Alternative Ways to Fulfill Honors Program Requirements

Some of your Honors courses can be substituted with AP/IB exams and previous college credits earned before you began attending Mason. Please see below to determine if there is a possibility you will be able to substitute your exams/credits for some of your Honors courses. See Mason’s Admissions web page for acceptable scores for AP/IB exams: http://admissions.gmu.edu/exams/

For Dual-Enrollment (previous college) courses taken before beginning your degree at George Mason University the course requirements below apply. You must have received a B or higher for the course and it must be transferred to George Mason University and appear on your transcript before an official substitution can be made. To substitute for Honors 125 or 226 the dual-enrollment course must be equivalent to MATH 113 and 114. To substitute for HNRS 227 and 228 the dual-enrollment course must be equivalent to a two–course general education science sequence with labs.

Please keep in mind that HNRS 110 and 353 must be taken by all students in the Honors Program.

Course	AP/IB Exams Required
HNRS 110	May not be substituted All Honors Program students are required to take HNRS 110
HNRS 122	Art History And one of the following*: Literature IB English HL
HNRS 125	Calculus AB or BC
HNRS 130	Psychology And one of the following*: Literature IB English HL
HNRS 131	Social Science with a Global Emphasis And one of the following*: Literature IB English HL
HNRS 227	Any 4 credit hours college general education lab science course
HNRS 227 HNRS 228	Any 8 credit hours college general education lab science courses
HNRS 230	One of the following: Anthropology Comparative Politics And one of the following*: Literature IB English HL
HNRS 240	Any 3 credit hours college history course
HNRS 353	May not be substituted All Honors Program students are required to take HNRS 353
	* An AP/IB exam or previous college credit can not be used for multiple substitutions.

* Though English Literature and Composition, French or Spanish Literature and IB English HL appear as substitutions for multiple courses, each course/exam may only apply to the replacement of ONE honors course.

** If you entered in catalog years prior to 2006-2007, you have a different math requirement. Please see Dr. Alligood for advising.

Major Requirements

Students pursuing a Bachelor of Science degree that requires specific math or science courses may receive a substitution for HNRS 125, 227 or 228. The substitution will be granted upon successful completion of an approved course, usually MATH 113 for HNRS 125 and any science sequence for HNRS 227, 228 for science majors.

Dual Enrollment Courses

Dual enrollment courses are those taken at an accredited college or university while a student is still in high school. We do not accept any dual enrollment courses in substitution for HNRS 110 and 353. To substitute for HNRS 121, 122, 130, 131, 230 or 240, the course combinations in the above table apply. You must earn a grade of B (3.0) or better in all dual enrollment courses in order to substitute for one of the Honors courses. To substitute for HNRS 125 and 226, the dual enrollment course(s) must be the equivalent to Mason's MATH 113 and 114. To substitute for HNRS 227 and 228, the dual enrollment course(s) must be the equivalent of any Mason two-course science sequence.

Special Circumstances

We recognize that there may be unusual personal circumstances that require a substitution for a specific course in the Honors curriculum. An example of past approvals includes requirements fulfilled prior to a change of major.

If you do not qualify for any of these substitutions, you are expected to complete eleven of the twelve courses (HNRS 226 is an alternative to HNRS 125).