Lend Your Expertise Faculty Selection Committee (FSC)

Schreyer Honors College relies on faculty volunteers to review and rate the more than 4,000 first-year applications. Faculty review anonymized applicant materials and rate each applicant according to the student's intellectual excellence and potential to fulfill the college's mission. The high school transcript is rated separately by admissions staff and the two ratings are combined according to a rubric.

Timeline & Commitment

Application reviews begin in early December and run through the end of January, including semester break, and can be done from anywhere. A virtual folder has 40 applications, enough for faculty reviewers to “norm” the applications (using all rating increments by making relative rather than absolute assessments). The applicant reviews should take approximately 6 to 10 hours depending on the reviewer. All applications receive two faculty reviews (in addition to the transcript review), and if there's a significant disparity between the two ratings, an additional review is added. Reviewers attend a one-hour orientation via Zoom, which includes an overview of the Honors College and tips to avoid the “implicit bias.”

Volunteer for the Selection Committee

Schreyer Honors College Admissions Office will solicit volunteers each fall via college associate deans. Interested faculty can also volunteer for the next application cycle by contacting SHCAdmissions@psu.edu.