Academic Affairs

Aquinas Scholars

Application Prompts

PROMPT REQUIREMENTS AND GUIDELINES

To prepare to write your responses to the prompts, first do the following two things:

1. Reflect on a recent transformative learning experience. The learning experience can be something directly related to classes you have taken or to experiences from other parts of your life. The experience does not need to be academic in nature, but it should demonstrate how you were transformed in the process.

  • Past examples of learning experiences have included:
    • working on a class project that introduced you to new ideas and concepts
    • interacting with a culture different from your own that broadened your worldview
    • participating in a service activity that helped you understand more about your community

2. Now carefully look through the information about the Aquinas Scholars Honors Program. Read about our purpose as well as the benefits and expectations of Aquinas Scholars. Read about our seminars (current, past, and upcoming) and perhaps even a newsletter.

Then, to write your responses, read and respond to the following prompts:

Drawing connections between your learning experience and aspects of the Aquinas Scholars Honors Program, write your responses to the following two prompts:

Prompt 1: Personal and Intellectual Growth

The Aquinas Scholars Honors Program is a place where you will encounter challenging and rewarding opportunities to grow intellectually and interact with a diversity of viewpoints and perspectives. Write a paragraph (about 200 words) about a time where you were challenged to grow and self-reflect because you were confronted with new viewpoints or perspectives. Please describe in specific detail what challenged you and what you learned.

Prompt 2: Dedication to Community

As an Aquinas Honors student, you would be part of a vibrant scholarly community. Please familiarize yourself with some of the student activities. Write a paragraph (about 200 words) about how you would seek to engage with the Aquinas Scholars community through your academic or extracurricular activities.  What are some skills, experiences, academic and/or personal interests that you would bring to the community, and what do you hope to gain? Please give specific detailed examples. 

 

CRITERIA FOR AQUINAS SCHOLARS PROMPTS

The application prompts for the Aquinas Scholars Honors Program will be judged on the following criteria:

FORM:

  1. The organization of the prompts.
  2. The clarity of the ideas presented in the prompts.
  3. The clarity of the expression of the prompts.

CONTENT: 

  1. Clearly describes the learning experience and what they learned from it.
  2. Reflects on how the learning experience could relate to the Aquinas Scholars Honors Program.
  3. Describes how they will contribute to and gain from Aquinas Scholars Honors Program membership.