. In fact, many students’ degrees may already embed an experiential learning activity in their program. 

The Scholars 4 requirement is a culminating project that demonstrates the student’s breadth and depth of mastery of the field. Oftentimes, this may include a capstone course, thesis, senior project, or independent study.

A detailed list of approved Scholars 3 and 4 activities can be found here.

Yes, after your first semester at Binghamton, you can delay taking a Scholars requirement if you find that you are going through a difficult time or need to reduce your course load. Students must seek permission from the Executive Director and should do this before the end of add/drop period.

Not automatically. Your enrollment in the FRI program in and of itself does not satisfy the SCHL 3 requirement. The research course you take during the third semester of FRI will, however. You must still register for SCHL 327 in the same semester as your 3rd semester of FRI and submit your pre and post applications on B-engaged.

Scholars in the School of Management can substitute MGMT 350 for SCHL 227.

When you receive your time ticket for registration, you should verify that you are receiving your priority registration by taking the number of credits you have passed and/or transferred in and adding 24 credits. Classes currently in progress for which you have not yet received a grade will not be counted. Then, check the time ticket table to make sure you are registering at a time that a student with that number of credit hours would be registering.  If you have any questions, you should feel free to reach out to the program staff to inquire further.

The Scholars Program has a designated career consultant who can help with a wide range of career-related issues such as choosing a major, securing an internship, resume reviews, and mock interviews.  You are also welcome to talk with the Scholars Program staff.

Program staff, undergraduate advisors, academic advising, and the Fleishman Center are all great places to start.  Still not sure?  Stop by the Scholars Program Office.

Scholars in good academic standing are granted the privilege of choosing any major in any school or college at Binghamton. To take advantage of this guarantee, Scholars must apply no later than March 10 of their first-year. If a major is not chosen by March 10 of the first year, then Scholars go into an application pool with all other applicants to the desired program with no guarantee of admission to the desired major.  Scholars should speak with an academic advisor as soon as possible to discuss their decision.  The process is different for each school.  More information on those particulars can be found here.

The Scholars Program does not have the authority to grant you permission to overload even with Scholars classes.  The process to petition to overload is different for each school.  More detailed information on each school’s process can be found here.

Students can register for two concurrent classes if they only overlap by a few minutes and they have permission from the instructors.  For more information and a course conflict form, please click here.

To drop a major, students should formally request to do so with their department’s undergraduate director.  For a list of Harpur College undergraduate directors please click here.  If you are pursuing a double degree and have decided to drop one of those, please contact Student Records and Registrar Services.

Award criteria and application directions can be found on the Scholars Program website here.

Students should reach out to the Dean of Students office as soon as possible.  Students should also inform the Executive Director of the Scholars Program.  If you have on-campus housing, you will also want to reach out to the Office of Residential Life as soon as possible.  Students are strongly encouraged to speak to a financial aid counselor.  The required forms and more information can be found in the Office of Student Records and Registrar Services.

Scholars who are unable to maintain a cumulative GPA of a 3.25 are on Scholars Probation. Students on Scholars Probation will need to meet with the program staff to ensure that they are receiving the resources they need to be successful at the University. It can take a student more than one semester to bring their GPA back up, but as long as you are progressing, you are not likely to be dismissed from the program. However, in order to graduate with honors and to be eligible for the Scholars Award, students must be in good standing in the program.

Over winter break of the first-year, Scholars will receive an emailed invitation to select a professional mentor from a wide-ranging list of professionals across campus.  Professional mentors can help you choose a major, think through career paths, and help you find connections to research opportunities on campus and beyond.  Professional mentors are friendly people who can help you connect to the wider Binghamton community beyond campus as well.  If you are having any concerns about this, please stop by the Scholars Office to discuss your options.

The Scholars Council is a democratically elected group of students who oversees programming opportunities for Scholars.  They also nurture and support the Scholars Learning Community in Newing College.  The Scholars Council is guided by a constitution available here.

The Guthrie Scholars Premedical Internship is a full-time, credit-bearing, unpaid internship at Guthrie Robert Packer Hospital in Sayre, PA. The Scholars Program sends between one and four students there each semester.  An announcement for a new cycle of applications will be posted on the Scholars listserv, usually in January and August of each year. Scholars submit application materials and are interviewed and selected by Guthrie staff. More details on all aspects of this program can be found here.  

When you create a housing portal profile, you should indicate that you are a Binghamton University Scholar. Only Scholars will be able to select rooms in the Scholars Learning Community. While on rare circumstances we allow non-Scholars to room with Scholars, this is generally discouraged and dependent on space available. To inquire about bringing in a non-Scholar roommate, you must seek approval from the Executive Director. Additionally, incoming students will be invited to join a student-run Scholars Facebook page in the spring before their first-year. This is a good platform to get to know your future friends and colleagues.

First, sign the housing license agreement. Next, you will need to form a group in the Res Life portal. You will be able to select a room with your roommate/group when the housing selection process opens online. For more information, contact the office of Residential Life.

As Residential Life prepares bed stock for the incoming class of first-year students, all Scholars students are “displaced” from their rooms. Do not worry. This does not mean you are being evicted. You will be able to select a room in Scholars’ housing for next year. In fact, you may even be able to select the room that you are currently residing in if you so desire.

Submit your Application for Degree. Notify the Commencement Office. If you plan to participate in commencement ceremonies early, you must petition to walk. You will also need to notify the Scholars Program Office via email so that they can ensure your name is printed in the commencement program and that you have a medallion and cords to wear with your cap and gown. Finally, please complete an Application for Completion of Scholars Program Requirements form on Bengaged.

Congratulations! It’s a very exciting time. Traditionally, the Scholars Program has hosted a banquet for graduates each year. The President also hosts a celebration in honor of the spring graduates (as well as fall graduates, should they choose to return for the spring festivities).  You will receive a certificate commemorating your honors level signed by the President in the mail after your degree has posted. Your honors notation will be added to your transcript at that time as well.  

We love hearing from our Scholar alums!  The best way to stay in touch with the program is to join the Scholars Linked-In group and our new Scholars Alumni Affinity group. The Office of Alumni Relations will be in touch regarding official communications, publications, and homecoming events. Send us an email from time to time or just stop by the Scholars Program Office.